| Welcome to Your Sky,
the interactive planetarium of the Web. You can produce maps in
the forms described below for any time and date, viewpoint, and
observing location. If you enter the orbital elements of an asteroid
or comet, Your Sky will compute its current position
and plot it on the map. Each map is accompanied by an ephemeris
for the Sun, Moon, planets, and any tracked asteroid or comet.
A control panel permits customization of which objects are plotted,
limiting magnitudes, color scheme, image size, and other parameters;
each control is linked to its description in the help
file.
Your Sky provides three ways to
view the sky with links, where appropriate, among the various
presentations.
 The sky map shows the entire sky as viewed from
a given location at a specified time and date. A stereographic
projection is used, as is the convention for printed star maps.
To make a sky map, enter the latitude and
longitude of your observing site in the boxes below (be sure to
check the correct "North/South" and "East/West"
settings) and press the "Make Sky Map" button below
the form. Your Sky will deliver a map showing the sky
above the location you specified at the current time. On that
reply page you can enter different dates and times, observing
locations, display options, and orbital elements of asteroids
and comets you wish to track. If you don't know your latitude
and longitude, you can specify them by selecting a nearby city.
 Horizon Views, showing the stars
above the horizon as seen from a specified observing site at a
given date and time. The viewing direction (azimuth) may be set
to cardinal points on the compass or arbitrarily by entering a
value in degrees.
To make a horixon view, enter the latitude
and longitude of your observing site in the boxes below (be sure
to check the correct "North/South" and "East/West"
settings), select the direction in which you wish to view the
horizon, then press the "Make Horizon View" button below
the form. Your Sky will deliver a map showing the view
toward the horizon in the given direction at the present time.
On that reply page you can enter different dates and times, observing
locations, viewing directions, display options, and orbital elements
of asteroids and comets you wish to track. If you don't know your
latitude and longitude, you can specify them by selecting a nearby
city, then navigate to the Horizon View from the resulting
Sky Map page.
 Your Sky's Virtual
Telescope is your Humble Soft Telescope of the Web. Controls
allow you to set time and date, aiming point, orbital elements
to track an asteroid or comet, and a variety of viewing options.
You can compose a request with custom settings
and save the results in your browser's hotlist or bookmark table,
allowing direct access to the virtual telescope with all the controls
preset to your own preferences.
To launch the virtual telescope, enter
the coordinates at which it should be aimed in the boxes below
and push the "Aim Virtual Telescope" button. You also
aim the virtual telescope at objects in the sky chosen from a
variety of object
catalogues.
Thanks
to John Walker for creating this tool. |
