Stellarium Web

Stellarium Web is a planetarium in a browser tab. It opens to a view of the night sky as seen from your location, or anywhere you choose, with stars, constellations, planets and deep-sky objects you can click on for details. Drag to look around, scroll to zoom, and use the time controls to speed the sky forward or backward.

The date control is the big trick. Move it to see where Mars will be next month, how the constellations looked a few thousand years ago, or what the sky is doing tonight. It makes sense of things you may only half-understand, like why planets wander and how the seasons change the stars.

It is the browser counterpart of the Stellarium planetarium software, and you can try it without installing anything. It runs on mobile, though a laptop gives more room to explore. Pair it with /site/solar-system-scope for the view from outside, or browse /category/science-space.