Users of Google Earth will now have a new feature that lets them turn their gaze to other worlds, Google announced Wednesday.
Sky, a tool included in the newest version of Google Earth, allows users to view and navigate their way through high-resolution images of 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies. It also offers seven layers of information on celestial phenomena, including sections on constellations, the life cycle of a star and photos from the Hubble space telescope.
"We're excited to provide users with rich astronomical imagery and enhanced content that enables them to both learn about what they're seeing above and tell their own stories," Lior Ron, Google product manager said in a press release. "By working with some of the industry's leading experts, we've been able to transform Google Earth into a virtual telescope."
The feature is only accessible on the newest version of Google Earth, which can be downloaded from the company's website. Users can either select "Switch to Sky" from the "view" menu in Google Earth, or click the Sky button on the Google Earth toolbar. The interface and navigation are similar to that of standard Google Earth.
Google created Sky by piecing together images from several sources, including the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, CalTech's Palomar Observatory and the United Kingdom Astronomy Technology Centre.
No comments:
Post a Comment