TheSky6's Storehouse of Standard Features

Standard Features

Sample Screen

Explanation

Display an Interactive Planetarium

Input any date (from 4,712 B.C. to A.D. 10,000) and any time to show a graphical representation of what the sky looks like from your location.  

TheSky6 can show the position of all of the planets, the Moon, comets, asteroids, satellites, up to 1 billion stars (TheSky6 Professional Edition) and up to 1 million deep-space objects (galaxies, clusters, nebulas, double stars, variable stars, etc.). See TheSky6's Databases for details.

Access To Extensive Databases of Celestial Objects and Pictures

Sample Professional Edition Screen

Every Edition of TheSky6 is packed with up to millions of celestial objects and thousands of exciting photographs.

Each Edition includes:

• Over 13,000 images from the NGC and IC Catalogs (shown in-place using 1.7 arcsecond per pixel images from the Digitized Sky Survey).

• Almost 200 full color deep-space images from the David Malin collection.

• Over 400 full-color images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

• Over 1400 images of solar system objects, including images from the Mars Rover and other space missions.

• Detailed descriptions of the planets.

• Over 1000 photographs of the moon in the Moon Viewer.

• Positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, Jupiter and Saturn's major moons, comets and minor planets.

Visit TheSky6's Databases for details about the catalogs and celestial objects that are included in each Edition.

* TheSky6 Professional Edition (only) comes with the 100,000 thumbnail photographs of PGC galaxies).

Find Objects

TheSky6 has a powerful Find command so you can easily locate any object (up to 1 billion of them!) from TheSky6's astronomical databases.

You can locate objects by object type (star, double star, galaxy, cluster, etc.), or specific classification, including:

• Stars

• • Common name

  • Bayer designation

  • Flamsteed designation

  • General Catalog of Variable Star (GCVS) designation

  • Non-stellar variable star (NSV) designation

  • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) Catalog number

  • Struve designation

  • Washington Catalog of Double Star designation

• Non-stellar objects

• • Caldwell number

  • Common name

  • Herschel number

  • Index Catalog number (IC)

  • Lorenzin Catalog number

  • New General Catalog (NGC/IC Project) number

  • Principle Galaxy Catalog number (PGC)

  • Principle Galaxy Catalog cross-reference number

  • • Zwicky

    • Arakelian Catalog of Galaxies

    • Catalog of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies (CGCG)

    • David Dunlop Observatory Catalog of Galaxies

    • Fairall Catalog of Galaxies

    • Karachentseva Catalog of Galaxies

    • Kazaryan UV Galaxies

    • Kiso UV Galaxies

    • Second Byurakay Survey

    • Tololo Galaxies

    • Uppsala General Catalog of Galaxies (UGC)

    • University of Michigan Catalog of Galaxies

    • Virgo Cluster Catalog of Galaxies

    • Weinberger Catalog of Galaxies

  • Planetary Nebula designation (PLN)

  • Saguaro Astronomy Club Deep-Space Object catalog (SAC)

• Solar System

• • Comet name

  • Minor planet name or number (Serious Astronomer and Professional Edition only)

  • Moon

  • Satellites (Serious Astronomer and Professional Edition only)

  • Sun

  • Mercury

  • Venus

  • Mars

  • Jupiter

  • Saturn

  • Uranus

  • Jupiter

  • Saturn

  • Uranus

  • Neptune

  • Pluto

• Constellations

• • Common name

Get Detailed Information on Celestial Objects

Click on any object, or use the Find command to show extensive information on celestial objects, including:

• Object type

• Right ascension and declination coordinates (current)

• Right ascension and declination coordinates (Epoch 2000)

• Altitude and azimuth coordinates

• Object magnitude*

• Vommon name*

• Catalog number (including cross references to other catalogs), for example M42 or NGC 1976v.*

• Description of the object*

• Visual magnitude*

• B magnitude*

• V magnitude *

• Parallax*

• Proper motion*

• Sidereal time

• Distance from Earth (in light years or parsecs)*

• Rise, transit, set times

• The constellation to which the object belongs

• Equatorial and horizon-based coordinates

• Other object and catalog specific data

• Position angle (as measured from the celestial pole) from the previously identified object

• Phase or percent illumination*

• Air mass

Sample Object Information

The table below lists the typical information displayed for different classifications of objects.

