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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, you might want to check the forum for previous editions.
 New and Updated Layers
- On September 19th we added a new Preview layer in Google Earth (found under Geographic
Web->Preview). This layer (visible only in the latest Google Earth 4.2) shows you a sample of premium content from
other layers, but reduces the number of points of interest so that your
view remains uncluttered and easy to explore. It is a great way to
become familiar with available Layer content. And if you like what you
see, just click Show this layer link in the appropriate
placemark. For example, if you learn that you enjoy placemarks from the
National Geographic layer, you can view all available content by clicking the
link. Similarly, you can click Hide this layer to hide the
layer's icons. Learn more
about using layers.
 Gigapan Photos - This new layer, found under the Featured Content layer, shows high resolution photo panoramas using the new photo
viewing tool in GE 4.2. Click on a Gigapan placemark icon and select
the "Fly into this ultra high-resolution panorama" link. Then
zoom in to see how much detail each of these photos provide. Check out
the one in Yosemite, California for a particularly good example.
Updated Version of GE 4.2 - If you installed the new version GE 4.2 beta in late-August, you may want to update by downloading Google Earth again. We updated GE 4.2 in mid-September to fix some issues with the initial beta version. See the release notes.
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Google Earth Flight Simulator
Word is out that the new version of Google Earth 4.2 (download here) includes a hidden Flight Simulator, first found by Marco Gallotta. To find the Flight Simulator, enter "Lilienthal" in the "Fly To" box, or type Ctrl-Alt-A in Windows/Linux, or Command-Option-A on a Mac. Once you've found the simulator, "Enter Flight Simulator" will appear in the tools menu in Google Earth for future use. When you open the Flight Simulator, the following request window will appear (click the thumbnail for a bigger version), and you can choose your plane and airport.
The simulator is meant to be easy to fly, even for non-pilots. There are no complicated engine-start or takeoff procedures - simply add power (press the PAGE UP key) and off you go. Once you've found a nice vantage point, you can use the space bar to pause the simulator and enjoy the view for a moment. Then, keep your location constant while you look around using the CTRL and arrow keys. Flying is easiest with mouse controls (or a joystick if you have one), but the full set of keyboard controls gives you greater functionality.
 
Frank Taylor, author of the Google Earth Blog, has compiled a video with flying tips, which you can use to get started.
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| Google Lunar X PRIZE
We're thrilled to be sponsoring the Google Lunar X-PRIZE, which will award a total of $30 million to teams competing around the world to land privately funded spacecraft on the Moon.
 In honor of the announcement of the new award, we released a new map of the moon called Google Moon. This update brings higher-resolution map imagery, text search, and photos and stories from every Apollo landing. We even included Street View-style panoramas of the moon's surface, taken by the Apollo astronauts. Check out the about page for more info on all of these features. And, we have plans to release a version for Google Earth as well.
For some interesting space-related Google Earth content, check out the X PRIZE Cup space archives. This year's Wirefly X PRIZE Cup will be held on October 27 and 28 at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.
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| International Cleanup Weekend: Think Globally, Clean Locally
We here at Google Earth love the earth so much that we decided to spend a whole weekend cleaning it up! On October 13th and 14th, Googlers and Google users around the world will be heading out to clean up local parks, beaches, trails, and other places close to home. As you may remember, tools for annotating maps were once limited to Google Earth Pro users. Then we expanded to Google Earth free... but this still wasn't enough. Now, we've made these available to all Google users, even ones who don't know KML, by giving them a way to create maps easily with free, web-based tools inside Google Maps.
 So with this power at the world's fingertips, what better way to use it than to create a map of a cleanup! We are excited to share that we have already received almost 100 cleanup maps from Googlers, with posted plans to involve over 900 of their friends, co-workers, and family.
We want you to join in too: The more, the merrier, since many small cleanups add up to have a big impact. If you keep your cleanup small (groups of 6-10 people work best) and close to home, you can be sure that you're doing what's most important to your neighborhood. After your cleanup, put photos and videos of your cleanup group at work online to share them with the world.
