Mason Inman - science journalist

Now, instead of just looking down on the planet through Google Earth, the program that lets you see satellite images of the whole Earth, you can also look up into the sky.

With this new feature, inventively called "Sky," you can check out the constellations, high-resolution shots from the Hubble Space Telescope, and other features in the sky. You can zoom in, to some degree, the way you can zoom in on the planet's surface, but the Hubble images are pinpoint zooms, rather than the dynamic fly-in views that Google Earth is famous for.

So how long will it be before Google collects much of the astronomical data out there and puts assembles Google Universe? It's their stated goal, after all, to organize and make accessible all the world's data. So why not reach out beyond our planet?

To check out the new Sky feature, you have to download the new version of Google Earth, but if you're into astronomy, it seems definitely worth it.

Here's more info on the new feature, from New Scientist.