Observatories in Chile · Gaussian Splatting

Observatory Explorer

Discover our collection of reconstructions of ALMA, Paranal, SOAR, Gemini South, Cerro Tololo and Vera C. Rubin. Find an observatory on the map and begin your visit.

How to use the viewer

Night planetarium

Open application in another tab ↗

Downloading the map and reconstructions may take a while. Use the viewer’s fullscreen mode or open it in another tab for more space.

Exploration guide

From the map to the reconstruction

Find an observatory

Use the name search, map or image collection. Filters let you explore the available categories.

Open the 3D experience

Select an observatory and open its interactive experience. Wait for the scene to download.

Check the controls

The viewer guide explains how to explore the scene. You can change the language and adjust the available viewing options.

User guide · CTIO example

Your first visit to the observatory

On the map, search for CTIO or select its card. Open the observatory information and press Start 3D interactive experience. You can also open the CTIO model directly ↗. Wait for loading to finish.

Your first visit displays a welcome guide identifying the information panel, points of interest and controls. Press Got it — explore to begin. You can display it again from Help → Show welcome guide. Use EN/ES to change the language.

CTIO first-visit welcome guide identifying the controls — CTIO: welcome guide and interface pointers.

Explore the reconstruction

Drag to rotate the view. Use the mouse wheel or a pinch on a touchscreen to zoom in or out. The arrows ‹ › cycle through points of interest; glowing markers let you select them in the scene. Open the information button to read about the selected point.

CTIO day interface showing the reconstruction and controls — CTIO reconstruction in day mode.

Viewer buttons and icons

The symbols in this guide match the viewer buttons. Some tools depend on the observatory, device and day/night mode.

Control	How to use it
Drag	Drag across the scene to rotate the view. On touchscreens, swipe with one finger.
Wheel / pinch	Use the mouse wheel or a two-finger pinch to zoom in or out.
Information	Opens or closes point-of-interest details. The × closes the panel.
Markers	Shows or hides the reconstruction’s points of interest.
Previous / next · < >	Cycle through points of interest using the arrows next to the place name.
Camera mode	Each press advances to the next mode: rotation, tour, cinematic flight and manual. The icon changes to show the active mode.
Quality	LQ → MQ → HQ → VHQ → MAX. Press the label to cycle through available levels, from lower to higher detail. The number of levels may vary; try a lower one if performance drops.
Day / night	Switches between the daytime reconstruction and the night planetarium. The sun and moon identify the control’s state.
Audio	Enables or mutes scene audio, if available for the observatory.
Language · EN / ES	Switches between English and Spanish.
Fullscreen	Enters or exits fullscreen mode to give the experience more space.
Help	Opens the control explanations. You can also display the welcome guide again from Help.
Menu · mobile	Shows or hides the button bar. In night mode it also collapses controls while keeping the time slider available.
Augmented reality · AR	Starts the augmented reality experience on a compatible device and browser.
Virtual reality · VR	Starts the experience with a virtual reality headset and compatible browser.

Recognize the four camera modes

One button has four states. Press to cycle through them in this order and identify the active mode by its icon.

Icon / mode	Behavior
Automatic rotation	The camera automatically orbits the point of interest.
Automatic tour	Tours the scene’s points of interest. It shares the location symbol with the marker control; its position on the toolbar distinguishes the two.
Cinematic flight	Enables the cinematic flight camera movement.
Manual	Stops automatic movement so you can control the view.

View CTIO control help

CTIO help panel with mouse, interface, keyboard and VR controls — CTIO’s built-in help.

The VR help section lists WASD for movement, E/C for moving up or down and R for resetting the view. With a gamepad: left stick to move, right stick to move up or down and A to reset.

Explore the sky from CTIO

Night mode: an interactive planetarium

The day/night · sun and moon control switches from day to the night sky, turning the experience into a planetarium around the observatory. Explore the sky, search for objects and combine sky layers. Press day/night again to return to the daytime reconstruction.

To begin: enable night mode, choose a date and time, open Sky layers and enable Labels and IAU constellations. Drag to explore the sky. The search at the top finds objects by name: for example, type Saturn and select the result to view its information.

CTIO night planetarium with celestial layers and date and time controls — Night mode: sky layers and time simulation.

Date, time and sky movement

The time bar lets you choose the sky’s date and time and control its progression. Changing the date or time changes the planetarium positions. Identify each tool by its symbol and follow the table below.

Night tool	How to use it
Sky layers	Opens the layers panel. Check or uncheck stars, constellations, grids and other planetarium datasets.
Search the sky	On desktop, move the pointer near the top edge to reveal search. On mobile, press the magnifying glass. Search for an object and select a visible result to orient the view toward it.
Current time	Returns to the present and resumes live time. The date and time use the observatory’s configured time zone.
Playback / speed	Each press cycles through 1×, 5×, 10×, 50×, 100×, 1000× and pause. The button label shows speed; the play and pause symbols reflect its state.
Date and time · ▲ / ▼	Adjust the year, month, day, hour, minute or second with the arrows. Hold to repeat the change. Editing a field pauses time progression.
Time slider	Drag right to move into the future or left to go back. The farther from the center, the faster it moves. Releasing returns the slider to the center and pauses.
Tonight · desktop	The star opens a summary of weather, Moon phase and planet visibility. It appears in night mode on desktop when this tool is enabled.

Choose the layers to explore

Open the layers button and check or uncheck each option. Start with a few layers and add more depending on what you want to observe.

Layers	What to explore
Labels	Identifies object names and sky references.
Coordinate grid · Azimuth grid	References for orientation in the sky and relative to the horizon.
IAU constellations · IAU constellation boundaries	Enables constellation figures and regions.
Solar System	Explore Solar System objects represented in the planetarium.
Deep sky · Bright stars	Select the sets of objects you want to examine.
Rubin observations · CTIO discoveries	Explore layers related to these observatories’ astronomical activity.
Asteroids and comets · Dwarf planets and TNOs	Adds datasets of minor bodies and trans-Neptunian objects.
Meteor showers · Satellite trails	Enables these references for exploration in the sky.

Check “Tonight”

On desktop, when enabled, the star button opens a summary of observatory weather, Moon phase and illumination, and a list of planets with visibility indicators. Use this panel alongside the sky and selected date. The screenshot values are examples and change over time.

CTIO Tonight panel with weather, Moon phase and planets — CTIO Tonight panel.

Screenshots taken at CTIO. Available controls and layers may vary across reconstructions in the collection.

Bringing places closer through photographs

This collection is at the heart of TinyPlanet: photogrammetric reconstructions using Gaussian Splatting that let you discover astronomical observatories from new perspectives.

Capture records the appearance of a place at a particular moment. Photographic coverage determines which areas and details can be explored.

How Gaussian Splatting works

View the collection