Sky

New Update to Google Earth: v4.2.0198

September 16, 2007

Last Wendesday, Google briefly pushed out a new version of Google Earth 4.2 with some minor bug fixes and one new feature. But, there were some problems and they pulled the update. The update as been re-released as Google Earth v 4.2.0198 (download the latest version here). This release mostly addresses some bugs from the first release of 4.2 on August 22nd (if you haven’t already read about 4.2’s new features – go here). But, there is one important new feature in this new release: the night sky mode now supports the SpaceNavigator! This means you can fly your way around the astrophotography with the handy SpaceNavigator (a 3D mouse you can buy which also works quite well in the normal mode of Google Earth).
Here are some notes on the fixes from the (release notes):

Support for SpaceNavigator in Sky
Spherical PhotoOverlays – there was a bug in the earlier release with spherical photooverlays. If you turned your view too far to the right or left, the image would flip. That has been fixed with this new release. A great example is this view inside a helicopter. Try it with the new version of GE 4.2.0196.
Better Sky Movement – when you move between different placemarks in Sky, the flying between points is smoother.
Fixed several crashes in PhotoOverlay
Reverted “Restrict time display to folder” checkbox default to off

Thanks to GEB reader ‘smokeonit’ for the tip on the new release.

Sky News Roundup: New Horizon, SpaceNavigator, Google plans for Sky

September 12, 2007

The new Sky feature in Google Earth 4.2 just keeps getting better. Here’s some new things for you to use and explore with Sky:

New Horizon Add-on for Sky – I previously mentioned about a Horizon add-on for Google Earth which was created by Michael Kosowsky of HeyWhatsThat.com. He E-mailed me today to let me know he had incorporated some suggestions I made for the add-on. You can now not only produce a horizon for your particular position on the Earth, but also get a version which uses the time slider feature of Google Earth to show you the horizon during the course of the day or night. He also has tried to simplify the steps for creating the KML add-on file. Here are some instructions from his e-mail:

To try it all out, head over to this web page.
Find yourself on the map. Select the next to last option (a
full day at one hour intervals) and hit “Submit.” When Google
Earth opens up with our overlays, open the “Sun, Moon, planets”
layer and double-click on “Sun” to center it, then start the
animation. You should be able to watch the Sun cross your
horizon. (Actually, your horizon crosses the Sun; you’ll understand
what I mean when you try it.)
Quick tips for running the animation: A slider appears on the top
right of the window when you load an animation. Hit the big
arrow to the right and stuff should move. There’s a cursor you
can manually drag. Click on the icon that looks like a clock to
the left of the slider to set options. More documentation here and here.

Note that if you save the network link in your My Places you will automatically have the horizon when you need it.
SpaceNavigator – The newest version of GE 4.2 (version 4.2.0196 was just released today – 12-September) now supports the very cool 3D mouse called the SpaceNavigator in the Sky mode. However, two of the axes are not set properly – you can fix this by bringing up the 3DConnexion control panel (usually the right button on the 3D mouse brings it up). Go to the Advanced settings pane and reverse the axes for “Pan Up/Down” and “Spin”. Now it will work properly in Sky, and its a great way to explore the Sky mode. But, when you go back to Google Earth, you have to reset the axes again. Hopefully, Google will get this fixed soon.
Google plans for Sky – Google, and the team of professional astronomers who helped develop Sky, have grand plans for getting the astronomy community to embrace Google Earth’s Sky mode. You can read a paper they’ve submitted here, and the full paper here (PDF). OgleEarth’s Stefan Geens summarizes some significant highlights from the paper here. I think this is great thinking, and have already encouraged some of my astronomer friends to look into it.

New Update to Google Earth: v4.2.0196 UNReleased

September 12, 2007

[UPDATE 2104 EDT: Google has decided to remove this update temporarily. They have told me they will have a new version posted “soon”. But, they will now go back to the previous – 4.2.0180 version until the problems are resolved. If you got it while it was still available, you can play with the couple of new features. But, there are some problems with it they want to resolve.]
Google has quietly pushed out a new version of Google Earth – 4.2.0196(download the latest version here). This release mostly addresses some bugs from the first release of 4.2 on August 22nd (if you haven’t already read about 4.2’s new features – go here). But, there is one important new feature in today’s release: the night sky mode now supports the SpaceNavigator! This means you can fly your way around the astrophotography with the handy SpaceNavigator (a 3D mouse you can buy which also works quite well in the normal mode of Google Earth).
A couple of things I’ve found which are fixed:

Spherical PhotoOverlays – there was a bug in the earlier release with spherical photooverlays. If you turned your view too far to the right or left, the image would flip. That has been fixed with this new release. A great example is this view inside a helicopter. Try it with the new version of GE 4.2.0196.
Better Sky Movement – when you move between different placemarks in Sky, the flying between points is smoother.

