Interactive moving star map online. Stars and planets in the sky. Now. Look! Modern boundaries of constellation areas


Click on any object to receive expanded information and photos of its surroundings up to 1x1°.

Online star map- will help with observations through a telescope and simply with orientation in the sky.
Online star map - interactive map sky shows the position of stars and nebulous objects that are visible to amateur telescopes at a given time over a given location.

To use an online star map, you need to specify the geographic coordinates of the observation location and the observation time.
Only stars and planets with a brightness of up to approximately 6.5-7 m are visible to the naked eye in the sky. To monitor other objects you need telescope. The larger the diameter (aperture) of the telescope and the less illumination from the lights, the more objects will be available to you.

This online star map contains:

  • the SKY2000 star catalog, supplemented with data from the SAO and XHIP catalogs. Total - 298457 stars.
  • proper names of the main stars and their designations according to the HD, SAO, HIP, HR catalogs;
  • information about stars contains (if possible): J2000 coordinates, proper motions, brightness V, Johnson B magnitude, Johnson B-V color index, spectral class, luminosity (Suns), distance from the Sun in parsecs, number of exoplanets as of April 2012 , Fe/H, age, data on variability and fold;
  • the position of the main planets of the solar system, the brightest comets and asteroids;
  • galaxies, star clusters and nebulae from the Messier, Caldwell, Herschel 400 and NGC/IC catalogs with the ability to filter by type.
There are no objects from Messier in the Caldwell catalog, and Herschel 400 partially overlaps with the first two catalogs.

It is possible to search for nebulous objects on the map by their numbers in the NGC/IC and Messier catalogs. As you enter the number, the map is centered on the coordinates of the desired object.
Enter only the object number as it is indicated in these catalogs: without the prefixes "NGC", "IC" and "M". For example: 1, 33, 7000, 4145A-1, 646-1, 4898-1, 235A, etc.
Enter three objects from other catalogs: C_41, C_99 from Caldwell and the light nebula Sh2_155 in the NGC field as written here - with underlining and letters.

Its refined and somewhat expanded version RNGC/IC dated January 2, 2013 was used as NGC/IC. A total of 13958 objects.

About maximum stellar magnitude:
The faintest star in the SKY2000 catalog, which is used in the online sky map, has a brightness of 12.9 m. If you are interested specifically in stars, keep in mind that after about 9-9.5 m, gaps begin in the catalogue, and the further you go, the stronger they are (such a decline after a certain magnitude is a common occurrence for star catalogues). But, if stars are needed only to search for foggy objects in a telescope, then by introducing a limit of 12 m you will get noticeably more stars for better orientation.

If you set the maximum 12 m in the “stars are brighter” field and click “Update data,” then the initial download of the catalog (17 MB) may take up to 20 seconds or more - depending on the speed of your Internet.
By default, only stars up to V=6 m (2.4 MB) are loaded. You need to know the downloaded volume to select the map auto-update interval if you have limited Internet traffic.

To speed up the work, at low map magnifications (in the first 4 steps), NGC/IC objects fainter than 11.5 m and faint stars are not shown. Zoom in on the desired part of the sky and they will appear.

When "turning off Hubble telescope images and others." Only black and white photographs are shown, which more honestly show the image available in an amateur telescope.

Help, suggestions and comments are accepted by mail: [email protected].
Materials used from sites:
www.ngcicproject.org, archive.stsci.edu, heavens-above.com, NASA.gov, Dr. website Wolfgang Steinicke
The photographs used were declared free for distribution by their authors and transferred to public use (based on data received by me in the places of their original placement, including according to Wikipedia, unless otherwise indicated). If this is not the case, write me an e-mail.

Thanks:
Andrey Oleshko from Kubinka for the original coordinates of the Milky Way.
Eduard Vazhorov from Novocheboksarsk for the original coordinates of the outlines of the Foggy Objects.

Nikolay K., Russia

1. Map of the starry sky and constellations

The most optimal, in my opinion, star map. The equatorial part was built in cylindrical projection, and the poles are in azimuthal. Thanks to this, distortions at the junctions of these projections are minimized, but don’t be surprised that some constellations appear twice: on the maps of the poles and the equatorial one. The map is presented as a jpeg image in fairly high resolution.

2. Google Sky

An interactive star map like no other. A titanic work has been done and from a huge number of photographs taken by the Hubble orbital telescope, a map of the entire starry sky has been compiled, by increasing the scale of which you can see stars that are not visible not only with the naked eye, but even with an optical telescope from Earth. In addition, the service provides the opportunity to arrange stars into constellations, view their historical images, and also take a tour of solar system, look at the sky in the invisible infrared and microwave ranges.

