A web application for visualizing astronomical HiPS data directly in the browser, embeddable in any webpage.
Aladin Lite is a web-based astronomical data visualizer that enables the direct visualization of HiPS (Hierarchical Progressive Survey) data from a browser. It is designed to be easily embeddable in web pages and powers major astronomical portals like ESASky, the ESO Science Archive, and the ALMA Portal. The project solves the problem of making professional astronomical data visualization accessible and integrable on the web, prioritizing performance through modern WebAssembly and WebGL2 technologies.
Astronomers, astrophysics researchers, and developers building astronomical web portals or applications who need to embed interactive sky maps and visualize survey data directly in a browser.
Developers choose Aladin Lite because it is a specialized, embeddable viewer for HiPS data with support for astronomical standards like FITS images, WCS parsing, and catalog overlays (e.g., SIMBAD, NED). Its unique selling point is its use of a high-performance Rust/WebGL2 rendering engine and its proven integration in major astronomical portals, offering both ease of use and professional-grade visualization capabilities.
An astronomical HiPS visualizer in the browser
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Uses a Rust/WebGL2 engine for efficient visualization of large astronomical datasets, as evidenced by its deployment in major portals like ESASky and the ALMA Portal.
Natively handles HiPS data, FITS images, and catalog overlays from SIMBAD and NED, making it ideal for professional astronomy workflows without custom hacks.
Can be integrated via a simple script tag or NPM package with minimal setup, and the README provides editable examples for quick implementation.
Supports key astronomical standards like WCS for accurate projections and AVM tags in JPEGs, ensuring interoperability with existing data sources.
The README lists HiPS3D, FITS tables, and all VOTable serializations as not yet implemented, limiting advanced use cases for research or 3D visualization.
Setting up the development environment requires installing Rust, wasm-pack, and managing dependencies, which adds overhead compared to pure JavaScript libraries.
The GPL v3.0 license may require open-sourcing derivative works, as noted in the README, which could be a barrier for proprietary or closed-source projects.