From Search Wars to Star Wars

Maybe the best way to sum up the differences is that Google Sky is like going into your backyard and finding that your eyes have been enhanced by supertelescopes. The WorldWide Telescope, on the other hand, is like importing a multimillion-dollar planetarium onto your desktop, with dazzling multimedia tours of distant galaxies available on demand, and a nagging question forming in your head: "Is this on the quiz?"

But by and large, this battle for the skies is not as much a tale of competition but one of inspiration. "Everyone in the astronomy community is thrilled that two of the biggest companies in technology are making this type of investment," says Eli Bressert, who refines the images captured by the Chandra telescope. "Google Sky and WorldWide Telescope will democratize the universe." Maybe one day Saturn will be brought to you by General Motors and candy-bar ads will be amended to the Milky Way. But as for now, both Google and Microsoft are aiming for the heavens in more ways than one.

© 2008