What language is Google Sky Map coded in?

Question

I would like to create a Google Sky Map-kinda application for Ubuntu.

I was going to use WebGL and the Ubuntu Touch IDE, but I don't really know what Google Sky Map uses...

I have been unable to find out, so I have a few questions:

• What language is Google Sky Map coded in?

• Does it use OpenGL?

• How does the app create the link between the coordinates of a person and what is visible in the app?

Answer 1

Google Sky has a front-end written in Javascript and seems to work like Google Maps with tiled images. I'm not sure if that's the one you mean. There is also Google Sky Map, an Android app, which is written in Java. It is open-source, and you can look at the code here.

It does look like it uses OpenGL, I see a lot of import android.opengl and import javax.microedition.khronos in the code.

This app uses android.location to match up the user's location to its data. Check out the file app/src/com/google/android/stardroid/control/LocationController.java in the source for more details on how Sky Map does this.