Google Earth launches into space

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 22 August 2007 15:58

Your IT - Home IT

A new feature in Google Earth called Sky promises to bring the world of astronomy to viewers without the need of a telescope. Launched today, the new tool is claimed to enable users to view and navigate through 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies using high resolution imaging and overlays.

Users can access Sky by choosing a menu item from Google Earth which then enables them to navigate the heavens in a similar way they currently navigate streetscapes of cities.

Given the known universe is a rather expansive place to find your way around without a roadmap, Google has introduced some aids - or informative layers - which can be used to help users make sense of what to look for. The seven layers are:

•    Constellations - From Cassiopeia to Andromeda, the Constellations layer connects the points of constellations through space, labeling each with its given name.  Users can learn about the stars that make up their favorite constellations.
•    Backyard Astronomy - The Backyard Astronomy layer lets users click through a variety of placemarks and information on stars, galaxies, and nebulae visible to the eye, binoculars and small telescopes.  This layer is useful for the amateur astronomer who might benefit from a comprehensive, organised way to reference fragments of the night sky.
•    Hubble Space Telescope Imagery - The HST layer provides the user with over 120 beautiful high-resolution images provided by the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA/ESA's renowned orbiting telescope.
•    Moon - The Moon layer displays animations of two months of both lunar positions and moon phases.
•    Planets - The Planets layer exhibits the seven other official planets and their positions in the sky two months into the future.
•    Users Guide to Galaxies - The Users Guide to Galaxies layer enables users to go on virtual tours through different types of galaxies, from Ursa Minor Dwarf to the Milky Way.
•    Life of a Star - The Life of a Star layer takes the user on a tour through the different stages of a star's life cycle.

Sky was created by Google's Pittsburgh engineering team by stitching together imagery from numerous scientific third parties including the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Digital Sky Survey Consortium (DSSC), CalTech's Palomar Observatory, the United Kingdom Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC), and the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO). The initiative was born out of the University of Washington's participation with the Google Visiting Faculty Program, which makes it possible for leading academic researchers to visit Google with their work for 6-12 month periods.

"We're excited to provide users with rich astronomical imagery and enhanced content that enables them to both learn about what they're seeing and tell their own stories," said Lior Ron, Product Manager at Google.  "By working with some of the industry's leading experts, we've been able to transform Google Earth into a virtual telescope."

"Sky is a very cool new feature for anyone who has ever looked up at the sky and wanted to know more," said Sally Ride, former astronaut and CEO of Sally Ride Science.  "I think this is a great tool for satisfying that curiosity."

"Never before has a roadmap of the entire sky been made so readily available.  Anyone interested in exploring the wonders of our universe can quickly see where the stunning objects photographed by Hubble actually dwell in the heavens. Sky in Google Earth will foster and initiate new understanding of the universe by bringing it to everyone's home computer," said Dr. Carol Christian of STScI, who co-led the organisation's Sky team with Dr. Alberto Conti.

To access Sky in Google Earth, users need to download the newest version of Google Earth, available at: http://earth.google.com .  The feature will be available on all Google Earth domains, in 13 languages.  To learn more about Sky, view a demo here: http://earth.google.com/sky/skyedu or watch Sally Ride and Google engineer Greg Coombe showcasing some of Sky's capabilities here: http://earth.google.com/sky.