Google+Sky

=**Google Sky (New feature in Google Earth 4.2)**=

**Description**
[| Google Sky] is a component that was embedded in the new Google Earth 4.2, a three-dimension software designed for exploring the earth’s surface. Sky mode in Google Earth allows users to switch from exploring the earth to exploring outer space, using the same technology and interface as Google Earth. Therefore, users can rotate, pan, zoom-in to see the galaxies in close or search for particular constellations and other astronomical objects in the space. Moreover, Google Sky also provides explanations, information balloons and further links for those who want more advanced details and knowledge about astronomy. Google Sky, in other words, is a new plug-in for Google Earth 4.2.

All the images that users see while using Google Sky are more than one million stars and 200 million galaxies in high resolution that were stitched together from photographs taken by Hubble Space Telescope and other leading astronomy observatory sites around the world.

[|Click here for Google Earth User Guide]

**History**
Initially, Google Earth did not belong to Google Inc.; instead, it was known as “Earth Viewer" and was under [|Keyhole Inc].However, after Keyhole Inc. merged with Google Inc. in 2004, the name “Earth Viewer” was replaced by “Google Earth” in 2005.

Google Sky was developed by Google's Pittsburgh engineering team to enable Google Earth to view the sky. It was released officially with Google Earth 4.2, on August 22, 2007. Google Sky was a cooperated project with several famous observatories, such as (1) [|Sloan Digital Sky Survey], (2) Digital Sky Survey Consortium, (3) [|The Second Palomar Observatory Survey (POSS-II)] in California, (4) [|The UK Schmidt Telescope], (5) [|NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute].

**Impact on Teaching and Learning**
Google Sky will offer great materials to both educators and students, inside and outside the classroom. //**“ I think it will certainly be a great education venue”**// [1] said **[|S. George Djorgovski]**, a [|Caltech] astronomer professor, to the [|New York Times] about Google Sky on the day of launching the latest version of Google Earth 4.2. Teachers can use Sky mode in Google Earth for preparing astronomy lessons, while students can take advantage of using Google Sky for their independent studies and searching for more information about space and universe.

Google Sky will help schools, teachers, and students to meet National Science Education Standards. According to National Science Education Standards ([|NSES]), earth and space science is one of eight content standards that is required to be taught in schools throughout the United States [2]. Moreover, NSES also established a content framework for grades 9-12 students requiring they able to describe the origin and evolution of stars, galaxies, and the Universe.[3] Therefore, the supportive Google Sky will help the United State’s educational system to achieve their standards.

It will bring equality into education. Low budget schools are able to have this software for their educational use as well as the big schools because Google Earth 4.2, with its embedded Sky component, is free software. Moreover, students can download it to their own computers for their own use as well. Furthermore, Google Earth 4.2 also supports 14 languages, such as Arabic, Czech, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, along with many others. This will allow students from all around the world to acquire astronomical knowledge in their own languages.

[|Learn more about setting the languages click here]

Google Sky will benefit all people who are eager to learn about astronomy at anytime anywhere. It will allow individuals to explore science and space through computers at home without waiting until the nighttime and without paying a great deal of money for a good telescope, and other astronomical equipments. Learners will see the same pictures of the sky on their computer’s screens as they view through the famous Hubble Space Telescope.

In addition, there are many potential beginner astronomers who would like to observe the sky at night but unfortunately they could not do so in some big cities such as Las Vegas, New York, Bangkok, Tokyo, and etc, because the sky at night in these areas are flooded with light. The light will ruin the bare eye sky observation, and annoy the precious process of light calculation of the telescope. This limitation in learning astronomy will be solved by “Sky mode” in Google Earth.

From now on people can learn about the stars and space through their computers at home**.** [|Click here to watch video about Google Sky and education]

**Practical Application**
= = Google Sky in Google Earth 4.2 is used for viewing, exploring, and finding the stars, the planets, constellations, galaxies, nebulae and their information in visual reality.

Users can view and observe their locations from above by setting the current place they are living in Earth mode. Once they switch to Sky mode, users then will see the stars and constellations on their screen as it will appear on the sky dome above their places. [|Learn more how to use “Sky” mode in Google Earth 4.2] [|Click here to download Google Earth 4.2] [|Click here for system requirements]

**Example or Demonstratio**n
= = [|Click here to watch Google Sky video tutorial]

A user wants to see how the sky above Honolulu looks at night, what constellations that they can see at night, and how can they identify which one is the one that they are looking for. Here is the directions. - Open the application, Google Earth 4.2 - In the search box type the word “Honolulu” and press Enter or click on magnify glass button. As a picture shows below.
 * First example**



- Users will see the island of Oahu and Honolulu from the top view.

- After that, switch to Sky mode by clicking on the menu bar, **//View//** > **//Switch to Sky//** or click on the icon

In the classroom, a teacher may want to show the picture of Andromeda Galaxy to students. This teacher can just switch Google Earth to Sky mode, and project it on the screen. When the teacher puts the word “Andromeda Galaxy” in the search box and search for it by clicking on the magnify glass icon or pressing Enter on the keyboard, the class will feel like they are flying to the Andromeda Galaxy.
 * Second example**

Try to search for “Crab Nebula” which is well known by astronomers. Teachers may ask some questions to students first such as, who knows Crab Nebula? What does it look like? Then, teacher shows the Crab Nebula on the screen to the whole class. It will look like a picture shows below. And for more information about Crab Nebular click on the symbol of Hubble Showcase icon Then the program wills pop-up an information balloon about Crab Nebula, and links to further information about it.
 * Third example**

Finding information about Saturn can be an exiting thing for students. After they find the planet, they need to click on it and a balloon of information will be appear. The balloon will provide physical information about Saturn, and a link to Wikipedia for more information in detail. Moreover, students can see the movement of its orbit by clicking at Planet in motion bar, it looks like a time line on the upper part of the screen, then students can see the planet moves around. However, now the program is not able to search for planets directly from the search box.
 * Fourth example**



Searching for a constellation is easy just put the name of a wanted constellation such as “Leo” then press Enter. The screen will appear similar to the figure below. Then teachers or students can pan and zoom by using mouse or keyboard to see the stars, its constellation structure, and the bright star or galaxy near by.
 * The last example**



**References**
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/technology/22sky.html [2] Science Content Standards http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/6a.html [3]Jeffrey Paul Adams, Journal of Geoscience Education, V. 48, 2000, p.39

http://earth.google.com/sky/partners.html http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/earthsky_20070822.html http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/ug_sky.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6955787.stm http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/23/headlines/headlines_30046176.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/08/20/daily17.html?ana=from_rss

//Sirichoke Namsong (Sam) Educational Technology student at the [|University of Hawaii at Manoa]. Email : namsong@hawaii.edu//