3. Google Earth service (Google Earth)

Taking Google Sky and Google Map as a basis, Google programmers and designers went even further and created a browser program that, connecting to a single database via the Internet, loads maps of the Earth and sky, as well as the surfaces of the Moon and Mars, onto your computer. The Google Earth project is rapidly developing and is open to anyone who wants to contribute. For example, you can map 3D model your home, if others have not already done so. Another service allows you to record videos based on the map, overlay them with voice or musical accompaniment and save it as a video file.

4. Photopic Sky Survey

Another interesting and stunning online starry sky project with convenient controls. As in the previous case with Google, the image was obtained by stitching a huge number of real 5-megapixel photographs into a single whole and obtaining a circular panorama of the starry sky. You can apply a tracing layer with constellations connected by lines, but, unlike Google Sky and Google Earth, the image cannot be saved.

Astronomy as a science can be loved or disliked, but there is probably no such person who would not be attracted by the beauty of the starry sky. Each of us at least once in our lives has peered into the stars and constellations, trying to understand whether there is anyone there and whether we are alone in the Universe...


Stargazing is one of the popular hobbies. Recently, you can find on sale a huge variety of models of telescopes with which you can observe the stars and planets.

Today I want to tell you about an amazing service with which you can make a virtual visit and see it from the most unusual angles!

This review was written as part of a series of publications dedicated to online services Google, which as we know, is famous for the quality of its products. You can read the first publication describing Google search services at, and there you can download my mini-book with a story about how to effectively search for information on the Internet. However, let's move closer to the stars.

Google Sky - atlas of the starry sky. This service is a kind of addition to Google Earth, allowing you to look at the sky from Earth. You can observe stars, constellations, planets, galaxies without leaving your home!


This is how far progress has come: sitting in a chair in front of a monitor, in just a minute you can find yourself in a neighboring galaxy)

Fortunately for many online users star atlas in Russian! However, for some reason a number of textual explanations were forgotten or did not yet have time).

Once on the main page of Google Sky, you will immediately see a photo of the starry sky in front of you. To navigate through it, you can use the tools on the left side of the screen, but it is much more convenient and faster to use the mouse. By holding the left key you can move, and the wheel is responsible for scaling.

There are three buttons on the right side of the screen that serve to switch viewing modes starry sky online:

  • Infrared – shows objects in the infrared range
  • Microwave – turns on display in the microwave range
  • Historical – historical maps sky (created in the 17th century by Giovanni Maria Cassini)

When you turn on a particular mode, you can use the sliders to adjust the degree of its overlap with the photo of the starry sky.

At the bottom of the screen of the online starry atlas you will find:

  • enable display of constellations
  • stunning highly detailed photographs of the Hubble, Galex, Spitzer telescope
  • X-ray images from the Chandra telescope
  • podcasts about planets, stars, etc. (in English)

By the way, the online star atlas has a convenient search function. Knowing the name of an object, you can quickly be transported directly to it, so as not to have to surf the expanses of the Universe manually for a long time and persistently)).

Finally, watch a short presentation video describing how to work and what opportunities Google Sky opens up for users:

Friends, did you like this service? Do you know better analogues? Share your impressions in the comments.

> Star map

Use online star map in real time: moving star map, names of constellations with description and position, instructions for working with the map in photos.

Interactive Star Map

*For technical reasons, the application may not work correctly on mobile devices.

Star map– this is the first necessary tool for those who cannot see life without astronomy and astrology. Detailed information on all space objects, available on any medium, has been collected especially for you in a convenient form. Movable star chart with constellation names northern and southern hemispheres can be used for printing and is a comfortable observation system, showing what is above your head right now. All work is done with the mouse and activating elements in the base window. In the process, you can transform the image scale, and also choose from a list of different viewing modes.

Star map with constellations V good quality, which can be easily printed, will open up a lot of new things for you, since it contains not only the well-known signs of the Zodiac, but also reveals the most hidden corners of the Galaxy. Understand the operation process and definition star coordinates it won't be difficult, To understand how to use the map and its parts, you just need to read detailed instructions Online. You can look at objects simply at random, or enter specific names. In addition, photographs are offered for the entire list, brief information about their location, distance from the Earth and brightness, and also displays transitions to their pages with a complete set of information for those who study stars professionally. For example, you can easily find the constellation Orion and its components if you know the coordinates of the stars or use the search. Now starry sky online available during the day, and look it's possible in real time without leaving the walls of the apartment.

Instructions for using the application

Working with a moving star map will not cause any difficulties. Our application is detailed map starry sky. The image below is the first thing you see when you log into the site.

The “viewing area” is our starry sky. In this particular example, you can see its entire flat projection. Hover your mouse over any object within the “area” and the “basic information” information window will automatically display basic scientific data about the object. You can use the mouse button to use the zoom bar. By zooming in and out, you change the size of the map accordingly.

