Total Perspective Axiom is built like a ladder of zoom levels. The left column shows them all, from the whole history of the universe down to day and night on Earth. Each level runs its own clock: time races at the scale of the universe and slows down as you zoom in.
Use Explore for younger or newer audiences and Deep dive for more numbers and evidence. Switch any time at the bottom left.
Turn the glow down to see faint stars next to bright things such as the Big Bang. The middle is the designed look.
Only the version number is sent when checking. Nothing else leaves this computer.
Settings are saved on this computer.
Real data positions or measurements from astronomers' catalogs and missions.
Scientist's model a picture built from theory and observations, where nobody can take a photo. The shapes are realistic but not exact.
Not to scale sizes or distances changed so things are visible.
Each card also shows how sure scientists are: Speculative → Proposed, testable → Leading theory → Strong evidence → Measured. Open the Evidence scale button in “Before the Big Bang?” for the full explanation.
Made for teaching. Everything runs offline on this computer. The only network use is the optional update check, which sends just the version number.
Models of things nobody can photograph, such as the shape of our galaxy or the first stars, are labelled as models. Positions of galaxies and clusters are approximate.