About
TheSkyLive is a comprehensive set of tools for everyone interested in the observation of astronomical objects and events. It's useful at any level: from simply checking the time of sunrise or the current phase of the Moon, to planning observations of newly discovered comets. While the main focus is the Solar System (TheSkyLive currently tracks 494 objects classified as Major Objects, Comets, Asteroids & Dwarf Planets, Near Earth Objects Space Probes), TheSkyLive also provides extensive reference information about constellations, stars, deep-sky objects, and the most interesting supernovae.
TheSkyLive is available 1) as a website accessible on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices at https://theskylive.com or; 2) as a mobile app, currently on Android devices and found on the Google Play Store at at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theskylive.androidapp.
Content Usage Policies
We are delighted that you find the information and resources on TheSkyLive.com valuable. We encourage the sharing and reuse of our content, provided you adhere to the following guidelines:
- Attribution: When you use data, charts, images, text, or any other information directly from TheSkyLive.com, please clearly credit TheSkyLive.com as the source.
- Linking Back to Us: Along with attribution, we ask for a hyperlink back to our website, or by directly linking the resource used, or by linking our homepage https://theskylive.com.
Examples of Proper Attribution:
- "Data sourced from TheSkyLive.com (with a hyperlink to the specific page or theskylive.com)"
- "Image courtesy of TheSkyLive.com (with a hyperlink to the specific page or theskylive.com)"
What is Not Permitted (Examples):
- Copying large sections of the website or entire tools without significant original transformative work.
- Presenting our content as your own original work.
- Hotlinking images or other assets directly from our servers without permission (this can strain our resources). Please download and host images yourself if needed, with proper attribution.
- Using our content in a way that implies endorsement from TheSkyLive.com if none has been explicitly given.
If you have any questions about these policies, please write to us at .
Datasets Used on TheSkyLive.com
TheSkyLive was launched in 2013 and has been growing in functionality since. This project integrates a number of astronomical datasets, libraries, and source code. We provide here a list of these dependencies and acknowledgements to their respective authors.
Ephemerides
Most of the ephemerides computed on TheSkyLive are derived from data provided by the JPL Horizons System service, developed by the Solar System Dynamics Group of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Other computations are based on custom implementation based on the book Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus.
Comet Observations
TheSkyLive integrates data provided by the Comet Observation Database about recent comet observations. See the dedicated acknowledgement below.
Deep Sky Imagery
The deep sky imagery used in the Solar System object tracking tool (see example) is generated using the Digitized Sky Survey imagery. See the dedicated acknowledgement below.
Astronomical Catalogues
TheSkyLive integrates data from the following astronomical catalogues:
- Hipparcos Catalogue: contains information about 117934 bright stars
- Tycho 2 Catalogue: contains information about 2430468 stars
- PGC 2003 Catalogue: contains information about 983261 galaxies
- GSC 2.3 Catalogue: an all-sky catalog of approximately 2 billion stars and galaxies containing positions,
magnitudes,colors and proper motions complete to a minimum of V=18
Acknowledgments to Dataset Provider
Digitized Sky Survey
-
The Digitized
Sky Survey was produced at the Space
Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant NAG W-2166.
The images of these surveys are based on photographic data obtained
using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK
Schmidt Telescope. The plates were processed into the present
compressed digital form with the permission of these institutions.
- The National
Geographic Society - Palomar
Observatory Sky Atlas (POSS-I) was made by the California
Institute of Technology with grants from the National Geographic
Society.
-
The
Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-II) was made by the California
Institute of Technology with funds from the National
Science Foundation, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Geographic Society,
the Sloan Foundation, the Samuel
Oschin Foundation, and the Eastman
Kodak Corporation. The
Oschin Schmidt Telescope is operated by the California Institute of
Technology and Palomar Observatory.
-
The
UK Schmidt Telescope was operated by the Royal
Observatory Edinburgh, with funding from the UK Science and Engineering
Research Council (later the UK Particle
Physics and Astronomy Research Council), until 1988 June, and thereafter
by the Anglo-Australian Observatory.
The blue plates of the southern Sky Atlas and its Equatorial Extension
(together known as the SERC-J), the near-IR plates (SERC-I), as well
as the Equatorial Red (ER), and the Second Epoch [red] Survey (SES)
were
all
taken with
the
UK
Schmidt telescope at the AAO.
-
The Guide
Star Catalogue–II is a joint project of the Space
Telescope Science Institute and the Osservatorio
Astronomico di Torino. Space Telescope Science Institute is operated
by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, for
the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration under contract NAS5-26555. The participation of
the Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino is supported by the Italian
Council for Research in Astronomy. Additional support is provided
by European Southern Observatory, Space
Telescope European Coordinating Facility, the International GEMINI project
and the European
Space Agency Astrophysics Division.
-
The Guide
Star Catalog-I was produced at the Space
Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant. These
data are based on photographic data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt
Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK
Schmidt Telescope.
Comet Observation Data
-
We acknowledge COBS, the Comet Observation Database
for the usage of recent comet observation data, in particular the recently observed comet magnitude and coma
diameter.
Planetarium and 3D Solar System Viewer
-
The constellation lines used in the Online Planetarium sky charts
have been created by Dan Burton as part of his Star Chart project
-
The Planetarium and 3D Solar System Viewer have been developed using the three.js javascript 3D library.
-
The astronomy.js library by Don Cross is used to compute the approximate
position of the Solar System objects given their keplerian elements.
Eclipse Diagrams
- The visualizations of solar eclipse maps have been generated using the eclipse KML paths provided by Xavier M. Jubier (http://xjubier.free.fr/)
- The visualizations of Lunar Eclipses are part of Fred Espenak's work at https://eclipsewise.com/
Images
- Images used in the Observing Guide are from: Tom Hall,
Justin Flincher, Alvesgaspar via Wikimedia Commons
- The images used for the Moon phases in the Online Planetarium are derived from
the original work by Jay Turner,
licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.
- The background image used in the 3D Solar System viewer is credited to ESO/S. Brunier.
- The images of the current phase of the Moon are derived from the original images by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Cookies and Privacy
Please refer to our Privacy Policy for any detail about TheSkyLive cookie usage and privacy policy.
Author
My name is Iacopo, and I am based in Northern Italy. TheSkyLive is a personal project of mine, that I have been running since its launch back in 2013.
Contacts
For any enquiry please write to .