Sky Explorer

Pan and zoom across the real night sky — stars, galaxies and nebulae from professional survey imagery, like an online map of the whole celestial sphere. Switch to the live planetarium view to see tonight's constellations, the Moon and the planets. Powered by Aladin Lite (CDS Strasbourg) and Stellarium Web. Free, no sign-up, no API key. Sky Explorer is an LK Forge tool — open it in your browser, nothing to install.

Explore the sky
Options
Jump to

Sky imagery: DSS2 colour and other all-sky surveys (STScI / CDS), served as HiPS tiles. Map viewer: Aladin Lite © CDS, Université de Strasbourg / CNRS.

Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom. Use the layers button in the map to switch surveys (DSS, 2MASS). The Aladin Lite viewer runs in your browser; only the sky tiles stream from CDS.

100% free, no sign-up Real survey imagery (CDS) No API key, runs in your browser

Asteroid Tracker

Near-Earth asteroids passing close to us — size, speed and miss distance in lunar distances, from NASA/JPL data.

Open tool

ISS Tracker

Watch the International Space Station orbit Earth in real time on a world map — live latitude, longitude, altitude and speed.

Open tool

How It Works

Open it and the sky loads — no account, no key.

1

Move around the sky

Drag to pan and scroll or pinch to zoom, exactly like an online map — but across the whole celestial sphere, from bright stars down to faint galaxies.

2

Jump to famous objects

Use the preset buttons to fly straight to the Andromeda Galaxy, the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades or the centre of the Milky Way — then zoom in for the detail.

3

Switch surveys or views

Open the layers control in the map to swap between sky surveys such as DSS (visible light) and 2MASS (infrared), or use the Live planetarium button to see tonight's constellations and planets in Stellarium Web. New to the night sky? Our guide on how to find the constellations shows you how to star-hop from a few signposts. Then check what's overhead with the ISS Tracker or Asteroid Tracker.

Frequently Asked Questions

What am I looking at?
Real imagery of the night sky, stitched from professional all-sky surveys such as the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) and 2MASS. You can pan by dragging and zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch, just like an online map — but of the whole celestial sphere instead of Earth. The Sky Explorer also has a live planetarium view for tonight's constellations, the Moon and the planets.
Where does the imagery come from?
The sky imagery comes from professional survey archives and is displayed with Aladin Lite, developed by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS). The survey imagery is served as HiPS (Hierarchical Progressive Survey) tiles from the CDS servers. LK Forge hosts the Aladin Lite application itself but streams the sky tiles from CDS.
Do I need an account or API key?
No — the Sky Explorer needs no account and no API key. It is completely free, with no sign-up of any kind. The Aladin Lite viewer and the public HiPS surveys are open to everyone.
Why does it need WebAssembly?
Aladin Lite v3 uses a high-performance WebAssembly core to render the sky smoothly in your browser. WebAssembly lets that rendering run at near-native speed, which is what keeps panning and zooming across full-resolution survey tiles fluid. It runs entirely on your device; nothing about your viewing is uploaded or stored.

Related space & sky tools

Planets Tonight

Which planets are visible tonight from your location, where and when to look, plus upcoming planet alignments and conjunctions.

Space & sky

→

Eclipse Tracker

When is the next eclipse? Every solar and lunar eclipse for 10 years, with a visibility map, path of totality and local times.

Space & sky

→

Starlink Tracker

Every Starlink satellite live on a world map, the newest launches and when the Starlink train passes over you.

Space & sky

→

ISS Tracker

Follow the International Space Station live as it orbits, with its ground track and pass times.

Space & sky

→

Aurora Forecast

Will you see the northern lights tonight? A live aurora map from NOAA’s OVATION model, with the current Kp index and a check for your location.

Space & sky

→

Asteroid Tracker

See near-Earth asteroids passing by, with their size, distance and close-approach dates.

Space & sky

→

3D Solar System

An interactive 3D orrery showing the planets at their real positions today, orbiting in real time — drag to explore and click a planet for facts.

Space & sky

→

The Planets

Explore all eight planets — facts, size, distance, day length and temperature — each with a live rotating 3D view.

Space & sky

→

NASA Eyes

Fly through NASA’s live 3D visualization of the solar system, Earth and near-Earth asteroids, straight from NASA/JPL.

Space & sky

→

Moon Phase

Check tonight’s moon phase and illumination, plus the full lunar calendar.

Space & sky

→

Sunrise & Sunset

Find local sunrise, sunset, golden hour and solar noon times for any day.

Space & sky

→

UV Index

See the current and hourly UV index for your location, with burn-time guidance.

Space & sky

→

Eclipse Calendar

Upcoming solar and lunar eclipses, moon phases and weather-code references.

Space & sky

→

Black Hole Simulator

Watch an accretion disk orbit a black hole and read its Schwarzschild radius, photon ring and ISCO — the Milky Way's own centre, Sagittarius A*, is a supermassive one.

Physics

→

Physics Simulations

Interactive labs including a Newtonian gravity orbit simulator — load the Sun–Earth–Moon or the chaotic three-body problem and launch your own planets.

Physics

→

Earth Tools

Back on our own planet — a live disaster map, earthquake, volcano, wildfire, tsunami and drought trackers, a world atlas and climate vital signs.

Earth

→

All Space Tools

ISS tracker, asteroid tracker, live sky map, planet guide and NASA Eyes.

Space

→