[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

I've just downloaded it and have fired it up. For the serious astronomer or not - I think that it's a potential killer app. For a first attempt it is incredible. The number of people that have now downloaded and used Google Earth is staggering - so to add this feature to the suite brings a tour of the night sky to millions more people who may never have thought of looking otherwise.

You can change your views to include a celestial compass, grids, etc. If there was an option to show a horizon line for you it would suit many, many people. Double-click on an object and Wiki fires up for you giving a full explanation of that object and a decent photo too. You can view the moon and the planets in motion for any given time.

I think that this is a very positive step to give the average Earth-bound non-astronomer a reason to look up and skip around the sky. Well done Google, I have to say. A bit more development and I reckon that it will be very good for most people.

Cheers
Chris