NOTICE: We're Moving! Thanks to everyone who came by and took the tour on Space Island sim. For updates, subscribe to Troy's blog.
"It was quite a treat - by far the best tour I have been on in SL!"
- Finola Graves (SL name), American Chemical Society
Enjoy an amazing audio-narrated, animated, musical flying carpet tour of Lord Rosse's Monster Telescopes, including the Leviathan of Parsonstown, the largest telescope of the 19th century. The carpet seats two so you can go with a friend. It's a ride you don't want to miss! Click here to go there now.
- Climb aboard the flying carpet and let it sweep you away!
- Hear music by Kevin MacLeod
- Hear the story narrated by Nick Ryan, a pro voice actor
- See an amazingly-detailed model of the Leviathan of Parsonstown - the largest telescope of the 19th century
- Watch as the telescopes move and animate
- Experience something not found anywhere else in Second Life, check it out now!
The Crab Nebula
In the early nineteenth century, the Irish aristocrat Lord Rosse thought that all nebulae are made up of stars and only stars. Others thought that some nebulae may contain gases. To test his theory, Lord Rosse built a big telescope. It was known as the Leviathan of Parsonstown and it was the biggest telescope in the world for over 50 years.
The Leviathan of Parsonstown
Now you can explore a life-sized model of the Leviathan in the virtual world Second Life. You can also see a model of the telescope that came before it, the one with the 36-inch speculum mirror. Take an audio tour on a flying carpet, narrated by Nick Ryan. Watch as the telescopes animate to show you how they worked!
Avatrian blog about how they made their model of the Leviathan
Image Credits:
Crab Nebula - NASA/ESA
Drawing of the Leviathan - From: Woods, Thomas. The Monster Telescopes, Erected by the Earl of Rosse, Parsonstown, with an Account of the Manufacutre of the Specula, and Full Descriptions of all the Machinery Connected with These Instruments, Third Edition, Sheilds and Son, Parsonstown, 1845.