The night sky right now
See what's visible above Moscow right now — the Sun, Moon and 7 planets in their actual places, the Milky Way band across the zenith, twinkling constellations and rare meteors. All positions are computed server-side using Schlyter and Meeus astronomical formulas to ~1° precision and refresh themselves. Open the page and leave it — the sky will drift on its own over the hour.
How it works
The sky lazy-loads when the page scrolls into view.
See its rotation axis at the correct tilt (Uranus 98° on its side, Venus 177° upside down) and a quick fact.
Smooth zoom-in to inspect surface details, Saturn's rings, Venus or Mercury phase.
Wheel for zoom, drag for panning around the dome.
Below the sky — what's currently visible, what's below the horizon, and countdowns to upcoming events (equinoxes, meteor showers).
The actual sky over Moscow this very second — no install, no signup
Features
FAQ
Why don't I see all 9 bodies?
Some planets are currently below the horizon for Moscow — invisible from the surface. The legend lists both above- and below-horizon bodies. After a few hours Earth will rotate and the configuration will change.
Where is Earth?
You're standing ON Earth. It doesn't appear in the sky — you see it from below as the horizon. All positions are geocentric (computed from Earth's viewpoint).
How precise are the positions?
About 1° for all bodies. We use simplified Kepler with first-order corrections (Meeus / Schlyter). Plenty for a 900-pixel sky. For scientific work you'd need full VSOP87 or JPL ephemerides.
Do positions update?
Yes. Every 5 minutes the sky refetches. When the tab returns from background, an immediate update fires. Over an hour the Sun shifts ~15°.
Where do constellations come from?
IAU's standard 88-constellation catalogue. We render the six most prominent for northern observers: Big Dipper, Orion, Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Leo, Lyra. Their J2000 RA/Dec centres are converted to live alt/az for Moscow.
Can I share this?
Yes — just copy the URL. The recipient's sky will reflect their current time but the structure and calculations stay the same. Pure client-server, no signup.
Can I pick a different observer location?
Currently the sky is computed for Moscow (55.75° N, 37.62° E). City-picker may come later — most of the code is already parameterised for any Earth observer.
What's the deal with Saturn's ring tilt?
Saturn's rings appear from Earth at an angle that varies between 0° (edge-on, "invisible") and ±26.7° (max open). The cycle is 29.5 years. Now they're nearly closed; max open in 2017, edge-on again in 2025. We animate this by date.
We can — and it's free! Just send us a quick message with your idea. If you'd like to discuss it in detail, leave your email and we'll get back to you. You can stay anonymous.
