A new website for the 10th Anniversary
This 2016 marks the 10th year of activity since the Virtual Telescope Project was launched in 2006. I did write some thoughts on this a few weeks ago and while we are still waiting for the online event to celebrate this amazing accomplishment, I’m also proud to introduce the new website of our amazing project.
A screenshot of the new website of the Virtual Telescope Project
In Sept. 2012, we launched the release you have seen until now. It was a most welcomed update, as it introduced that flexibility and readability you do expect from a modern website. Since then, not only the Virtual Telescope evolved, but also our attitude to access the web.
In very few years, mobile devices, especially smartphones, changed our enjoyment of the internet. Now, the most used devices to access the world wide web are smartphones, followed by desktop computers and tablets, respectively.
At Virtual Telescope we wanted to follow these developments, deciding it was time to change our dresses again. As we did in 2006, the main feature we wanted was an easy access, no matter the device used by the viewer, so we worked on the template accordingly. We extensively tested it on smartphones, desktop computers and tablets: we are happy with the results.
When I started the Virtual Telescope Project in 2006, it was mainly a robotic facility for personal, remote astronomical observations. Soon, we invented a new format to share and communicate astronomy to the public: we offered some live observing sessions, with real-time commentary by a professional astrophysicist and a chat to interact with him. This format showed to be a revolution: in a few years, the Virtual Telescope become the leading, very respected facility in the world offering these live observing sessions, developing very important partnerships and organizing very special events.
We cannot count the many, epic astronomical events that millions of individuals enjoyed thanks to our facility. In some special occasions, we had several great collaborators spread over the planet, assuring a perfect coverage for a given event. All this for free, without any financial support, surviving thanks to small donations by an handful of supporters. We are also extremely grateful to our technological partners.
Beside this, a lot of science was also done here, including legendary discoveries and first rate data. To date, the Virtual Telescope Project is a unique facility in the world putting together so well research and public outreach.
As you can see, the Virtual Telescope evolved quite a lot, so we wanted a website able to bring its entire soul to you, with all its colors: scientific research, online observing sessions, astronomical events you can enjoy by yourself and more.
This is why our new website uses a responsive template, making possible to you to find all the information behind it. We want you have all the most important info handy, no matter the device you are using.
So, the new website is now out for you. I hope you will like it and that it will help you to enjoy and discover the Universe through our many onlive activities.
Thank you very much, and keep looking up with us!
Gianluca Masi, PhD
Astrophysicist, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project
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