Time Travel: A New Feature of Google Sky Map
The Mountain View-based search engine giant has recently announced that Google Sky Map, the Android app that puts the stars in your pocket, has been updated. What’s the big deal about that, you may be thinking, apps get updated all the time! The big deal is that this Sky Map update comes with a rather interesting new feature. A new feature that allows you to see how the sky looked in the past and see how the sky will look in the future.
With the latest version of Sky Map you can see how the sky looked like 27 years ago, back in 1983 for example. Alternatively you can see how the ski will look like 2 days from now. Here comes the kicker: you can also watch how the ski chances over time. Google’s Hector Ouilhet explains:
“Have you ever wondered how the sky was back in 1900? How the sky looked when the Apollo 11 moon landing happened? Or what the sky will look like next Thursday night for your planned star-gazing trip? Today, the new version of Google Sky Map lets you time travel to see the sky at a specific date, past or future. After smooth travel to the desired year, you can fast forward or rewind in various speeds and watch how the sky changes.”
The Google Sky Map was launched by Google at the Searchology 2009 event. Google Software Engineer John Taylor explained at the time that “Google Sky Map turns your Android-powered mobile phone into a dynamic window on the night sky. When you point your phone upwards you will see a map of the brightest stars, constellations and planets in that part of the sky. The next time you see a bright star and want to know what it's called, Sky Map can help you identify it.”
If you would like to get Google Sky Map, take out your Android-powered device and visit the Android Market, or take your Android-powered device and scan the QR code presented below. Please note that Google Sky Map works with Android 1.6 or newer.
Additional details on Google Sky Map are available here.
With the latest version of Sky Map you can see how the sky looked like 27 years ago, back in 1983 for example. Alternatively you can see how the ski will look like 2 days from now. Here comes the kicker: you can also watch how the ski chances over time. Google’s Hector Ouilhet explains:
“Have you ever wondered how the sky was back in 1900? How the sky looked when the Apollo 11 moon landing happened? Or what the sky will look like next Thursday night for your planned star-gazing trip? Today, the new version of Google Sky Map lets you time travel to see the sky at a specific date, past or future. After smooth travel to the desired year, you can fast forward or rewind in various speeds and watch how the sky changes.”
The Google Sky Map was launched by Google at the Searchology 2009 event. Google Software Engineer John Taylor explained at the time that “Google Sky Map turns your Android-powered mobile phone into a dynamic window on the night sky. When you point your phone upwards you will see a map of the brightest stars, constellations and planets in that part of the sky. The next time you see a bright star and want to know what it's called, Sky Map can help you identify it.”
If you would like to get Google Sky Map, take out your Android-powered device and visit the Android Market, or take your Android-powered device and scan the QR code presented below. Please note that Google Sky Map works with Android 1.6 or newer.
Additional details on Google Sky Map are available here.
