Google Earth shows the sky on openSuse 10.2
Downloaded and installed the latest release of Google Earth, 4.2.0180.1134 (beta). Here's a simple screenshot of it running on openSuse 10.2 and algol.
The latest version has a Sky mode (YouTube product demo), which is selected via a switch at the top of the window. I've spent a few minutes just looking at some of the pre-selected destinations under the Hubble Showcase. The example above is Messier 101.
There's just something seductive about flying around interstellar space from star to star, galaxy to nebula. I feel like a kid again in the 60's when I bought my first telescope at K-mart in Atlanta, a basic Newtonian with three eye pieces and a sun filter. It cost $50 of hard-earned yard mowing profits. The place I lived in at the time had a high hill in the back yard that allowed me to look down and over the roof of the house and into wide open sky. I remember seeing Saturn's rings, Jupiter and its moons, Mars, our moon, and the transit of Mercury across the Sun. I even invited a fellow star-gazer and neighbor, Mike Langford, over to look through it. The telescope was bare boned, and I had to learn to constantly shift and focus by hand to keep targets of opportunity in view. But I did learn, and it quickly became second nature with time and practice. I hadn't really remembered it much until now, running this version of Google Earth.
The latest version has a Sky mode (YouTube product demo), which is selected via a switch at the top of the window. I've spent a few minutes just looking at some of the pre-selected destinations under the Hubble Showcase. The example above is Messier 101.
There's just something seductive about flying around interstellar space from star to star, galaxy to nebula. I feel like a kid again in the 60's when I bought my first telescope at K-mart in Atlanta, a basic Newtonian with three eye pieces and a sun filter. It cost $50 of hard-earned yard mowing profits. The place I lived in at the time had a high hill in the back yard that allowed me to look down and over the roof of the house and into wide open sky. I remember seeing Saturn's rings, Jupiter and its moons, Mars, our moon, and the transit of Mercury across the Sun. I even invited a fellow star-gazer and neighbor, Mike Langford, over to look through it. The telescope was bare boned, and I had to learn to constantly shift and focus by hand to keep targets of opportunity in view. But I did learn, and it quickly became second nature with time and practice. I hadn't really remembered it much until now, running this version of Google Earth.
Ever tried stellarium? It does the same thing since ages and is not only free as in beer but also free as in speech. http://www.stellarium.org/
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