Google Takes Map Program to the Stars

Google Sky will boot up computer-chair space exploration
By Heather McPherson,  Newser User
Posted Aug 22, 2007 12:28 PM CDT
Google Takes Map Program to the Stars
Samuel Widmann, Head of Google Maps and Google Earth gestures during a presentation of "Google Earth Sky" at the planetarium in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2007. Google Earth on Wednesday introduced the new feature Sky, a "virtual telescope" which enables Internet users to see more than...   (Associated Press)

Launching off of the success of Google Earth, Google launched a new program today allowing armchair astronomers to chuck the telescope and gaze at the heavens from their monitors. Google Sky will harness Hubble photos along with a database of information, and feature more than one million stars and 200 million galaxies, the BBC reports.

“It is a jolly good thing,” one UK astronomer gushed, complaining that light and air pollution can cloud a clear telescopic view of the heavens. For now, the service is free, but users will need to have Google Earth downloaded on their computers. (More Google stories.)

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