Google Sky Now Available Through Your Browser

Ars Technica brings word that Google Sky, formerly only available as an extension of the Google Earth software, is now accessible through your web browser. The interface of Google Sky is quite similar to that of Google Maps, complete with search and alternate views by spectrum. The story also mentions (and more importantly, links) ten of the more interesting sights. We discussed Google Sky's initial release last year. Quoting: "Visible light only shows us a small picture of the entire universe; non-visible spectra such as ultraviolet (UV), infrared and X-ray hold a whole other world of information. Here is where Google Sky becomes very cool. There are three more sections that highlight fantastic images from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the GALEX Evolution Explorer (UV), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (IR). What makes these very cool is that under each selected body there is a slider that will change the displayed image back and forth between the visible and invisible spectrum."

The Sky's the Limit

Cool. By the way, will they be blacking out (or "modifying") parts of the sky that contain things we're not supposed to see?

And what about Google OrbitView for virtual flights in and out of the satellites (and debris) around the earth... or Google Can

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http://google.com/mars [google.com]

Let's put a flag on the moon.

We probably won't be able to zoom in on Tranquility Base, where the Eagle hasn't landed *bleep*

Spitzer Space Telescope (IR)?

Come on, now! Somebody come up with a pithy post vis a vis Eliot, the telescope, and his lady friends. It's another 36+ hours until Jon Stewart is on the air.

Re:Spitzer Space Telescope (IR)?

Sure, ok. Viewing data from the Spitzer space telescope is going to cost you $5500 an hour.

Google Maps Off the Map

Anyone know why my Google Maps pages suddenly turned blank sometime last fall, when I apt-get upgraded a whole bunch of apps in Ubuntu (sometime after the release of 7.10)? I don't know which upgraded app caused it, because there was a week or two with a l

Re:Google Maps Off the Map

Hey Doc. I work on Maps and sometimes debug weird customer-reported problems like this.

Here's The Real Mikes three step guide to diagnosing and fixing Google Maps problems:

1. Create a new browser profile, using "firefox -ProfileManager". This effectively clears your cache, cookies, extensions and other settings that can interfere with maps. Does it work? If so, go back to your main profile and (in this order): clear your cache, delete your google.com cookies, revert any changed settings (especially network settings) in about:config, and finally start disabling extensions and then plugins (in particular, RealPlayer if you have it). If you have any web accelerator type mods to your Firefox, revert them too.
2. If that doesn't work, the next step is to look at your home router. Disable any firewall it may have, in particular, watch out for the "max pending connections" or "synflood protection" settings. Make sure they're either off or set really high. You may need to reset your router after doing these things.
3. Finally, try loading a satellite tile URL directly in your browser: http://kh0.google.com/kh?n=404&v=25&hl=en&t=trtqttrrttqts [google.com] - do you see a tile? If you get a connection timeout, but regular google.com works, see step 2 above. If you see an error page talking about viruses, make sure you're only using Google Maps/Earth to view imagery and not any other app.

To be honest, from your description it sounds like the first step will yield the most fruit - I include the other two for completeness (if people see Maps load just fine but you don't see the roadmap or satellite images themselves, those two steps can help). Probably your cache has corrupted somehow, either that or some of the files Maps needs aren't loading. If you can't figure it out and know how, I'd suggest watching what happens with the Live HTTP Headers extension.

Re:Google Maps Off the Map

You would think Google might have some sort of site where you could find these solutions. Some sort of searching system would be ideal.

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Thanks for helping :).

I got the tile [google.com]. Before I blow away all my useful history/state with (firefox -ProfileManager), is there another, less intrusive way I can test that technique? Like creating a new user with no profile, or creating them and running (fir

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Sorry, but I've looked into this extensively from the user side, on multiple different systems and browser setups, and you're wrong. This is what happens in userland:

If your connection speed TO GOOGLE drops below about 20k (as can easily happen on slow dia

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Thanks, I figured it out, and fixed it :).

It was a config:

general.useragent.extra.firefox.InternetExplorerSignature
user set
string
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)

I deleted the value and (right-clicked to) reset it, restarted Firefox, and a

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Hey Wilmer, beats cleaning the apartment I guess :)

Re:Google Maps Off the Map

So what component in Ubuntu is at fault then, so he can roll it back?

Somehow I think you're better at giving a hand waving reply here than knowing what you're talking about in this case.

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Except that I haven't seen anyone else with Ubuntu mention this problem, even though Ubuntu is the most popular desktop distro.

So despite your personal dislike of Ubuntu, there's no evidence that Ubuntu itself is to blame.

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I don't have any extra ad blocking installed or enabled, other than the default Firefox popup block.

Wouldn't Google Sky be more useful if...

Wouldn't Google Sky be more useful if you could enter a lat/long, and it could give you a picture of the sky from that location at a given time, related to NSEW, etc.? Then you could actually see that the bright object in the SE sky in the morning really is Venus, etc.

The problem with it currently is that there's no frame of reference. On Google Earth, you generally look at everything from some frame of reference, like you start with your house or the Eiffel Tower or Hoover Dam and start looking around from there.

Re:Wouldn't Google Sky be more useful if...

Then you could actually see that the bright object in the SE sky in the morning really is Venus, etc.

There's already plenty of software to do that: http://www.stellarium.org/ [stellarium.org]

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For a browser-based version: http://www.heavens-above.com/ [heavens-above.com]

Do not forget the hyphen - I tried going there by trying to remember the URL, and ended up somewhere that is NSFW

A little buggy

It seems a little buggy. Having found Mars, and found Venus, I decided to do what I do on google maps, just for a laugh. I guess I hoped for a "3 degrees up, 7 minutes right" or whatever, but instead I got some interesting results.


- 33 Results for venus to mars -
Head north on Blue Shore Dr toward Lakeside Dr
Blue Shore Dr turns left and becomes Lakeside Dr
Lakeside Dr turns right and becomes Shaded Trail
Turn right at Highway 109
Turn left at Highway 207 ....

infrared

The wide angle infrared view [google.com] is especially striking. I'm assuming the black slashes indicate missing imagery and not alien activity.

Hypercool!

Once again Google Creates something that is Hypercool. Well, it will be once they work out the bugs in the display.

it is broken

Search: "Extraterrestrial life" OR E.T. OR Borg OR "Death Star" "No results"

Distortion

Unluckily, that interface works only because nobody lives in the polar region (well... yes, nearly nobody). For the sky, polar area is a frequently watched part of it, which is hopelessly distorted. Perhaps they should make an alternative view for those?

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What would be the repercussions if, for example viewing certain systems in the x-ray wavelength was forbidden by some wild alien race? Would they go after the entire earth, the individual people who looked, or what? Ideas?

The Intergalactic RIAA has the cop

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Everyone knows that ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law. Just you wait, I guarantee the first signal SETI discovers will be a summons.