Google Sky Map
Latest
Track the majesty of outer space with SkyWatch
Staring up at the night sky can give you a sense of galactic FOMO, since none of the celestial bodies bother to update their Twitter accounts. What if, however, you could keep track of the ongoing drama from your phone? That's the idea behind SkyWatch, an app that recently won NASA's International Space Apps Challenge. By harnessing the administration's Gamma-Ray Coordinates Network, the software combines real-time telemetry data with Google's Sky Map, enabling you to know what cosmic events are unfolding right above your head. Or, at least that's the plan. The online variant of SkyWatch is currently running, with the caveat that it's a prototype, but the company is already working with NASA to develop a commercially available app version. In any case, being able to tell your friends that a sun is going supernova above their heads is far cooler than just pointing at a star and saying "that's Orion's Belt, er, probably."
Google Sky Map boldly explores open source galaxy
Via its Research Blog, Google has announced the donation of the Sky Map project to the open source community. Originally developed by Googlers during their "20% time," the stellar application was launched in 2009 to showcase the sensors in first generation Android handsets. Four years and over 20 million downloads later, Sky Map's code will be donated to the people -- with Carnegie Mellon University taking the reins on further development through "a series of student projects." Hit the source link for the official announcement and a bit of nostalgia from Google.
