I was reading back over some of my old columns this week not because I can’t remember them all (well there is that too) but due to a question I received this week from Larry.

Larry wanted to know, "Since you are the big Google devotee, why have you never written about ‘Google Earth’?"  Well right after reading his email I thought I had, so I proceeded to check my almost 500 columns I have written over the past years.  Guess what?  Larry was correct; I have mentioned it three times in the past and once even stated, "…for a real trip try ‘earth.google.com‘."  Google Earth must be downloaded to your computer so after doing that, install it and let’s take a look.

Google Earth is a powerful mapping tool that you can use to plan trips, get directions, etc.,  pretty much like all the others out there.  Once you check your map you can also zoom around 3D photos of buildings in many major areas.  However; there isn’t that much detail of the Shenandoah Valley.

Besides regular satellite maps you can also view the sky at night and see where all of the celestial bodies are located from your backyard.  You can also zoom in on many of them and get information about them.

Another neat feature I was using for the first time while writing this column is the moon view. At the moon you can look at the areas where the astronauts explored in the last century.  There are small flags all over its surface.  When you click on a flag you may get details of that area.  With some clicks you get a short movie narrated by former astronauts.    I spent way too much time clicking, looking, watching and reading there today.

Did I mention you can do pretty much the same thing on the planet of Mars?  Go give that one a whirl.

After you are finished with maps of your neighborhood, looking at your friends’ swimming pools and the heavenly bodies, where else do you think you could go?  Correct, to the bottom of the ocean with some other interesting factoids about areas and objects there.  To dive into and view the ocean depths make sure you cut on "Oceans" and "Terrain" in the left panel for the best features.

Oh well, I have to go now, I want to go see exactly where we went on vacation this summer.  Let me know how you use Google Earth or interesting things you’ve found there.

Tags: globe, google, google earth, map, mapping, maps, Ron Doyle, world