Select Different Photographs for the Panoramic Horizon

TheSky6 comes with dozens of different panoramic horizons to choose from. You can even create your own!*

*A digital camera, stitching and image processing software (sold separately) are required to create the 360-degree panorama photographs.

Change Options using the Display Explorer

The Display Explorer is a versatile tool that allows you to access and edit virtually every display property (font, line, fill color, and object symbol) in TheSky6.

Display Reference Lines

TheSky6 can display reference lines that show coordinates, help you visualize your orientation, or indicate what part of the sky you’re looking.

They include:

• Ecliptic

• Galactic Equator

• Milky Way (picture)

• Milky Way (solid)

• Constellation lines

• Constellation boundaries

• Constellation drawings

• Equatorial grid lines (customizable spacing)

• Horizon-based grid lines

• Telescope limit lines, including declination and altitude limit lines (Serious Astronomer and Professional Edition only).

• Local horizon (customizable)

• Refracted horizon

• Panoramic horizon (customizable)

Display Object Labels

Show labels for the following objects

• Common name (stars)

• Common name (non-stellar objects)

• Constellation name

• Messier number

• Sun, planet, moons

• Bayer designation

• Flamsteed designation

• Comets

• Minor planets or asteroids (Serious Astronomer and Professional Edition only).

• Customizable "extended" labels (Serious Astronomer and Professional Edition only).

Adjust the Appearance of Stars

Show stars with their spectral color, change the contrast, gradient fill, density, halos on bright stars, red color in Night Vision Mode and more!

Use Toolbars to Access Commands

TheSky6 contains versatile toolbars for accessing commonly used commands.

Show/Hide a Status Bar

Display a Status Bar with customizable content, including:

• Equatorial and horizon-based coordinates of the center of the screen

• Equatorial and horizon-based coordinates of the mouse pointer

• Earth location

• Local sidereal time

• Field width

• Date

• Time

Show/Hide Scroll Bars

Use scroll bars to quickly access any celestial coordinate.

Look North, South, East, West or Up

Quickly orient yourself with the local horizon using these commands.

Zoom box

Click and drag a zoom box to magnify the current field.

Zoom to Pre-defined Fields of View

Quickly adjust the display to suit your instrument or detector.

• Minimum Field of View

• Telescope

• Finder scope

• Binocular

• Naked Eye

• Wide Field

• Maximum Field of View

Move To Any Coordinate

The handy Move To command lets you center the display on any equatorial or horizon-based coordinate, from any Epoch.

Control the Flow of Time

Astronomers frequently want to recreate historical or future astronomical events. TheSky6 makes this easy! You get to specify how time advances or retreats, and see how the planets, stars and other objects move over time.

Choose any Earth-based Location

Quickly specify your viewing location by selecting it from a list of over 1,200 locations, click on a World Map, or manually enter your coordinates (that are, for example, obtained from a GPS).

Create Object Paths

TheSky6 lets you generate the path of any solar system object over time. Create the Sun's analemma, or demonstrate the retrograde motion of Mars.

Find Solar and Lunar Eclipses with the Eclipse Finder

The Eclipse Finder allow you to search for and animate solar and lunar eclipses, and view their geometry.  TheSky6 even displays a solar eclipse's path of totality on a map of the Earth.

Find Conjunctions with the Conjunction Finder

Locate conjunctions between any three planets, or planets and the Moon.

Show the Positions of the Moons of Jupiter and Saturn

Shows the positions of Jupiter's Galilean major moons and Saturn's major moons at any given time. Use TheSky6's Lock On command to fix the planet to the center of the display, and watch the motion of the moons.

Display or Print a Moon Phase Calendar

Display or print a monthly calendar (for any month) with the phase for each day and text showing the moon's significant phases.  Also print the rise and set times for the Sun and Moon for each day of any month. Great for planning observing sessions!

View High-Resolution Images of the Moon using the Moon Viewer

Show detailed, medium-resolution photographs of the Moon's surface. The Moon Viewer can label common features, landing sites, and shows historical references about feature names.

TheSky6 Professional Edition includes photographs with 100 meter resolution.

