What's New in Google Earth?
Each month we highlight the newest additions to the built-in Google Earth content. If you haven't been subscribing to Sightseer for long, check the forum for previous editions.
Sky - The Next Generation
 At the start of the new year, we released new content and features for Sky in Google Earth. Sky is the feature introduced last August to Google Earth 4.2, which shows the night sky from the Earth perspective. This new update is particularly exciting for us because most of the new images, views and sounds have been developed by the Sky community. From views of the sky across the electromagnetic spectrum to exploring how the sky changes over time, there's something to satisfy everyone's interest in the stars.
To get started with Sky, start up Google Earth and turn on the Sky mode by selecting the menu View->Switch to Sky or click on the Switch to Sky button in the top middle of Google Earth. Try opening the new Welcome to Sky layer folder and click on the Getting to Know Sky layer to start a tour of Sky's features.
Once you have the basics, start exploring the many new layers in the update. The new Featured Observatories layer folder contains overlays of imagery showing the sky in many frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. There are also overlays of constellation illustrations, and historical sky maps. Make sure you turn on the layer View option to All Layers to open all the folders.
See our announcement for more details on the new Sky layers.
New and Updated Layers
Our first major layer update for Google Earth (not counting the Sky mode) was released on January 25th. Here are some highlights:
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 New Roads - 26 countries - The Roads layer now has detailed road information for 26 new countries: Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Place names in Taiwan, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Turkey.
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 Over 2 million new Panoramio photos - The Panoramio layer now has 4.5 million photos taken by people from all over the world. The photo layer is found under the Geographic Web layer folder. When turned on the layer shows small blue placemarks representing photos and where they were taken. The placemarks change to camera icons when you are zoomed in closer - the number of placemarks increase/decrease as you zoom in/out as well. When you click on the placemarks with your mouse, a description window appears. Click on a photo to visit the Panoramio site and see bigger versions of the photo or to read comments. If you are looking for a different perspective about a place or thing on the Earth, try turning this layer on to see if photos are available.
- Updated Earthquakes Layer - The Earthquakes layer is found under Places of Interest->Geographic Features->Earthquakes. With help from a team of USGS scientists, we re-engineered the layer to be more accurate and informative. Read below for more details.
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 National Geographic Magazine - The popular National Geographic Magazine layer (found in the layers under Gallery->National Geographic Magazine now shows places and articles for three new continents: Europe, Asia, and South America. These new additions feature interesting stories about everything from China's fearsome Taklimakan Desert, where Marco Polo traveled, to the hyacinth macaws of Brazil. Make sure you check out the popular National Geographic sublayer called Africa Megaflyover (more info).
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 Other Updated Layers - Other layers like those found in the Geographic Web layer, the Weather layer, and the Gallery->YouTube Videos layer are updated regularly. The YouTube layer is updating daily and shows videos people have mapped (you can find the mapping option under the "Edit Videos" link if you've posted a video on YouTube). If you haven't seen the YouTube layer since we introduced it in October, try it out again. There are thousands of new videos visible. (Note: the videos can only be viewed inside Google Earth in the Windows version).
Learn more
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showing six different proposals visible in Google Earth. Make sure to 