Comments on: asleep at light speed

asleep at light speed

plexi — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:47:36 -0800

Google Sky we'll help us find our way, someday.

By: uaudio

uaudio — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:51:40 -0800

or another day.

By: uaudio

uaudio — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:53:49 -0800

I'm not calling dupe, but on rereading it seems that way. I just also like the sky-view in Earth.

By: swift

swift — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:19:36 -0800

s/we'll/will/g

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:25:41 -0800

Needs more ads.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:47:44 -0800

Homophones strike again!

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:48:58 -0800

I find it odd that they don't link the image of the Moon to Google Moon the same way that Earth links to Google Maps. It's much improved since its original debut, and bundling it with this new release of Sky would be a great way to help promote an underrated resource.

By: DU

DU — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:57:54 -0800

I find Google Sky (and Earth Sky, if that makes any sense) incredibly hard to use. But maybe that's just because I'm less familiar with the sky than the Earth.

By: empyrean

empyrean — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:03:29 -0800

Homophones strike again! That is not the right kind of lifestyle! Studies show no society that has totally embraced homophones has lasted more than a few decades.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:16:50 -0800

I don't like it. For one thing, how come when I search for "Sirius" I get what looks like a cardboard cutout sundown. (Ice cream for crow.) Homophones strike again! If you speak like Speedy Gonzalez.

By: sindark

sindark — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:21:02 -0800

A lot of the imagery here looks really cheesy. Look at the big blue pointy thing beside Mercury. (Click the 'Solar System' link in the bottom right corner.)

By: quin

quin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:27:57 -0800

Heh, that's cute. When you click on the Earth from the Solar System panel, it loads up Google Maps. Which naturally makes me wonder when they will have Google Moon available. I mean, what is the fastest route from the Sea of Tranquility to the Euler crater?

By: Bernt Pancreas

Bernt Pancreas — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:37:25 -0800

Bah. Until they release Google Dungeon Dimensions, they're just mailing it in.

By: andeles

andeles — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:46:21 -0800

Google Moon is available, and you can use it to follow the courses of various Apollo missions.

By: mr_book

mr_book — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:48:45 -0800

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:52:49 -0800

One of the things I really like about it is that it bring up the scale of astronomical objects in the sky. Lots of nebulae are about the same size as the full moon in the sky. M31, the Andromeda galaxy, is substantially bigger in the sky than our own moon is. They're just very dim, is all.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:20:54 -0800

M31, the Andromeda galaxy, is substantially bigger in the sky than our own moon is. They're just very dim, is all. posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:52 PM on March 14 And this is why you never buy telescopes based on magnification power. And I'm going to take this opportunity to shill once again for my favorite open source software project Celestia. It is the most realistic fly-through-the-universe astronomy program I have seen, and the developers are very dedicated to scientific accuracy. And you can download higher resolution textures if you want more detail. Here's a sample movie showing off high resolution textures and texture mapping. This video was captured in real time, it wasn't pre-rendered. I've run it at 1920x1600 over 30fps. They just released a new version, 1.5.0, as well.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:46:43 -0800

I mean, what is the fastest route from the Sea of Tranquility to the Euler crater? Asking for directions? Must be the First Woman on the Moon ! Sexism demonstrated only for purposes of instilling minor humour. Your results may vary

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:56:06 -0800

But where do I click to get the really important maps?

By: quin

quin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:25:45 -0800

Google Moon is available, That is so freaking awesome. I make a joke and suddenly it is reality. Hmm, lemme try this out: I can't wait for Google Cash Dispenser; where, by means of heretofore unknown technologies, Google turns my laptop into a machine that will spew $50 and $100 bills out of the CD slot... *waits*

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:28:22 -0800

It will help us find our way someday? Search for: Earth No results. So, not today for damn sure.

By: [son] QUAALUDE

[son] QUAALUDE — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:17:59 -0800

On a tangentally related note: i really can't wait until google declares itself an independant, pan-dimentional para-intelligent entity and embarks on the true great work of mankind: google universe

By: sir_rubixalot

sir_rubixalot — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:37:02 -0800

I am slightly disappointed with Google Sky; here's hoping it gets better in the future. And I am still waiting for WWTelecope

By: pombe

pombe — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:31:57 -0800

My god, it's full of stars.

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:24:48 -0800

Pastabagel mentions Celestica, Stellarium is another great open source one which is more focused on planetarium-type display. (And is evidently actually built in to one commercial line of planetarium projectors?) Those crazy French and their ortolans and astronomy software projects.

By: A dead Quaker

A dead Quaker — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:30:47 -0800

Tangentially related: Wayne Rosing, the first VP of engineering at Google, left the company in 2005 to work on detection of near-Earth objects.

By: entrepreneur35

entrepreneur35 — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:27:34 -0800

This is really cool. Microsoft is releasing the worldwide telescope as well, I hear.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:46:53 -0800

Google Universe already exists. Unfortunately, it only scales to 1:1.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:37:35 -0800

They're just very dim, is all. *raises hand, drools a bit*

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:46:41 -0800

That is so freaking awesome. I make a joke and suddenly it is reality. See also: Google Mars. (Be sure to check out the different views. Yes, really.)

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 08:50:22 -0800

It'd be funnier if they named somewhere on the moon "green cheeseland."

By: richdan

richdan — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:45:23 -0800

Amazing. When can I go?

By: oxford blue

oxford blue — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 05:21:57 -0800

There's a hole in the sky, through which things can fly.