Google Maps service (Google Maps) is one of the most powerful mapping services in the world. Its capabilities allow you to enjoy satellite images of the surface of our planet. You can also use the interactive map, easily plot a convenient route from point A to point B, get up-to-date information about traffic jams and much more. At the same time, not all users are fully familiar with the capabilities of this service, which in a certain way prevents its full use. This material is designed to eliminate such “blank spots”; in it I will talk about Google maps, which are available online in real time and in excellent quality, and I will explain in detail how to use their capabilities.
We study the functionality of the online service “Google Maps”
Google Maps is a web service that provides detailed visual information about geographic regions and places around the world. In addition to displaying a conventional road map, the service also offers aerial and satellite imagery of various locations, including images taken using a variety of vehicles.
This is what the Google Maps start screen looks like: Google Map includes several popular services:
- The route planner offers the creation of routes for drivers and pedestrians who want to get from point A to point B;
- The Google Maps API makes it possible to insert maps from Google Maps into various websites;
- Google Street View (Google Street View) allows users to view the streets of various cities around the world, virtually moving through them;
- Google Maps for mobile platforms offers the use of GPS navigation of mobile devices to position the user on the map;
- Ancillary services offer images of the Moon, Mars, clouds, etc. for astronomers and just amateurs.
To start working with Google maps in full screen, launch the service google.ru/maps. A schematic map of the world will open in front of you (depending on the user’s location, usually this is a map of Europe).
Instructions for using Google maps
The Google Maps service interface looks like this:
Additional options in the Menu item
Also in the Google Maps menu bar, which opens by clicking the menu button at the top left, the following useful options are presented:
- « Satellite» - switches to photographic map display mode created using satellite photographs. Clicking this option again switches the map back to schematic mode;
- « Traffic jams»—shows current traffic jams in major cities. The color gradation from green to red shows the speed of traffic in the indicated traffic jams;
- « Transport» — allows you to display a diagram of public transport movement in the right place;
- « Relief» – will allow you to display the relief of a given area
- « Transfer of geodata» - allows people to track each other's location using Google Maps;
- « My places» — allows you to navigate between places you added in the Google Maps service;
- « Your impressions» - will allow you to add some text impression about any of the places on the map (as well as attach a photo of this place).
Activating Google Maps satellite view
Displaying Google maps using satellite photos is one of the most popular forms of working with the Google Maps service. It allows you to enjoy the view of the desired geographical location, created using satellite images, as well as images from special devices operating at bird's eye height (from 240 to 460 meters).
The resulting photographs are regularly updated (their age is no more than 3 years). They enable each user to enjoy a satellite view of the desired places, visually plot the most convenient road from one place to another, and so on.
Google Earth - allows you to enjoy high-resolution images
Among the capabilities of the Google Maps service is the Google Earth service. In addition to the technology of the already well-known satellite mapping of the surface of the globe, Google Earth allows you to view 3D images of many colorful places, while photos of some famous tourist sites have the highest resolution.
A special feature of this service is also two, in our opinion, main functions:
Conclusion
The Google Maps service allows you to both view satellite maps in real time for free and use various forms of navigation to plot a user-friendly route. At the same time, Google Maps' competitors - Yandex.Maps, Bing Maps, Apple Maps and other analogs are generally inferior to Google maps both in coverage area and in general functionality. Therefore, we recommend using Google maps to search and visually view the geographic location you need.
Google Maps is a leader among modern mapping services that provide satellite interactive maps online. At least a leader in the field of satellite imagery and in the number of various additional services and tools (Google Earth, Google Mars, various weather and transport services, one of the most powerful APIs).
In the field of schematic maps, at some point, this leadership “was lost” in favor of Open Street Maps - a unique mapping service in the spirit of Wikipedia, where every volunteer can contribute data to the site.
