Bird’s Eye Tourist

Bird’s Eye Tourist: First Google brought us Google Local and Google Earth. Then Microsoft followed suit with Windows Live Local, featuring stunning new imagery. Bird's Eye images provide a high-resolution, low-angle aerial view of a small area.

This website is the definitive guide and repository for the coolest Windows Live Local locations.

NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29

On Wednesday, 2006 March 29, a total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor which traverses half the Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in Brazil and extends across the Atlantic, northern Africa, and central Asia where it ends at sunset in western Mongolia. A partial eclipse will be seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes the northern two thirds of Africa, Europe, and central Asia.

via NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29

GLOBE at Night

GLOBE at Night is the first international event of its kind designed to observe and record the visible stars as a means of measuring light pollution in a given location. Help us reach our goal of 5,000 observations entered on the GLOBE web site! Participation is open to anyone - anywhere in the world - who can get out side and look skyward during the week of March 22-29, 2006.

GLOBE at Night is an excellent activity for families and student groups, and requires no special training or instruction. The GLOBE at Night web site provides all the information needed to participate, including guides for teachers, students, and parents. Spread the word to your colleagues overseas, too, and help us reach our goal of 5,000 observations from around the world!

GLOBE at Night - Home page

Google Mash-up Showing Atomic Blast Effects

Eric Meyers has written a Google mash-up using AJAX that maps overpressure radii generated by ground-level detonations.

The radii are indicators of structural damage to buildings, however no other effects, such as thermal damage or fallout levels, are mapped.

The displayed rings are "idealized"-- they don't take into account terrain, weather conditions, etc.

Follow this link to view a 100 KT blast centered on Bounder, Colorado

via kartentisch.de

The Smallest Map Ever Made

Angels on heads of pins? Secret Soviet microdots? They have nothing on scientists from the California Institute of Technology.

Paul Rothemund, along with colleagues, have coaxed strands of DNA to make a shape that resembles the Americas.

This map is just a few hundred nanometers (billionths of a meter) across- a scale of 1:200 trillion.

They published their research in Nature.

via the BBC

Google Mars

The folks at Google have combined my two interests by creating Google Mars. This site combines their now-familiar map interface with three image-based datasets: elevation, visible and infrared imagery. They have also included 9 different point layers (including spacecraft, craters, and even news stories) that are searchable.

As interesting as this is, they still have some bugs to work out. Zooming in reveals a bizarre patchwork of "no imagery available" squares, that are intermingled with available squares. I much prefer the treatment they gave Google Moon-- zoom in far enough and you see what the Moon is really made of!

Welcome to Stellar Cartography!

No, you haven't wandered into an episode of Star Trek: TNG...

My two main professional interests are the educational aspects of astronomy and geography, and especially Geographic Information Science (GIS). My intent is to use this blog to share interesting bits of news from both disciplines.

So expect the unexpected! One entry might describe the latest astronomical discovery while another might point you to a novel online mapping site.

I hope that you find this blog informative as well as entertaining.

Clear Skies!