Simbad data in Google Sky

[Alasdair Allan]

Robert Hanisch wrote:
> This is no different from Aladin or any of the other visualization  
> tools we
> have for VO users, save for the fact that the VO tools in the  
> astronomy
> community are designed for astronomy-aware users who typically ask  
> to see
> catalogs of interest as motivated by astrophysical research questions.
> GoogleSky opens up these rich but intrinsically complex datasets to a
> potentially huge community, and there is a potential for significant
> confusion and misunderstanding.  (Note also that the geometric  
> projection
> that GoogleSky uses is worthless at the poles.)  I am not  
> suggesting that we
> should not provide this kind of access, but we need to think a bit  
> more
> carefully about how the capabilities of GoogleSky plus KML-based  
> catalogs
> will help people to understand astronomy.
>
> Perhaps we can have a discussion on this topic at the Interop in  
> Cambridge.

I think discussion of Google Sky, and KML, at the Interop would be  
very valuable. See the recent thread about KML in the DM list for  
example.

I don't think that ignoring Google Sky is an option at this point.  
Google has given the IVOA a new standard, and it's KML. I don't feel  
we have any option other than to push forward and support it as an  
alternative representation from the appropriate VO services.

We've got the example of the GIS people ahead of us, lets not make  
the same mistakes.

Al.