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Google Earth 4.2 - now with Sky 
On August 22nd we released Google Earth 4.2 beta (download here). This release includes a number of enhancements to Google Earth, and even a launch in the Netherlands, but the big new feature is out of this world.
Throughout history, people have looked up at the sky and tried to find order in the chaos of stars and planets. Now Google Earth 4.2 follows the tradition of ancient sky maps and astronomical computers with Sky, a new feature that lets you explore the universe.
Just as satellite imagery is stitched together to show our planet in Google Earth, Sky has imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope and various digital sky surveys to form the first-ever navigable map of the stars with all real imagery. Navigate just as you're used to in Google Earth - zoom in to distant galaxies hundreds of millions of light years away, see the planets in motion, and explore the remnants of cosmic collisions. It's like having a giant virtual telescope at your command!
  
(click for larger views of these screen shots)
To start exploring Sky today, download the newest version of Google Earth. To switch to Sky, click on the new Sky button on the toolbar at the top of the screen, or select it from the View menu. Sky comes with new layers in the lower left of the screen, such as constellations and a tour of the life cycle of a star. There are 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies in Sky just waiting to be discovered. To help you get started, we've prepared a short video.
There's so much more to Sky than what meets the eye. After you download the new Google Earth, check out our Google Earth Gallery for fascinating examples of natural phenomena, asteroids, or just take a tour of the sky  . Since people across the world all share the same sky, we're happy to announce we'll be making Sky available in 13 languages.
Other new features - Google Earth 4.2 also includes a new photo feature which allows you to place and view photos in a new way (more information). You can add photos in the same orientation as they were taken on Earth so that they align with the terrain, and view even very large photos (see the information about the new Gigapxl Photos layer below). Another new feature: embed YouTube videos in placemark descriptions (for now, only GE for Windows can see the videos). Documentation on the new KML 2.2 (beta) specifications include features of interest to KML developers.
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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 Imagery
- On July 26th we published significant new and updated imagery for Google Earth. The updated database includes new high resolution imagery for areas in the US, Venezuela, France, Italy, and Germany. We also have updated imagery for many other countries in every continent but Antarctica. See the Google Lat Long Blog for a full list of updates.
 New High Resolution Terrain - The resolution of the 3D terrain was updated significantly for the Eastern US (10 meters), West Virginia (3 meters), Alaska (60 meters), and New Zealand (10 meters). This means you now see much more realistic representation of the hills, mountains, and valleys for these areas. The terrain in the western US was upgraded in early June, and the Swiss Alps in February. Make sure you adjust your Options->3D View->Terrain Quality to a higher setting if you want to see the full effect. Click on the image to the left to see the New Zealand mountains in 3D.
New Layers - As already mentioned, Google Earth 4.2 contains a large number of new layers for the new Sky view. There are also new layers for the Earth view, which you can view after you download and install the update to Google Earth 4.2.
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 Google Book Search - This new layer is found under the Featured Content layer. When you turn it on you'll see small book icons scattered around the globe. Each icon represents a public domain book from Google Book Search which references that location. When the icon is clicked, a pop-up balloon will appear with the book's relevant snippet, along with links to the related Google Book Search page so you can see more content from the book, and put the snippet in context. (If you are not using the English language version of Google Earth, select "View->All Layers" in the Layers pane to see the layer.) For more information see this post.
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 Real-time Traffic - In February we added a feature to Google Maps to show real-time traffic for more than 30 cities in the US. Now, there is a new Traffic layer in Google Earth that shows the same traffic information. You can see a real time picture of traffic conditions to help plan a route or just check out how bad traffic might be in a city that you're exploring. Different colored placemarks will show you the current conditions, and even estimates on current traffic speeds. It's useful information to have at your fingertips whether you're house hunting or planning a trip.
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 Gigapxl Photos - If you are using GE 4.2, under the Featured Content section of the layers menu, you will see a new Gigapxl Photos layer. This layer has very high resolution photos taken by special cameras (read more at Gigapxl.org). If you double click the placemarks (or select the option "Fly into this photo") you will be shown the photo in a new 3D mode showing the position and angle the photo was taken. This means that outdoor photos will line up with the terrain behind them. You can navigate within these photos to move around or zoom into their high-resolution detail. Just use the on-screen controls or your scroll wheel mouse. Read more about navigating photos.
Updated Layers - The Geographic Web layer now has 500,000 more photos from Panoramio. The 3D Buildings layer has hundreds of new buildings from the 3D Warehouse. In particular, take note of Hamburg, Germany which has a large collection of 3D buildings covering much of the city.
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International Flight Animation
 This newsletter has often featured James Stafford's innovative work, which shows just what's possible with KML and Google Earth. Recently James used a database of flights from major airports in the US to international destinations and created a time animation showing the airplanes' paths. In this new KML, flight altitudes are exaggerated for easier viewing, and the flight paths are highlighted. Additional information includes destination labels with flight times, displayed when the planes land. The overall result shows American air traffic's reach across the globe. You can watch an example from several major US airports. Just hit the right-arrow "play" button to the right of the time slider after it loads. Or you can watch a video of the animation. James posted this animation on his blog of Google Earth KML content.
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