Click and drag the stary image to view other parts of the sky. Zoom in and out for detail or to to see the larger universal image.

You can click on a star for detailed information. In the example, Polaris is the name of the star, Ursa Minor is the name of the constellation it resides in, alpha is its rank and 2.02 is its magnitude. Rank indicates the order from the largest star in a constellation to the smallest following the Greek alphabet. Magnitude gives the relative size, in terms of visibility, of a star. A lower number indicates a larger or more visible star. Sirius is the largest having a magnitude of -1.47.

Below the map is a set of controls that manage where and when the view is simulated. You can click on a component of the control to change the view. Type the desired numbers or use the arrow keys to increase or decrease the values. Latitude can also be set. Note that longitude does not have any bearing of the sky view. Longitude is offset by time. the sky is the same at 11pm in Tokyo as it is at 11pm in London.