Anyone with a mobile phone running Google's Android operating system should never be in the dark again about what they're looking at in the sky. A new program called Sky Map uses not only GPS signals to tell users what stars and planets are visible in the sky at their location, but actually shows what celestial objects the phone is pointed at.
How does it do this? Fortunately, not by some sort of creepy spying technology that sees your surroundings via your cell phone.
Instead, it uses the phone's magnetometer as a compass and its accelerometer as a plumb line to determine which way is down. That tells you which way the phone is pointed, and GPS signals and the phone's clock tell you what's in the sky at that time - a setup used by some existing handheld devices.
Because it doesn't need to see anything, the program works if you point your phone through the Earth, so you can see what people on the opposite hemisphere might be looking at. You can also search for objects of interest, like Mars, and Sky Map will show you where to look for them.
My cell phone isn't running Android, but I'm curious about the new program and wonder just how accurate its pointing system is. It's certainly more high-tech than how I've previously used my cell phone to find out what I'm looking at in the sky - by pestering more knowledgeable friends with text messages. (Image: Google)