Google Street View of the Galaxy

Not content to map everything in sight and even out of sight, Google is apparently ready to set its sights way up high, to be more precise, at 119,617 nearby stars. While the video above simply takes you on a voyage, try the interactive tool in the link below to “navigate” thru this galaxy of stars. You might want to do this on the Google Chrome browser.

100,000 Stars is an interactive visualization of the stellar neighborhood created for the Google Chrome web browser. It shows the location of 119,617 nearby stars derived from multiple sources, including the 1989 Hipparcos mission. Zooming in reveals 87 individually identified stars and our solar system. The galaxy view is an artist’s rendition based on NGC 1232, a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way.

Who knows, maybe one day, astronauts will be relying on Google Streetview of the Universe to find their way around. Just don’t play the “Sandy Island” prank on us, though, Google. Don’t.

Visit the 100,000 Stars site.