Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 11, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
A new version of the Sky space extension in Google Earth is now available. It includes displays of current cosmic events as well as a selection of historical star maps and virtual space travel. This allows amateur astronomers to explore outer space on their computers, with the aim of providing real educational value. “We worked with NASA, ESA and other organisations,” Google spokesperson Stefan Keuchel told pressetext.
“What users can see is the actual arrangement of planets and stars,” Keuchel said. According to Google, current celestial events such as comets and asteroids are now also displayed. Historical views are also possible, for example based on drawings of 50 constellations by German astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687), published posthumously in 1690. “As far as I know, Google Earth is absolutely suitable for educational purposes,” Maria Firneis, a planetary scientist at the University of Vienna’s Institute of Astronomy http://www.astro.univie.ac.at, told pressetext on request.
However, Firneis said Google Earth’s scientific value is often limited because the data used are not sufficiently up to date. She cited cloud data for the Earth view as an example. “Google Earth is also an offering aimed more at private users,” Keuchel noted. After the Earth itself, the newly expanded features – such as information on celestial objects, Hubble Telescope images and a virtual flyover of one hundred interesting points in space – are intended to bring astronomical content closer to users. A “Sky Community Layer” also contains the best user-contributed content to date.
The expanded Sky offering is part of version 4.2 of Google Earth and is available to download at http://earth.google.de. The basic version for private users is free; paid versions with an expanded range of features are also available. Whichever version a user chooses, a click can switch “between space and globe view,” allowing users to explore space instead of the Earth in Google Earth.
Further links:
- Google Earth
