Google Earth now scans the heavens

A new function in Google Earth has opened up the cosmos to Internet viewers. The new “sky” portion of the software allows users to view the starry skies, navigating through the galaxies with the click of a mouse, says Google spokesman Stefan Keuchel from the company’s Hamburg offices. Constellations, planets, and nebulae are all offered alongside information about their position, size and orbits.

The highest resolution images of space come from scientific installations such as the Baltimore’s Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). Views normally reserved just for astronauts are provided through 129 images of NASA/ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Animations illustrate the course of the moon’s phases and the position of planets two months ahead of time. The various stages of the life of a star are also depicted.