In Dynamic Diagrams ongoing work to provide innovative visualization solutions for our clients, Dynamic Diagrams has continued to explore data-driven presentations and applications. As a proof of concept for using an XML data set to “power” a Flash application, we took advantage of a wonderful free data source provided by NASA. Using this collection, we assembled an Orrery that illustrates the positions of the planets and moons in our solar system and allows a user to view their alignment at any given date in the past or present.
This application has become wildly popular on Twitter so, as a result, we have developed a free screensaver for both Windows and MacOS:
