The three dimensional nature of the stars in the Pleiades is immediately apparent. Three dimensional distance data was obtained from the Hipparcos mission, and represents the most accurate map of the stars in our galaxy created to date. This animation shows a 24 hour period, zoomed in to the region near Saturn, and shows some of its Moons orbiting around the planet. Labels for all objects have been turned on. In addition to stars, deep sky objects, planets, and moons, The Digital Universe is capable of accurately determining the positions of comets, asteroids, and Earth-orbiting objects.
North is up, south is down, west is to the right, and east is to the left.
The names of all satellites are printed to the right of the objects themselves, and all non-satellite objects have been turned off on the display for clarity. In addition to seeing some satellites pass through the sky rather quickly, you'll also see others that barely move. That's simply because they are located further away and as a result take much longer to orbit around the Earth. Just as a point of interest, if a satellite is far enough away that it takes 24 hours to orbit the Earth, and is orbiting in the same plane as the Earth's equator, it will remain over the same spot on Earth at all times. Such an object is said to be in geostationary orbit, and a geostationary position is useful for all kinds of applications from telecommunications to weather monitoring.