New Google Earth 4.2 Beta (with Google Sky!)
Wednesday, 22nd August 2007 by James Turnbull
I strongly suggest you download the latest beta version of Google Earth which has, amongst other improvements, Google Sky.
Head to the View menu and select "Switch to sky" to turn your view upside down and start Sightseeing amongst the stars.
Ogle Earth has the full scoop on all the new features.
I’ve been playing with it for about an hour, fanfreakintastic
I am a director of SKY-MAP.ORG. Go to http://www.sky-map.org and you will see that what Google has just announced already exists in web-based version for about a year. We have SDSS, IRAS, and H-Alpha surveys integrated in our system and we have 100s of millions of objects mapped. Only for HDF we have > 10.000 galaxies mapped. We also have articles related to hundreds of thousands of objects and many features that Google doesn’t have. We would be happy to find a way to cooperate with Google. Here are some links: Hubble Ultra Deep Field: http://www.sky-map.org/?img_source=IMG_all&zoom=13&object=udf Horsehead Nebula: http://www.sky-map.org/?object=Horsehead Nebula&zoom=9&img_source=IMG_all&img_borders=1 M45, The Pleiades: http://www.sky-map.org/?img_source=IMG_all&zoom=7&ra=3.772&de=23.948&img_borders=1 Thanks, K. Lysenko, SKY-MAP.ORG, [email protected], 416-8369785.
There’s a snail in the sky! Use your imagination with Taurus and Auriga.
The amount it zooms though when you type in the name of a constellation is too much though. You have to zoom out a long way.
Hey, there should be sights from Google Sky (I seriously imagine a Messier Catalog (or NGC or IC) Megapost) !
Wow, you guys totally got me pissed off (angry, you Brits:) ) that my telescope is broken again. Oh well, I live in a city anyway, lol. http://www.heavens-above.com has visible satellite predictions that are dead on as long as your location’s correct. It would be cool if they would team up with google and integrate that feature into Google Sky.
It’s a nice start, but needs more development. Check out this astronomer’s opinion: http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/08/22/google-sky/
Where is the Sun???
To see what Google Sky is trying to do, check out a program called Starry Night. It was so awesome to be able to do a quick scan of what’s out and then go outside and actually see for myself or go back afterwards and find out what I was looking at. Don’t fret, guys. There are lots of things Google Earth couldn’t do at first; hopefully this is just the first step of many to come.