Google has released an updated version of its Sky Map app for Android with two significant updates. First, there’s now support for multitouch gestures allowing you to zoom or rotate the display using two fingers. Second, you can now “time travel.” Well, sort of.
While Google hasn’t actually packed a flux capacitor into a software update, the company has added a feature that lets you browse not just the night sky as it’s visible right now — but also as it looked in the past.
Just set a date, start running, and when you hit 88 miles per hour… wait, nope… just set a date and you can see images of the stars as they were positioned a hundred years ago, or a week from next Tuesday. You can also search for celestial objects to see their positions in the past, present or future.
Google Sky Map is available as a free download for Android 1.6 and up.
