Want a closer look at Mars? Jump into hyperspace on Google Maps

Chewie, we're home.

What you need to know

• Google Maps has a new Star Wars-themed addition.
• Switching between planets on Maps now triggers a hyperspace animation.
• It's unclear when the change was made.

The Force is strong with Google Maps, as a Redditor recently discovered. The Palo Alto giant's navigation service has a new Star Wars-themed addition aimed at making exploring our solar system a little bit cooler. When switching between planets, you now see a new animation similar to the one you might have encountered when the Millenium Falcon jumps into hyperspace.

The company has, in partnership with NASA and the European Space Agency, offered the ability to explore more than just our planet since 2017. As the announcement from back then explains, you can check out the feature for yourself by continuing to zoom out as far as possible on the Maps website on a PC, and enabling satellite view. You'll then get a list of locations you can explore, and that's where you can find the new animation, by switching between the different planets and moons.

Maps' list of locales includes some of the exoplanets in our solar system, as well as a few of Saturn's moons, thanks to data collected by the spacecraft Cassini in its 20-year voyage across the cosmos. Data from the Mars Rover is also included, allowing for particularly detailed close-ups of some of the hottest places to be on Mars. Unfortunately for us all, Tatooine is not on the list.

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