I have found a couple of problems with the new release: the 3D Enterprise I wrote about earlier today, for some reason doesn’t work with the new release (it uses GroundOverlay). Also, two of the axes with the SpaceNavigator are backwards in Sky. You need to use the 3DConnexion control panel to reverse “Pan Up/Down” and “Spin” while in the Sky mode. Then it will work, but you’ll have to change it back when you go back to Earth mode. I’ve already reported these to Google.

Google Earth Sky 3D Animation – Han Solo Escapes

August 31, 2007

Here’s a little Friday fun. Although the new Sky mode from Google Earth 4.2 is designed to look up at the night sky – and doesn’t have the ability to tilt your view like Google Earth – it is still a 3D view. So, I decided to add some 3D to Sky. Naturally, I decided to play with something from the Star Wars universe. So, I grabbed a nice model I found in the Google 3D Warehouse. Using SketchUp, I was able to place the model into Google Earth (with a bit of altitude) and then switch to Sky view. This showed the model, but it needed something else to show off the model. So, I asked Joey Wade, who has done lots of time animations with Google Earth, to create an animation with the model. He quickly agreed, and now you can see this cool 3D Sky animation which I’m calling “Han Solo Escapes “. After it loads in GE, switch to Sky view. Then double-click on the “Sky3d” folder in your Temporary Places. Then turn on the time animation by clicking on the right-arrow “play” button next to the time slider. Open the “Sky3d” folder and play with the different camera views while the animation is playing. Hope you like it!
Thanks to Joey Wade for doing the animation, and to IDW who posted the model to the 3DWarehouse.

Sky Goodies: Hubble Tracker, Sky KML Guide, Horizon Add-on

August 30, 2007

Here’s a collection of new goodies to play with for Google Earth’s new Sky mode (note, you must have GE 4.2 to see the new Sky mode – read about Sky here).

Hubble Tracker – Alberto Conti, of the Space Telescope Science Institute – and one of the scientists who developed the data for Sky, has posted a cool network link which lets you see the track and position of the Hubble Space Telescope in Google Earth. It automatically updates every 5 minutes to show you its current position as it orbits the Earth.
Sky KML Guide – A Googler has written a document explaining how to prepare KML files for Sky. It also explains how to convert the coordinates between normal GE and Sky. via Using Google Earth.
Horizon Add-on – One of the most frequently requested features in the last week, since Google’s Sky was released, is the need to show a horizon so you can know which stars are visible from your house at the current moment. Michael Kosowsky has created an application that will generate a horizon in Sky, and it shows the position of the sun, moon and planets as well. This technically makes Sky into a “planisphere” showing your sky as it is now. The network link automatically updates to show you the planisphere for the current time. It may be a bit intimidating at first, but follow these instructions and you’ll find it isn’t too hard. These steps are necessary so you get the horizon for your particular location on the Earth. If you are too impatient, here is a KML for London, England .
1. First visit his site HeyWhatsThat.com
2. Next, check “All Panoramas” at the top and see if your location has already been calculated by looking for it on the map. Or in the list in the View menu. If your location isn’t listed, simply select “New Panorama” at the top and find your location on the map. Follow the instructions to set your location and Submit request. After a couple of minutes you should get a map showing your location.
3. Now in the upper right above the map, look for View in Google Earth -> by night and select the night link. You will get a KML file taking you into Google Earth. Choose “Switch to Sky“.
4. Once it loads, I recommend you click and drag the “Planisphere” network link for your location from the Temporary Places into your My Places. You can turn it on when you need it the next time you’re looking at Sky. Since it is a network link it will automatically reposition the horizon and planets to their current position.
5. For further reading, here are Michael’s technical notes from his FAQ on the horizon feature. It shows you how to do even more with the network link. Great work Michael! I think Google should talk to you about making this a permanent feature in Sky.