However, despite this, the popularity of Google Maps remains perhaps one of the highest of all other mapping services. Part of the reason is that Google Maps is where we can find the most detailed satellite photos for the largest regions of any country. Even in Russia such a large and successful company as Yandex cannot surpass the quality and coverage of satellite photographs, at least in its own country.
With Google Maps, anyone can view satellite photos of the Earth for free almost anywhere in the world.
Image quality
The highest resolution images are usually available for the largest cities in the world in America, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Asia, Oceania. Currently, high-quality images are available for cities with a population of more than 1 million inhabitants. For smaller cities and other populated areas, satellite imagery is only available in limited resolution.
Possibilities
Google Maps or “Google Maps” was a real discovery for Internet users and indeed all PC users, giving an unheard of and previously unseen opportunity to look at their home, their village, cottage, lake or river where they vacationed in the summer - from a satellite. To see it from above, from a perspective from which it would be impossible to see it under any other circumstances. The discovery, the very idea of giving people easy access to satellite photos, fits harmoniously into Google's overall vision of “easily providing everyone with access to any information on the planet.”
Google Maps allows you to see from a satellite simultaneously those things and objects that cannot be observed at the same time when observed from the ground. Satellite maps differ from ordinary maps in that on simple maps the colors and natural forms of natural objects are distorted by editorial processing for further publication. However, satellite photographs preserve all the naturalness of nature and the objects being photographed, natural colors, shapes of lakes, rivers, fields and forests.
Looking at the map, one can only guess what is there: a forest, a field or a swamp, while on satellite photography it is immediately clear: objects, usually round or oval in shape, with a unique swamp color, are swamps. The light green spots or areas in the photograph are fields, and the dark green ones are forests. With enough experience in orientation in Google Maps, you can even distinguish whether it is a coniferous forest or a mixed forest: coniferous has a browner tint. Also on the map you can distinguish specific broken lines piercing the forests and fields of the vast Russian expanses - these are railways. Only by looking from a satellite can one understand that railways have a much greater influence on the natural landscape surrounding them than roads. Also in Google Maps, it is possible to overlay maps with the names of regions, roads, settlements on a national scale and the names of streets, house numbers, metro stations on a city scale on a satellite image of an area or city.
Map mode and satellite view mode
In addition to satellite images, it is possible to switch to the “map” mode, in which it is possible to view any territory on the surface of the Earth and study in detail the layout and location of houses of any more or less large city. In the "map" mode it is especially convenient to plan your movements around the city if you have already seen enough satellite views of your city.
The search function by house number will easily point you to the desired house, giving you the opportunity to “look around” the area around this house and how you can drive up/approach it. To search for the required object, just type in Russian in the search bar a query like: “City, street, house number” and the site will display to you the location of the object you are looking for using a special marker.
How to use Google Maps
To begin, open some place.
To move around the map, left-click on the map and drag it in any order. To return to the original position, press the centering button located between the four direction buttons.
To enlarge the map, click on the button "+" or roll the mouse roller when the cursor is over the map. You can also enlarge the map double click mouse in the location you are interested in.
To switch between satellite, mixed (hybrid) and map views, use the corresponding buttons in the upper right corner of the map: Map / Satellite / Hybrid.
Google Virtual Map of Mars is an Internet application that is very similar to Google Earth, the map of Mars is also made on this engine. This color map of Mars is nothing more than a 3d topographic map of Mars. This gives us an idea of the heights of the area. This Google map of Mars also lets you switch between visible and infrared views in real time. The switch buttons are in the upper right corner.
Control
In Google Maps of Mars, you can move up, down, left, or right using the arrow buttons in the top left corner of the screen. To zoom in and out of the Google Mars map, simply move the tool's slider. It is also on the left side.
This map of Mars, based on images from the Mars Odyssey probe, is a mosaic of images obtained from orbit.
If you're wondering why Google Mars maps are clearer in infrared, it's because the planet's clouds and dust are transparent to infrared light.
