Google has launched a new service that turns the focus of its Google Earth service up to the sky, allowing users to view photos of the stars and distant planets.

Users activate the star view by selecting 'Switch to sky' from the view drop down menu in the application.

Turning star gazing into an activity that can be enjoyed all day long, Google has added seven informative layers that illustrate various features of outer space.

These include constellations, planets and galaxies, as well as explanations of features such as the life of a star.

The service lists 100 million stars and 200 million distant galaxies. A video tutorial offers to guide novice astronomers through the service.

Google Moon already offers images of the moon's surface in the Google Maps interface, and also marks past moon landings.