CyberSky (16-bit)v2.0e

View the positions of 8,403 stars in the sky to a magnitude of 6.5. Simply click on the star to display information, such as their Bayer and Flamsteed designations, magnitudes, spectral types, and times of rising, transiting, and setting. Learn the proper names of 248 of the brightest stars, such as "Betelgeuse" and "Rigel". View all 88 internationally recognized constellations. Constellations are categorized as "zodiac", "major", and "minor", and are displayed in different colors to help you learn them more easily. Display 99 of the easiest to see deep sky objects. View the positions of the sun, moon, and all planets of the solar system in the sky. Information about those objects, such as their distances from the earth and their times of rising, transiting, and setting are available by simply clicking on them. Display reference lines such as the ecliptic, celestial equator, galactic equator, and equatorial coordinate system grid lines. Display reference points such as the north and south poles of the ecliptic, equatorial, and galactic coordinate systems. Display the galactic equator to help you find the milky way.

View the sky from the North Pole, Equator, or South Pole, or from any one of the over 600 cities in CyberSky's location database. Latitudes, longitudes, and time zones are provided for you. Simply select the city you live in, or the nearest city included in the database, and you are ready to go.

Choose to view the sky at any date and time between the years 4000 BC and 4000 AD. View the sky as it will appear next weekend, next year, or as it appeared to the Egyptians at the time the great pyramids where being built. One of CyberSky's most powerful and educational features is its ability to animate the display, allowing you to see movies of the changing appearance of the sky over time. Choose an animation time step, click a toolbar button, and then sit back and watch the stars and bodies of the solar system move across the display. Over time the direction that the earth's axis points changes. CyberSky will show you the effect this has on the appearance of the sky over time.

Understand the dynamics of the sky by performing the steps in the Explorations section of the program’s help file. You will be able to learn about such topics as precession of the equinoxes, proper motion, and retrograde motion of the planets not by reading a description but by watching these effects in the sky as simulated by CyberSky. You can also learn astronomical terminology by reading through the help file's extensive glossary section. Other sections of the help file include diagrams and tables of astronomical information.

Print the display in either black on white or in color to create your own sky charts you can use to identify stars, constellations, and the bodies of the solar system in the sky.