Additional features
In the search bar, you can look for objects that interest you, for example Mount Olympus - Olympus mons and read its description and detailed photographs. To return to the map, press "Backspace". There is also a search for pre-selected groups: spacecraft, mountains, volcanoes, craters, canyons, etc. To do this, click on the corresponding link to the right of the Google icon.
Topographic map of Mars
Pyramids and Face on Mars
If you don't know how to Google Mars pyramids, it's pretty easy. The Google Mars program allows you to quickly search. You can view the coordinates on Google Mars, but searching for them does not work.
Region Cydonia
Cydonia, some translate as Cydonia, is a plateau located in the northern hemisphere of the planet and famous for the fact that the numerous hills of this region, according to the first images of the Viking 1 orbiter, resembled the Face (by the way, Google Mars, allows you to see in one click), the Sphinx and pyramids.
Subsequently, more detailed images of the Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft (the Google Mars service also uses their images) showed that these hills have nothing to do with the activities of supposedly intelligent representatives of the planet, and what previously seemed quite meaningful figures appeared in the form normal Martian landscape. However, interest in these formations does not fade and therefore pyramids on Mars are quite easy to find on Google Mars. Just type Cydonia in the search bar and switch to infrared mode. The Google satellite map of Mars shows the Face and just below the pyramid. We hope that with Google Mars you will constantly discover new finds for yourself.
The Google coordinates of the Mars pyramid are as follows - 40.75N, 9.46W. By the way, the Google planet Mars pyramid coordinates allow you to calculate the coordinates quite easily, just select the object you are interested in and the necessary information of interest will appear in the drop-down menu.
Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris is the longest and deepest canyon in the solar system. It is a companion to the tallest mountain in the solar system, Mount Olympus, which is also located on the red planet. This couple demonstrates what extremes can be found using Google Mars online. To search for a valley, just type “Valles Marineris” in the map command line.
Valley dimensions
The Valles Marineris is about 4,000 km long and 200 km wide, in some places the depth reaches 7 km. It runs along the equator and covers almost a quarter of the planet's circumference, or 59% of its diameter. The Google map of Mars shows that the Valles Marineris system is a network of interconnected depressions that start in the west and Google shows this well. Noctis Labyrinthus or “Labyrinth of Night” is considered the beginning of the Valles Marineris. The canyon passes through various areas of chaotic terrain (ridges, crevasses, and plains mixed together) before ending at the Chryse Planitia basin.
The most common theory for the formation of such a huge canyon is that it was formed by stretching of the surface layer. The theory is confirmed by erosion and destruction of the rift wall. Rift valleys usually form between and during the formation of two mountain ranges.
History of discovery
The mighty canyon is named after NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft, which first photographed it at close range in 1971-1972. Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, ahead of the Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions.
Valles Marineris on Mars has been the focus of many scientists' attention due to its geological past. It indicates that Mars used to be much wetter and warmer. If you are looking for interesting places on Google Mars, then this valley is rightfully in the TOP5.
Software updates
In 2012, the Google Mars program was significantly updated. The reason for this was that by that time there were as many as three orbiters circling the red planet in orbit, continuously imaging the surface in different ranges and with different resolutions.
Much of Google Mars' content is now captured by the Context Camera (CTX) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The Google map of Mars has a pretty good resolution - 6 meters per pixel - this is significantly better than most of the images of our Earth in Google Maps (about 15 meters per pixel) and significantly exceeds previous photographs of the planet.
Telescope in orbit
The latest Google Mars map shows individual areas of the surface with a resolution of 25-30 cm per pixel! This is thanks to the HiRISE camera, which is installed on the MRO satellite. The HiRISE camera is actually a telescope with a main mirror diameter of 30 cm! Despite the monstrous detail, it will take many years to completely map the planet with such resolution, so scientists are interested in the most relevant regions of the planet and the work sites of the Mars rovers, of which there are now two (Curiosity and Opportunity).
A collection of photographs captured by the HiRISE camera
To view in full screen mode, use the button at the top right.
