Celestron To Provide Google Users With An "Out Of This World" Interactive Journey

“SKY IN GOOGLE EARTH” ADDS AUDIO TOURS FROM THE CELESTRON SKYSCOUT PERSONAL PLANETARIUM’S COSMIC ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Torrance, CA (April 17, 2008) – Celestron, one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes and related accessories, announced that it will provide a series of deep space interactive audio tours for use with Sky in Google Earth.  Utilizing the award-winning SkyScout? Personal Planetarium?’s technology and knowledge base, Celestron’s SkyScout Audio Tours enable Sky in Google Earth explorers to embark on an interactive cosmic journey of discovery that includes in-depth information on everything from constellations to supernova explosions to hundreds of millions of stars.
 
The Celestron’s SkyScout Audio Tours will automatically appear in the Sky feature in Google Earth.  All deep space objects with available SkyScout audio files will be marked with a Celestron logo.  When the user selects the object, a virtual SkyScout audio player will appear and proceed to play the information-packed audio file as well as display the corresponding text. 

Sky is a feature of the very popular Google Earth application.  Sky in Google Earth allows anyone with a computer to view 3D images of nearly 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies, and with the addition of SkyScout Audio Tours, users will be guided through an interactive tour of the night sky that includes detailed information on all of the planets, stars, galaxies, clusters, nebulae, constellations, and asterisms that make up the universe. 

“The SkyScout Audio Tours are designed to give Sky in Google Earth enthusiasts access to a universe of knowledge and adventure like never before,” said Joseph A. Lupica Jr., president and CEO of Celestron.  “Together, Celestron and Sky in Google Earth transform the night sky into a personal planetarium, satisfying the natural curiosity to explore new frontiers, and creating a thirst for knowledge that will inspire the next generation of explorers and scientists.”

In accordance with the partnership announcement, Celestron is offering a $100.00 rebate to anyone that purchases its award-winning SkyScout Personal Planetarium between now and June 15th, 2008.