Digital Journal — First Google gave you the Earth, now they give you the Sky. The do-it-all tech company has launced a free feature in Google Earth to let wannabe space explorers see close-up images of galaxies, planets and stars.
The Net application known as Google Earth, which offers satellite pictures of anywhere on the planet, is expanding its portfolio to give users Google Sky — a glimpse of 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies. Information on 20,000 celestial bodies, including planets and constellations, are available at the click of a mouse.
Chikai Ohazama, a Google product manager, told ABC News:
This is an application that allows you to see the sky at very, very high resolution, as if you were just flying through the universe and seeing and visiting galaxies. You can zoom in very, very close and see the actual spiral, a galaxy and the clusters around it.
Google Sky’s photos were provided by many observatories, including the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and the Space Telescope Science Institute.
The Times reports on various ways to take advantage of Google Sky:
Users can also take virtual tours through galaxies such as the Ursa Minor Dwarf and the Milky Way, and watch the life of a star from formation to supernova and beyond.
And ABC News spotlighted one of the app’s most unique features: type in your address and the program automatically shows you what the sky above your home looks like. And if there’s a black hole above your roof, no problem — Google Sky lets you zoom in on that region of space.
So how do you find this free feature if you’ve already downloaded Google Earth? CNET sums up the process succinctly:
A tiny round black icon with a planet resembling Saturn will then appear in the toolbar. Click on this to switch from Google Earth’s Earth mode to Sky mode. Alternatively, one can also choose ‘Switch to Sky’ from Google Earth’s View menu.
Without a doubt, this tool is a powerful add-on to Google Earth. Downloaded more than 250 million times, Google Earth has long been the ideal toy for travellers, mapmakers and anyone curious about stunning geological wonders. Now Google Sky makes space exploration a valuable hobby for any armchair explorer. Not only has Google given us a terrestrial scan of the world, but now their venture into space is empowering anyone who is searching the sky for answers to life’s most intriguing questions. Like, what does Ursa Major look like up-close? Is Mercury better looking than Neptune?
Finally, Google comes to the rescue to answer those all-important queries. Who knew a virtual telescope could be so useful?