Do not forget that such bright colors of the planet are due to the fact that the camera captures part of the infrared range. Images obtained using different filters and wavelengths are necessary to identify various surface features and mineral deposits.
Google Mars has paid a lot of attention to Gale Crater. The new version of Google Mars shows fresh satellite images in a gray scale, so they are easy to distinguish from old ones and remember that these are not artifacts of Google Mars, despite the fact that quite a lot of interesting objects were discovered on the Google Mars map.
Lava tubes on the surface
Quite interesting formations are collapsed lava tubes - channels that are formed during the uneven cooling of lava that flows from the slopes of the volcano. So the virtual map of Mars allows you to look not only at well-known objects, but also at quite rare geological formations. However, the Google Mars map is just high-detail images, so we recommend Google Mars 3D maps, which quite well convey the feeling of being on an alien planet. I’m especially pleased that recently it has become possible to watch Google Mars in Russian. So the Mars Google Mars application is not only a good visualization and technology demonstration tool, but also a whole multimedia entertainment center that allows you to make exciting trips around the red planet.
3D view
The Google Mars 3D map allows you not only to explore the planet, but also to make a virtual journey, because the relief map of Mars conveys the surface of the distant planet much more realistically. In 3D mode, users can enjoy a bird's eye view of the surface of the planet, and Google's 3D map of Mars makes it possible to virtually move to the most popular objects, consider the “Face on Mars” and Olympus Volcano.
This view from the Google Mars satellite was obtained using NASA's modern Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express, as well as from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
A little about the planet itself
After Earth, it is practically the only place in the solar system that could shelter people. But there are many things we must overcome on the red planet.
Orbit
The orbit of the planet of the “god of war” ranks second in eccentricity in the solar system. Only Mercury's orbit has a greater eccentricity. At perihelion it is located at a distance of 206.6 million km from the Sun, and at aphelion 249.2 million km. The average distance from it to the Sun (the so-called semi-major axis) is 228 million km. One revolution of Mars takes 687 Earth days. The distance to the Sun changes depending on the gravitational influence of other planets, and the eccentricity can change over time. As recently as about 1,350 million years ago, it had a nearly circular orbit.
At its closest point, it is located approximately 55.7 million km from Earth. The planets come closest to each other every 26 months. Due to the vast distance, a trip to Mars will take 10 months to a year, depending on how much fuel we use.
Size
Mars is very small and the global topographic map of Mars shows that its area is very small. Mars is only 6,792 km across, about half the diameter, and only 10% of the mass of Earth. Google's satellite map of Mars allows you to view the planet as if you could stand on its surface. Mars, but unfortunately does not convey to us that we would experience only 30% of the gravity on the surface of the Earth.
Seasons
Mars, like all the planets in the solar system, has an axial tilt of about 25.19 degrees. This tilt is similar to Earth's, so it has seasons. Martian seasons are longer than Earth's because the year on Mars is almost twice as long as the Earth's year. The dramatically varying distance between Mars at aphelion and perihelion means its seasons are out of balance.
Day
One day on Mars is only a few minutes longer than on Earth. You can adapt quickly. Another advantage is that the tilt of the Martian axis is very similar to the Earth's; it is a pity that the online map of Mars from the satellite does not show this.
Conditions
But Mars has a very inhospitable environment. It is only 1% of the thickness of the Earth's atmosphere. It consists mainly of carbon dioxide. You won't be able to breathe in such an atmosphere. Night temperatures can drop to -100°C, even in the height of summer at the equator. A high-resolution interactive map of Mars shows the huge polar ice caps at the planet's poles.
One of the most important problems is the planet’s lack of a magnetosphere. Here on Earth, radioactive particles from space are deflected away from the surface, but on Mars there is no protection.
Finally, I recommend watching the popular science film The Mars Underground.
Aerospace engineer and President of the Mars Society, Robert Zubrin dreams of sending humans to the red planet in the next 10 years.
