Your sky, any night
Pick a date, time and place, and the real stars appear instantly. Turn any moment into a framed print.
Point at the real sky
Hold your device up to the night sky and the stars line up with what’s really above you. To do that, Skylit needs:
- Camerato show the sky behind the stars
- Motion & orientationto follow where you point
- Locationto match the sky to where you are
🔋 Heads up: AR keeps the camera, motion sensors and screen running, so it uses noticeably more battery than usual.
Your device will ask permission for each. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere.
The interactive sky couldn't load right now, but you can still explore your moment. Create your personalised star map →
Explore the real night sky for any date and place
Every night the sky is different. Which stars, planets and constellations stand overhead depends on where you are on Earth and when you look up. The Night Sky Explorer rebuilds that sky for any moment you choose, computed from real astronomical data rather than drawn from imagination. Find the sky from the night you were born, the evening of your wedding, or the moment you fell in love.
Any date, any place
Choose any moment from 3000 BCE to 3000 CE and any location on Earth. The sky redraws for those exact coordinates in a moment.
Tap to identify anything
Tap a star, planet, constellation or deep-sky object for its name, distance, colour and size. Around 41,000 stars are there to find.
Satellites passing overhead
Follow the International Space Station, Starlink trains, Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope, drawn from live orbital data where they genuinely are right now.
Turn it into a print
When a sky means something, carry that exact date, time and place straight into a framed star map print from Skylit Studio.
Travel from your garden to the Milky Way
The sky overhead is where it starts. Keep zooming out and the view keeps going.
The Solar System
Watch the planets run their real orbits at any speed you like, from a day a second to a year a second, for any date you scrub to. Distances are compressed so the inner and outer planets share one screen, and the planets are drawn far larger than life so there is something to see.
The star field
Fifteen thousand stars sit at their true distances. Fly outward and the constellations come apart, because a constellation is a pattern from one particular vantage point. Orion’s belt looks like a straight line from here, and the middle star is nearly three times further away than the other two.
The Milky Way
Further out, the galaxy resolves around you with the Sun marked about 26,000 light years from the centre. The spiral itself is modelled rather than photographed, since our view from inside the disc has never included a picture of it from outside.
How it works
- Enter your moment. Type a date, a time and a place into the control bar above. Any date from the distant past to the far future works.
- Reveal the sky. The engine computes the position of every star, planet and constellation for your coordinates and draws them live in your browser.
- Turn it into a print. When you find the sky that moves you, choose “Make this a print” and the date, time and location carry straight into the star map customiser, ready to frame.
Popular occasions
- Birthday: the sky on the night you were born
- Anniversary: the stars above your wedding or your first evening together
- Memorial: a tribute to someone you love, held at one moment
- Wedding gift: a personalised keepsake to keep for decades
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is the Night Sky Explorer?
The engine is built on the d3-celestial library, which uses the same astronomical algorithms powering planetarium software. Star positions are drawn from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue, and planetary positions are calculated with full ephemeris data, giving you arc-minute-level accuracy for any date between roughly 3000 BCE and 3000 CE.
Can I see the planets and the galaxy, not just the stars?
Yes. Alongside the view from the ground there is a Solar System view where the planets follow their real orbits, a star field holding fifteen thousand stars at their true distances, and a modelled Milky Way. You can move between them by zooming or by choosing Earth, Solar System or Galaxy at the foot of the screen.
Can I see which stars were visible from a specific city?
Yes. Type any city or town into the Place field and the sky rotates to the horizon for those exact coordinates. The airy projection shows the full dome of the sky as it appeared overhead, with the horizon wrapped around the edge. Learn more about how the sky changes with location.
Can I add the Night Sky to my own website?
Yes, and it's free. Use the embed builder above to choose the location, date, layers and size, then copy the generated code into any web page. It works on any domain; just keep the small ✦ Skylit Studio credit.
What's the difference between the Explorer and a star map print?
The Explorer is a full, free interactive planetarium, accurate to arc-minutes, with the real stars, planets, deep-sky objects, the Milky Way and live satellites, plus tap-to-identify, time travel and AR. A star map print is a beautifully typeset, professionally printed keepsake you keep forever. Add a personal message, choose a frame, and we ship it to your door within a few days.
Sky engine: d3-celestial. Constellation names: IAU. Star distances and spectral types from the HYG database (Hipparcos · Yale · Gliese) by David Nash, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Constellation figure artwork: Stellarium “western” sky culture by Johan Meuris and contributors, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Planet and Moon imagery courtesy of NASA / JPL / USGS. Milky Way panorama from all-sky survey imagery courtesy of NASA / ESO. Satellite orbital data from CelesTrak.