Surfing the Heavens
I am very happy today! One of my favourite applications has expanded to cover my favourite hobby as well. Google Earth now includes Google Sky, which is a sky-mapping software.
Google Sky has turned Google Earth’s concept completely on its head, literally. The camera which used to point down from the sky, can now point up at the click of a button.
While you can turn the constellation outlines on and off, you can also pan and zoom across the entire night sky. It uses, what I think, are high resolution photos of the sky, taken from observatories, and telescopes across the world, and beyond. That’s the best part about this software. There are no representations of objects. All are real photographs. Everything is real!
There’s a special layer called ‘Hubble Showcase’ to show mind-blowing images of deep sky objects. While trying out the software, I promptly zoomed in on my favourite spot in the night sky – The Orion Nebula.
Some of the deep-sky objects in Google Sky have detail photos, presumably taken by Hubble, or other orbiting telescopes. It contains a database of objects from the Messier catalogue and the New General Catalogue. It even allows you to watch the motion of planets across the sky using time compression. There is information on each object in the application, be it a star, a planet, a galaxy or a black hole.
And if you are thinking that this application is only for couch stargazers, or that it will kill star gazing, think again! There’s something for everyone here. I was always intrigued by Andromeda Galaxy, the twin to our own galaxy, but didn’t know where to find it. That’s when Google Sky’s search feature came to my rescue, taking me across the sky and right towards Andromeda. Such features will inspire more people to take up the hobby of star gazing.
Talking of sky mapping software, you should check out Celestia. It is a 3-dimensional view of space that will make you feel like Captain James T. Kirk. Celestia does not confine you to the surface of earth. You can move around planets and galaxies, and boldly go where no man has gone before! But this post is about Google Sky and I’ll end it here. I’ll talk about Celestia later.