There are two different viewing modes. This image shows the sky when the view is in normal mode:

And this image shows a view of the “viewport” in SDSS mode:

Use the "grab and drag" function to move the starry sky in the Viewport. You need to move the cursor over an area, but without pointing at any object. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor in any direction. The area will move accordingly. There are about 500 million stars in our databases. Only a small amount is displayed in one area at a time. By increasing the scale and decreasing the angle of view, you can also view the remaining stars on the star map.

In the end you should end up looking something like this:

In this particular example, the object has an apparent magnitude close to 19. This means that it can only be seen with the help of powerful professional telescopes. You can also search for an object by its name or ID. Enter one of the two in the text field and click the “Find object” button. If it is in the database, it will be concentrated in the Viewing Area. The map scale will be automatically determined by the system so that you can see the target.

Object page

If the mouse is close enough to the object's point (or directly on it), then its basic information will appear on the field. It includes an identifier, name, constellations, exact coordinates, distance from Earth and apparent magnitudes. If you click on an object while the window is visible basic information, then the object page will open. It displays all photos, articles and external links about the star.

Photo gallery

In the main menu you will find the “Astrophotography” tab, where real photographs of the starry sky are displayed.

Each box with yellow lines defines the boundaries of the starry sky projection photographs. When the cursor is inside the field, a collapsed version of the photo appears next to it.

If you point the cursor at the intersection of several fields, all their photographs will be displayed. For example, in the image above, the cursor is placed at the intersection of five areas, and you see five collapsed versions of the images. If you left-click, then change the mode to “Select Image”:

Select the image you want to view in detail and it will download in full:

Hover your mouse over the subject of the photo and the basic information window will open in the same way as the Viewing Area. If you click on an object, you will be taken to its page. You'll see the current mouse coordinates on the star map and links to the original image source right below it. Now you know how to use an online star map to admire the unique pattern of the galaxy, find the necessary cosmic bodies and the brightest stars.

Let's imagine that not long ago you became interested in astronomy. You began to listen to scientific and educational lectures, read the news, buy books and magazines. You may have already bought a star atlas or downloaded a planetarium program to your computer. Do you recognize yourself? Even if you haven’t had time to do any of the above, but are just planning, it still won’t change the general essence - from now on you are an astronomy lover. Welcome to our ranks!

Yes Yes! Don't let this surprise you. Anyone can become an astronomy enthusiast. It’s enough just to become interested in this science and start studying it. Only…

- What about the telescope? - you ask. - After all, an astronomy lover should have his own telescope? What if I don't have one? What kind of astronomy lover am I without a telescope?

Remember: you are an astronomy enthusiast, even if you don't have a telescope. I personally know many astronomy enthusiasts who study astronomy through reading books, observing with the naked eye, and using binoculars. You can always buy a telescope; the main thing is to decide which telescope you need and for what purpose.

But what to do when you don’t have a telescope yet, but already want to look through it? For example, are you wondering what you can see in it? At the same time, you have no one to go to: your friends don’t have a telescope, there is no astroclub, planetarium or observatory in the city. What to do in this case?
The solution is simple - look through a telescope online! - But how to look through a telescope online?- you ask. - Where can I look for sites that will allow me to do this? Let's figure it out.

In fact, there are a number of sites on the Internet where you can look through a telescope online both in real time and study photos from web cameras that are updated every 30 seconds or several hours. Moreover, on some of these resources you will also be able to access the telescope itself, point it at the object of your choice and even take photographs of it. Isn't it great? However, I warn you, you need to understand that even with the powerful telescopes that are used in broadcasts, you will not see the clear and beautiful pictures that you saw on the Internet. All beautiful photographs are taken using long exposures, so online everything looks completely different. However, everything is being resolved, and in some places you will have the opportunity to take astrophotography, and in fairly good quality.

Below I will list a number of online telescope sites and describe exactly what these resources can offer you. You can find more detailed information on the websites themselves.

Websites with telescopes online

How to share your observations?

By the way, having bought a telescope, you will be able to conduct your own online broadcasts - share your observations with friends. For this you will need.


It fits any telescope, and with its help you can display an image of the observed object on your laptop screen. Next you only need good internet and OBS or XSplit programs. This site will tell you where to download and how to configure the programs. With these programs you can broadcast your laptop screen, for example on Twitch. Then all you have to do is send the link to the broadcast to your friends and it’s done! You will also find the Veber Orbitor 3 video eyepiece in the assortment of our store.

Well, if you were looking for the answer to the question “how to look through a telescope online,” then I hope you found it. I also sincerely hope that you will find the links and information I provided in this article useful.

All the best, good shopping and pleasant observations! Clear skies and may the stars favor you!



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