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What's
New in Google Earth?
Each
month we highlight the newest additions to Google Earth content and news.
If you haven't been subscribing to Sightseer for long, check the forum
for previous editions.
Introducing Google Earth 5.0
Introducing Earth 5.0 : Monday February 2, 2009, Earth 5.0 was released with three new features which enable users to dive into the ocean, travel back in time, easily create a narrated tour in Google Earth and share it with friends, and visit Mars.
- Ocean in Google Earth: a new feature that enables users of Google Earth to dive beneath the water surface, explore 3D under water terrain and browse ocean-related content contributed by leaders in ocean science and advocacy.
- Historical Imagery: a feature that enables users to virtually travel back in time through archival satellite and aerial imagery.
- Touring: a simple new way for users to to create narrated tours of imagery and content in Google Earth and easy to share with the world.
- Google Mars 3D: this is the latest stop on Google's virtual tour of the galaxy. Users can travel to Mars with the click of the button and see high resolution imagery and 3D terrain.
Imagery Update in Washington, DC
 On January 18, two days before
Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th president, we pushed out an imagery
update for the Washington,
DC area including the
National Mall area. Much of the new imagery is from 2008.
Part
of the new imagery shows clearer imagery to the US Naval Observatory.
We've also released some imagery from the day of the Inauguration, which
you can read about below.
New Google Earth Help Forums
If you
ever have questions regarding Google Earth, be sure to check out our
brand new Help
Forum for Google Earth or our Help Forum for
Google Maps. Since its launch on January 16, hundreds of questions
(and answers!) have already been posted. Come check it out
if you need help with any aspect of Google Earth or Google Maps.
High-res Paintings in Google Earth
 You can now view
from a collection of ultra high-res paintings from the Prado Museum
("Museo Nacional
del Prado") in Google Earth. The 14 selected paintings each have a
resolution of up to 14 gigapixels, which is
over 14,000 megapixels. This amazing resolution allows you to zoom in and
see the smallest details in these beautiful paintings.
The
new Prado layer also includes 3D models of the buildings, allowing you to
experience the museum as if you were actually there.
To
view the paintings, simply select 3D
buildings from the layer folders area in your left panel,
then search for "Prado" in the search box at the top. Once
there, you can click on an icon to view each masterpiece. For help in
navigating through the photos, please see this
brief tutorial.
Santa Tracker 2008 Statistics Report
Once
again, the NORAD "Santa
Tracker" proved to be a big hit. There were around 9,000,000 unique visitors on Christmas Eve who downloaded the
tracker. NORAD and Google will be following Santa again in 2009.
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