Virtual tours of the universe

Although primarily an astrophysics research group, the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing has placed a strong focus on providing quality public education in astronomy. Two of our biggest success stories have been the interactive AstroTour that uses stereoscopic (3D) projection to immerse the public in the Universe, and Swinburne Astronomy Online (SAO)—a nested online degree program aimed at a graduate level that is available to students from all over the world. We discuss our experiences with both of these programmes and how we have approached our goal of 'inspiring a fascination in the Universe'.