The circle is the whole sky above you. Its edge is the horizon and the middle is straight overhead.
Face a direction (north, say), then turn the map so that letter is at the bottom. The stars just above the bottom edge are the ones low in front of you.
Your place and time
Use my location (bottom right) shows the sky from where you are, or Change place to type a town or postcode. The map remembers it for next time.
Night of picks the date. The slider runs from noon to noon, so one sweep is a whole night.
The clock button jumps back to now. Play runs time forward, and the menu beside it sets how fast.
Moving around
Tap or click a star, planet or the Moon for its info card.
Zoom: pinch, scroll, or use the + and − buttons.
Drag to move around when zoomed in, or to turn the sky when not.
Twist with two fingers to turn the map.
Double-tap to go back to the full sky.
On a phone, Point at sky (bottom left) shows what’s behind your phone as you hold it up.
The buttons along the top
Layers: choose what the map shows, plus tools such as Tonight’s Sky, Star Hops and Red Light.
Search: find a star, planet, constellation or the Space Station.
🔭Events: meteor showers, eclipses, Space Station passes and more, with times for your location.
Good places to start
New to all this? : a few steps round what’s up tonight from where you are.
Tonight’s Sky (in Layers) lists what’s worth looking at, the best time to look, and whether it’ll be cloudy.
Star Hops take you from stars you know to ones you don’t, one step at a time.
Binocular View rings how much sky your binoculars or telescope take in. My Horizon marks the trees and buildings in your way, so the map knows what you can’t see.
Red Light turns the screen red so it doesn’t spoil your night vision. Dark Adapt times the 20 minutes your eyes need.
Keyboard
Tab into the map, then the arrow keys step through what’s visible and Enter opens it.
+ and − zoom, [ and ] turn the map, and 0 resets it.
Esc closes an info card, search or this guide.
─ now ─ altitude - - horizon █ day █ civil █ nautical █ astro
✨ Star Hops
Find your way between the stars, one step at a time.
📍 Where are you stargazing?
Type a town, city or postcode to see the sky from there. The map remembers it for next time.
What are you looking through? A circle shows how much sky it takes in, on whatever you tap or the middle of the screen.
🌳 My Horizon
How high do trees, houses or hills reach in each direction from where you stand? A fist at arm’s length is about 10°. The map then knows what you can’t see.
👋 New to stargazing? Take a quick tour of what’s up tonight from where you are.
Tab to enter the sky map. Use arrow keys to cycle through visible objects.
Press Enter or Space to open the information card for the focused object.
Press Home or End to jump to the first or last object.
Press plus or minus to zoom, square brackets to turn the map, and zero to reset the view.
Press Escape to exit sky navigation.
👁 Dark Adaptation
20:00
Stay away from bright lights for 20 minutes to reach full night vision.