OK – it was launched late last year but if you missed it the first time round, this interactive 3D map of the stellar universe is definitely worth a look.

Created by Google as part of its Chrome Experiment initiative, the ‘100,000 Stars‘ visualisation lets you explore our galactic neighborhood via a click of the mouse.

Allowing you to zoom in and out, as well as change your viewing perspective, the visualisation provides the real location of the 100,000 closest stars to Earth. An artist’s rendition of the galaxy at full zoom out mode provides context of our place in the broader Milky Way. Data was taken from a range of sources, including from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) so it’s all fairly accurate.

Names of the most prominent stars close to our sun are provided, together with facts and figures and interesting tidbits of information – Did you know for instance that it would take 18 years for a jet aeroplane to fly to the sun?

Music provided by Sam Hulick complements this mesmerizing viewing experience.