I like to think Neil Armstrong would have loved to have this app on Columbia while en route to the moon). So you’re in fine company making adjustments via manual rotation. (It’s important to note here that for all their multi-million dollar equipment, the Apollo astronauts had to look out the windows and make star readings to confirm they were on course. You can also put it onto manual mode, meaning you can browse around the sky using your fingers, like an actual map, rather than using the internal gyroscope and twisting and turning to get the right angle, which can be helpful for compensating for when the app just doesn’t seem to be showing you what you’re pointing the phone at. Google Sky Map has funky features such as a night mode that turns the map to a dark red hue, meaning your eyes don’t have to adjust as much to look at the screen (great for maintaining your night vision), a time travel feature so you can see what the sky will look like at a particular date, or you can use one of the range of historic and popular presets, you can zoom in and out by pinching your fingers as you would on a webpage, while tapping the screen brings up a sidebar where you can flick on and off things like galaxies, grid lines, planets, constellation names and so forth. Well, not entirely, but you get the idea. Then it’s essentially a matter of taking the phone and holding it towards the sky. The app works off your GPS and Wi-Fi to figure out your location, then uses your phones internal gyroscope and accelerometer to calculate what direction you’re pointing your phone in. So often, we look up and can pick out a few constellations (Little Dipper, the Southern Cross, Orion), but Google Sky Map helps you can see so much more. On the whole, Google Sky Map is a fantastic app. Factor in that, outside of the major cities, we also have less air and light pollution, and you can get an unrivalled view of the universe right from your very own backyard. If you’re fascinated by the night sky, but don’t want to shell out hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on a telescope, Google Sky Map is a great way to introduce yourself to the world of star gazing.Ī stroke of astronomical luck means that the Southern Hemisphere points roughly towards our galactic centre – this means we see more stars than those folks in the Northern Hemisphere. Unlike Timon and Pumbaa, we don’t have to look up and dream about what the sparkly dots are. Timon: Pumbaa, with you, everything’s gas. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away. Fireflies that, uh… got stuck up on that big bluish-black thing. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners.Pumbaa: Hey, Timon, ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there? If you are interested in what's happening on the sky tonight or over the next few months then check out the podcasts from Earth and Sky or search for the position of your favorite planet.ĭisclaimer: WebCatalog is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by or in any way officially connected to Google Sky. As you explore these new layers, play with the transparency to blend between the different wavelengths and see how different parts of the universe light up at different wavelengths. We are particularly excited about the ability to view the universe at different wavelengths, to see how it would look if our eyes worked in the x-rays or infrared. You can find the positions of the planets and constellations on the sky and even watching the birth of distant galaxies as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Using Google Maps this tool provides an exciting way to browse and explore the universe. To help you explore the far reaches of our universe, we have teamed up with astronomers at some of the largest observatories in the world to bring you a new view of the sky. Google Sky: Traveling to the stars has never been easier.
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