Be part of this local, yet global effort: Organize your own cleanup and submit it to us for inclusion in our world cleanup map. If you create your map in Google Earth, just open the KML file in Google Maps to submit. Get started!
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| Calling all KML authors!
 You might have seen the cool KML files our users have created in the Google Earth Gallery. We've featured subjects from a travel guide to Nova Scotia to a history of the Mongol empire to reports of Bigfoot! Now, it's your chance to have your KML files featured. Once an invitation-only submission process, we're opening up the submissions to everyone! Submit your favorite KML creations, and if we think they're particularly cool, we'll feature them for millions of Google Earth users to see. If you see an exciting KML that someone else has written, you can email them the submission link so that their work can be featured too.
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Sky Add-Ons
Since we introduced the night sky to Google Earth in 4.2, we've had a chance to see some of the amazing Sky content produced by our users. Sky uses the same KML file format as Google Earth (just add a hint attribute to denote the file as Sky rather than Earth), so it's easy to create interesting new visualizations. Here are some highlights of our users' creativity:
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 Real Planets  - James Stafford's network link KML shows the current position of the planets in the sky. You can zoom in on the planets, the sun, the moon, and even dwarf-planet Pluto to see greater detail. Read more here.
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 Horizon Add-on - Michael Kosowsky has produced an add-on that shows the current position of the horizon relative to the sky (also known as a "planisphere"). Begin by entering your address on his website, HeyWhatsThat.com, then scroll down and select "Submit". This will generate and load a Google Earth network link. When you switch to Sky, you'll see green lines representing your current horizon and angles in the sky. Read his FAQ for more details.
- Han Solo Animation - Frank Taylor and Joey Wade posted an animation in Sky showing a 3D model of Han Solo's spacecraft.
Watch it in Google Earth by pressing the play button to the right of the time slider.
- Hubble Tracker - Alberto Conti, of the Space Telescope Science Institute - and one of the scientists who worked on Sky, has posted a cool network link which lets you see the track and position of the Hubble Space Telescope in Google Earth. It automatically updates every 5 minutes to show you its current position as it orbits the Earth.
- Sky Forum - If you want to contribute content to Sky, or see what other people are sharing, check out the Sky Forum.
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Educational Uses for Google Earth
 Teachers and students should be aware that Google Earth is a great tool for education. And, it's not just about geography. Google Earth has been used by educators in many subjects including: science, literature, history, cartography, GIS, and more. Check out some examples like: Places quoted by Shakespeare or the Lewis and Clark Expedition .
For Google-created resources, teachers should visit our Google Earth for Educators site, or check out some Sky lesson ideas. For some ideas from our users, see the JuicyGeography blog by Noel Jenkins in the UK, or a summary by Frank Taylor at the Google Earth Blog.
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Tips & Tricks: Navigating in Sky
Navigating in Sky is just like navigating in Earth. To start, go to the View menu and select "Switch to Sky". You can also click the Sky button  . Once you've changed from Earth to Sky, you will see the sky above your previous location in Google Earth... so you can compare the view outside your window to the view in Sky.
Navigating in Sky is like viewing the heavens in a 360-degree planetarium, without the Earth blocking your view. This means you can view the sky in any direction seamlessly, without needing to move to a new location in Earth.
Just like in the rest of Google Earth, you can use the controls in the upper right-hand corner (left corner in some language) to navigate, or just use your mouse. You can drag the sky around for a better view, or zoom in using the zoom slider to get close-up views of stars millions of light years away. The only thing you cannot do in Sky is tilt your view.
To find more content or to remove existing content, look to the Layers panel in the bottom left corner of the screen (bottom right in some languages). Here you can turn on or off the information that is overlaid on the sky, like constellation lines or dots denoting star names. (To see the stars themselves, uncheck the "Backyard Astronomy" layer.) Whenever you turn on a layer, you will see new placemark icons on the sky. Clicking on an icon will usually open an information balloon with more content about that object or location.
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