Google unveiled the second iteration of Google Sky for Google Earth at the Astronomical Society's annual conference in Austin, Texas. Among the more notable additions is podcasting that's been integrated into the Earth and Sky layer. These short 90-second podcasts will tell you anything that's coming up this week (or that's historically taken place), and you can listen to them right from the app via a small Flash player.
In addition to the podcasts, Google's now including a smattering of map variants including a really neat Rumsey one from the 17th century that's a healthy reminder of how far celestial cartography's come. It comes from the same David Rumsey collection found in Google Earth, and when overlaid on current constellation maps, it's fascinating to view the similarities, despite the depiction of constellations as giants and creatures from geese and dragons, all the way to giant crabs.
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