View the Solar System in Three Dimensions using the 3D Solar System Mode

View the planets, comets, and minor planets from anywhere in the solar system.   Watch comets race around the sun.  Plot comet and minor planet's paths through the solar system. Lock On and/or View From any object during a time skip animation.

Display Constellations Figures

Bevis Constellation Drawings

Patrick Moore Constellation Lines

David Levy Constellation Lines

TheSky6 shows detailed Bevis drawings, and/or simplified figures and/or the boundaries of all 88 constellations.

Simulate the Daytime Sky using the Daytime Sky Mode

Simulate the daytime sky to view sunrises, sunsets, or solar eclipses, in real time or accelerated time.

View or Print a Sun and Moon Report

Generate a text-based report that shows the daily rise/set times of the Moon and Sun, as well as beginning and ending twilight times for the current month.

View the Heavens in Full Screen Mode

Show only the Virtual Sky with no toolbars or windows.  Great when using TheSky6 with the telescope.

Preserve Dark Adaptation with the Night Vision Mode

Change the computer screen to red to preserve dark adaptation. Great when using TheSky6 at your telescope.

Show the Virtual Sky as a Mirror Image

Invert the virtual sky to simulate the sky as it might appear through a telescope.

Show or Print the Virtual Sky in Chart Mode

Display the virtual sky similar to a printed star atlas.

Produce Publication-Quality Star Charts or Graphics

Exported chart (metafile)

Exported chart (bitmap)

Copy star charts to the Clipboard as Metafiles or Windows bitmaps to paste into other applications.  Spruce up your next astronomy club newsletter by including a publication-quality star chart!

Print Star Charts

Star hopping was never easier! Print a hard copy of any portion of the night sky, and use it in the field to help identify objects.

Right-click and Drag the Display

Use the right mouse button to drag and adjust the position of the screen.

Compute Angular Separation Between Objects

Display the precise angular separation between any two objects on screen.

Rotate the Screen to any Orientation

Rotate the Virtual Sky in any angle when matching star fields.

Add New Sky Databases (SDBs)

Use TheSky6's Database Manager to show additional Sky databases.

View Stellar Proper Motion

Watch the motion of the stars over hundreds, or thousands of years.  Proper motion "vectors" show the path that the stars will follow over time.

Display photograph of the Milky Way Galaxy

Display a high-resolution photograph galaxy, the Milky Way.

Display the Earth's Shadow

When simulating lunar eclipses, the Umbra and the Penumbra of the Earth's shadow is displayed against the starry background.  This "object" is also very handy for minor planet hunters who need to search dark areas of the sky that are directly "opposite" the Sun.

Send Star Chart as an Email Attachment

Shared a cool astronomical event with your friends who own TheSky6 by emailing a copy of your star chart (TheSky6 required).

Extensive Help Files

Questions? Use TheSky6's Help to get answers!   

Detailed User's Guide (PDF)

TheSky6 comes with a comprehensive user's manual in Portable Document Format (PDF).

Create Slide Shows

Use TheSky6 to create a list of images that can be shown as a manual or automatic advancing slide show.

Display 360 to 1 arcminute fields of view

Display view of the celestial sphere from 360 degrees down to 1 arcminute in TheSky6 Student Edition.

TheSky6 Professional Edition and Serious Astronomer Edition's minimum field of view is 30 arcseconds.

Limit the Magnitude of Displayed Objects

TheSky6 allows you to specify an upper and lower magnitude limit for any of over 60 different object classifications.

Update Orbital Elements from the Internet

Orbital plotting data can be updated automatically via the Internet for comets, minor planets (asteroids).

(TheSky6 Serious Astronomer Edition or TheSky6 Professional Edition are required to display satellites.)

Display Comet and Minor Planets (Asteroids)

Display the positions of up to 1000 comets and minor planets at a time.

(TheSky6 Serious Astronomer Edition or TheSky6 Professional Edition can display an unlimited number of minor planets.)

Documentation (User's Manual)

The 250-page TheSky6 User's Guide is supplied as PDF document, and is copied to your hard drive during installation. Click Start | All Programs | Software Bisque | TheSky6 | TheSky6 User's Guide (PDF) to view it.

Or, visit www.bisque.com/documentation to download the latest revision of this manual. Note that the free Abode Reader must be installed to view PDF documents.