I just got a new Android phone and was looking at some of the zillion apps that are available and ran across this one from Google and thought this would be something really cool to have out on the boat next summer. We anchor out a lot and look up at the beautiful stars and wonder whats going on up there. The way I understand it, you launch the app, point the camera on your phone up at the sky and it tells you the name of the stars and the constellations they belong to. If you have a favorite planet you can use the search mode and the app will find it in the sky for you. I will be looking forward to trying this out next spring on the boat. Here is the promo video from the Google Sky Map development team. Maybe some smart sailor-programmer out there can use this app in developing a star-navigation aid.
