Sky’s the limit for Google
by Amy Paterson 
Scrap solar system mobiles, or archaic astronomy CD-ROMs, Google has taken viewing and learning about the night sky to a whole other level.
Google has recently released a new application that allows internet users to explore the night sky from their home computer.
The new feature, Sky, is part of the free online mapping service Google Earth.
What is Google Earth?
- Google Earth combines the technology of the Google search engine with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D building’s from around the world.
- Users can search for any location, even their home address, and a satellite image of these places become available at the press of a button.
- You can see the world as the astronauts do, or zoom right in and take a closer look at someone’s back yard.
Explore the Sky in Google Earth 4.2
As if being able to get free satellite images of the entire globe wasn’t enough, the new Sky feature enables you to explore beyond the earths atmosphere.
- Once users have entered a location, it’s as simple as clicking “Switch to sky” to view the stars above any area.
- Users navigate their way through the stars, planets and constellations the same way one would explore the earths images - rotate, pan and zoom.
- You can find out more about a star by just clicking on it and details are provided.
- Sky includes a whopping 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies for you to explore.
I don’t think I’m old enough to use the term “back in my day” yet - but when I was a kid, learning about the solar system was remembering what was on a poster on the classroom wall.
Of course, there have been improvements since then, but nowhere near the magnitude that Google has achieved.
Google Earth’s new feature has the ability to change the way children, or anyone for that matter, can learn about space.
Log on, look up, and see boyond.