Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Astronomy

M | Star Chart and Sky Event Resources

AstronomyM | Star Chart and Sky Event Resources

Star Charts

To obtain graphic charts of the sky over your head tonight, there are a number of free online resources.

  • One of the easiest is at the Skymaps website: http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html. Here you can print out a free PDF version of the northern sky (for roughly latitude 40°, which is reasonable for much of the United States). Maps of the sky from the equator and the southern hemisphere can also be printed.
  • Sky charts and other summaries of astronomical information can also be found at http://www.heavens-above.com/.
  • A free, open-source computer application that shows the sky at any time from any place is called Stellarium. You can find it at http://www.stellarium.org/.
  • Appendix B provides a section of information for finding astronomy apps for cell phones and tablets. Many of these also provide star charts. If you have a smartphone, you can find a variety of inexpensive apps that allow you to simply hold your phone upward to see what is in the sky behind your phone.
  • A planisphere is a sky chart that turns inside a round frame and can show you the night sky at your latitude on any date and time of the year. You can buy them at science supply and telescope stores or online. Or you can construct your own from templates at these two websites:

Calendars of Night Sky Events

The following resources offer calendars of night sky events.

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/astronomy/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/astronomy/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jan 28, 2022 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.