ann1202 — Announcement

Educational App with ESA/Hubble Content in New York Times Top 10 Best iPad Apps

18 January 2012

The New York Times has included the Back in Time app developed by the company Landka among its Top 10 iPad apps in 2011. ESA/Hubble went into partnership with Landka to deliver content for this educational app, which is an animated history e-book that guides the reader through time from the first moments of the Universe’s history until the most recent events. ESA/Hubble contributed images and animations for the first four chapters: The Big Bang, The First Stars, The Milky Way and The Solar System.

According to The New York Times: “The coolest history textbook you’ll find on the iPad, Back in Time tells the story of the Universe using a 24-hour clock, where the Big Bang starts the day and humans appear in the final seconds.”

An intuitive interface allows the user to scroll quickly through time, entering any major event in the history of our civilisation. Each event is documented with social and historical context, images, a timeline and a section devoted to little-known, but interesting facts. The nomination text recommends that, “The text is best suited to older children and adults, but it makes for great browsing for younger children too, and the subtly moving graphics provide a compelling backdrop.”

Supported in five different languages, the application is available worldwide on Apple’s App Store. A trailer for the app is available here.

Those who wish to access the best astronomical images from ESA/Hubble, can also download the free app Hubble Top 100 Images.