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The red planet Mars, next after Earth and fourth from the Sun, is perhaps the most mysterious of all the objects in the Solar System. It is easy to distinguish in the night sky by its characteristic reddish tint.
Mars makes one full revolution around the Sun approximately 687 days. And this is not surprising, because they are separated by 230 million kilometers! Days on Mars are only slightly different from those on Earth. There they are 24 hours 39 minutes 35 seconds.
A manned project on the red planet is still in the future, but already in our time, modern rovers have explored every centimeter of its surface, thanks to which there is already a map of Mars - Google Mars.
Another gadget that allows you to view the surface of the planet Mars in high resolution is presented in the window below. Unlike the version presented above, in this interactive window you can very well view the planet from all sides. The best browsers to use are Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Google Planet Mars
(use your mouse to rotate and zoom in on the planet)
Google gives us the opportunity to see a 3D view of the surface of the red planet.
There is no reliable information about life on Mars yet, but there are some sensational facts. Mars has two "Moons" of its own. These are Phobos and Deimos. Our ancestors believed in the negativity that this planet carries, which is why they named it after the god of war, and its satellites - Fear and Terror. This is how the words Phobos and Deimos are translated. Both of these satellites have an irregular shape, which is an exception in the Solar System.
Have you ever asked yourself the question: " Why is Mars red?? ". This shade is given to it by iron oxide (i.e., ordinary “rust”) contained in the Martian soil. The highest mountain in the Solar System, Olympus Mons, is located on Mars. Its height is three times greater than Everest. But all these facts are overshadowed by one thing - there is water on Mars! True, it is there in the form of ice. Scientists have proven that it once flowed freely there in the form of rivers, etc.
The largest canyon in the Solar System is also located on Mars. This is the Valles Marineris. The most important reason for the lack of life on Mars is that it has no magnetic field, and therefore no protection from solar radiation and asteroids.
Two thirds of all attempts to explore Mars have failed. This is a big problem for scientists, because in order to send rovers and orbitals to the planet, huge amounts of money need to be spent. 1 kilogram of material launched there costs approximately 309 thousand dollars! This is a big problem that hinders the exploration of the red planet. Therefore, Mars still remains for us one of the most mysterious objects in the Solar System.
Google Maps– a set of applications built on the basis of a free mapping service and technologies provided by Google.
World map from Google
(The map can be enlarged or reduced, moved with the mouse in different directions)
Service Google Maps is an interactive world map that provides personalized maps and information about local businesses, including business locations, contact information, driving directions, and more. An app is also associated with the service Google Earth - Google planet earthI. Google Earth Maps also provides the ability to explore maps of any corner of the world.
To move around the map, zoom in and out of the map, change the image angle, use the navigation in the form of arrows and + and – signs at the top of the map. Also try to control the map by holding the right mouse button.
Enter the name of the city:
This is a separate program for Microsoft Windows, as well as GNU/Linux, Mac OS. So does Google Maps.
Program Google Earth allows you to view images of the earth's surface, zoom in and out, and build travel routes. Also, to view Google Maps, use one of the following methods:
- View a web page with an embedded Google map.
- View Google Maps on your mobile device.
- View a personal map created with Google Earth
Google Street View
For example, in the window below you can make virtual walk around the city of Moscow using Google Street View. Use the navigation arrows in the upper left corner of the image. You can change the viewing angle using the arrows on the keyboard. To move around the image, you can click in the image area. Arrows on city streets show routes. You can change your position on the city map by dragging the yellow man in the lower right corner of the image with your mouse:
Google Street View allows users Google Maps travel through a three-dimensional projection of the city or some of its streets without leaving your home. This functionality is achieved using circular photography of real terrain using special equipment in real time. As a result, a 3D photograph is created, which is a photographically accurate model of the city. And if you want to walk around such megacities as New York, Paris, London, Madrid, Rome, Barcelona and Prague without leaving your home, then be sure to check out our articles.