Credits
The sky view swaps in real images as you zoom in. They come from Wikimedia Commons, NASA, ESA, ESO and astrophotographers who share their work under open licenses. Each was resized and recompressed for the web; follow the source link for the original and its full license. The Sun, the close-up star images, the drawn galaxies, nebulae and comet tails, the planets' rings, the meteors, and the supernovae and gamma-ray bursts are made in code. The libraries the site runs on are listed at the end, with their full license notices in licenses.txt.
Moon, planets and smaller worlds
Surface maps wrapped onto the globes once they are big enough on screen. Those marked adapted are color graded toward photographs and animated with simulated weather.
- MoonSolar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · source
- MercurySolar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Venus (adapted)Solar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · source
- MarsSolar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Jupiter (adapted)Solar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Saturn (adapted)Solar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Uranus (adapted)Solar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Neptune (adapted)Solar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · source
- PlutoNASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute (unimaged far south filled in) · Public domain · source
- CeresNASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA (true-color band only) · Public domain · source
- VestaNASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA · Public domain · source
- EuropaU.S. Geological Survey / Planetary Data System / Tammy Becker · Public domain · source
- GanymedeCaltech/JPL/USGS · Public domain · source
- CallistoUSGS Astrogeology Science Center · Public domain · source
Galaxies, nebulae and star clusters
Photos shown in place of the drawn images when you zoom in.
- Andromeda Galaxy (M31)Lviatour · CC BY-SA 2.5 · source
- Triangulum Galaxy (M33)ESO · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)NASA and European Space Agency · Public domain · source
- Pinwheel Galaxy (M101)European Space Agency & NASA Acknowledgements: Project Investigators for the original Hubble data: K.D. Kuntz (GSFC), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (JPL), J. Mould (NOAO), and Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana) Image processing: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble) CFHT image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum NOAO image: George Jacoby, Bruce Bohannan, Mark Hanna/NOAO/AURA/NSF · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Bode's Galaxy (M81)NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) · Public domain · source
- Cigar Galaxy (M82)NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) · Public domain · source
- Sombrero Galaxy (M104)ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)Chuck Ayoub · CC0 · source
- Virgo A (M87)NASA, STScI, WikiSky · Public domain · source
- Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)Robert Gendler/ESO · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC)ESA/Hubble and Digitized Sky Survey 2 · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Orion Nebula (M42)NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team · Public domain · source
- Lagoon Nebula (M8)ESO/VPHAS+ team · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Trifid Nebula (M20)RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Eagle Nebula (M16)ESO · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Omega Nebula (M17)ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Carina Nebula (NGC 3372)Harel Boren · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- North America Nebula (NGC 7000)gjdonatiello · CC0 · source
- Ring Nebula (M57)ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Dumbbell Nebula (M27)REU program/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Helix Nebula (NGC 7293)NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), M. Meixner and P. McCullough (STScI) · Public domain · source
- Crab Nebula (M1)NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University) · Public domain · source
- SN 1006 Remnant (SNR G327.6+14.6)NASA/CXC (Smithsonian Institution) · No known copyright restrictions · source
- Tycho's Supernova Remnant (3C 10)NASA/CXC/Rutgers/J. Warren & J. Hughes et al. · Public domain · source
- Kepler's Supernova Remnant (3C 358)NASA/ESA/JHU/R. Sankrit & W. Blair · Public domain · source
- Pa 30 (Pa 30)NASA/CXC/U. Manitoba, ESA, NOIRLab/MDM/Dartmouth/R. Fesen, NASA/JPL/Caltech; G. Ferrand & J. English · Public domain · source
- SN 1987A Remnant (SNR 1987A)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Hubble), cropped · Public domain · source
- Veil Nebula (NGC 6960/6992)Ken Crawford · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Pleiades (M45)NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory The science team consists of: D. Soderblom and E. Nelan (STScI), F. Benedict and B. Arthur (U. Texas), and B. Jones (Lick Obs.) · Public domain · source
- Beehive Cluster (M44)Chuck Ayoub · CC0 · source
- Double Cluster (NGC 869/884)Genuson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Hercules Cluster (M13)Chuck Ayoub · CC0 · source
- Sagittarius Cluster (M22)ESA/Hubble & NASA · CC BY 4.0 · source
- Omega Centauri (NGC 5139)Chuck Ayoub · CC0 · source
- 47 Tucanae (NGC 104)NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration Acknowledgment: J. Mack (STScI) and G. Piotto (University of Padova, Italy) · CC BY 4.0 · source
Comets
Photos laid along a comet's drawn tail when you zoom in on it.
- Halley's Comet (1P/Halley)NASA/W. Liller · Public domain · source
- Comet Hale–Bopp (C/1995 O1)E. Kolmhofer, H. Raab; Johannes-Kepler-Observatory, Linz, Austria · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2)E. Kolmhofer, H. Raab; Johannes-Kepler-Observatory, Linz, Austria · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3)SimgDe · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS (C/2023 A3)paramsach (P. J. Singh) · CC BY 2.0 · source
- Comet Pons–Brooks (12P/Pons–Brooks)Taavi Niittee/Tõrva Astronoomiaklubi/Tõrva Astronomy Club · CC0 · source
- Encke's Comet (2P/Encke)Jim Scotti · Public domain · source
- Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P)NASA/JPL-Caltech/ZTF, cropped · Public domain · source
Elsewhere on the site
For those who look closely.
- The Ambassadors (1533)Hans Holbein the Younger, National Gallery, London · Public domain · source
Code
Libraries the site runs on. Astronomy Engine works out where the Sun, the Moon and the planets are at any moment.