Google Satellite Maps

Google Maps just added an option for satellite photos. And I have to say ... wow. That is just wicked cool.

Not every location is covered by a high-resolution satellite photo, but a lot of places are. In particular, my town of Brecksville is available at the highest zoom level. I can see my house!

Play around with it for a while. Zoom in and out. It's incredibly fun. Here are a few neat locations to start with:

• Hornblower's Barge and Grill in Cleveland. Zoom all the way in, and it's due north of the marker, in the water by the airport. The long, skinny ship is the U.S.S. Cod, a WWII submarine. Just southwest of that you can also see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the odd white building with the triangular glass window and bullseye in front) and Browns Stadium. Looks like a building obscures the view of the Free Stamp, which is just south of there.
• Apple's campus
• Microsoft's campus
• Golden Gate Bridge
• The Hollywood Sign
• Central Park in New York City
• The White House. Notice how the roof is blanked out and many buildings nearby are blurred; this censoring has been standard practice for satellite images released in the US for years. Also, you can scroll almost due southwest across the river and you'll see the Pentagon.
• Diamond Head State Monument in Honolulu
• Mount St Helens
• Michael Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch
• Las Vegas Boulevard near the Luxor. The Bellagio's fountains are clearly visible to the north.
• The Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, full of decommissioned planes. Zoom in.

I'm incredibly stoked to see this feature in Google Maps. Yes, there are other sources for satellite and aerial imagery... but up until now it's either been slow and clunky, or a pay service. Integrating it with Google's terrific map interface makes all of that data extremely accessible for the first time.

Got any neat satellite image finds of your own? Let me know in the comments!