Description
TheSky™ Professional is your astronomical toolkit, with features and capabilities to empower your fascination with the heavens and drive discovery. Becoming proficient in astronomy is a lifelong journey. TheSky™ will help get you there.
TheSky™ Professional — Astronomer’s Foundation™
Whether your astronomy interests involve scientific discovery, astrophotography, or the simple pleasures of observing objects through eyepieces, consider placing TheSky™ Professional at the heart of your endeavors.
While many professional astronomers use TheSky™ Professional for controlling their observatories (sometimes from halfway around the globe), amateur astronomers at all levels of proficiency also rely on TheSky™ Professional.
TheSky’s planetarium functions allow you to enjoy beautiful sky charts with amazing detail based on your preferences. Its renderings are lightning-fast due to many factors including its multi-threaded software architecture and its ability to take full advantage of hardware-based graphics acceleration and multi-core processors.
And its representation of relative astronomical object-sizes and positions is so accurate that a leading monthly astronomy print-magazine licenses TheSky™ to create its charts.
TheSky™ Professional includes fantastic databases including a portion of the relatively new Gaia Star Catalog. You’ll also have access to 13,000 astrophotos of various objects. You might enjoy its ability to show you what the night sky looked like for any historical date up to 4,000 years ago and from any point on Earth. You can also do the same for future dates up to the year 10,000 AD.
From its sky chart, point to the object of interest and your mount will acquire it and begin tracking. TheSky™ Professional supports nearly every mount manufactured. While controlling your mount is obviously important, that capability only scratches the surface of TheSky™ Professional’s capabilities.
TheSky™ Professional is an extremely stable foundation for a vast array of capabilities. Nowhere is that more evident than with its available software modules (shown here). It’s one of the few astronomy software packages that lets you add features as you need them instead of requiring you to acquire them all at once.
Adding modules is an à la cart way of adding features to TheSky™ Professional. While that might sound complicated, it’s simple. From a user-perspective after adding modules, the only change you’ll notice is the presence of new menus.
The modular approach allows you to select and only pay for the capabilities that you need. Should you later change your mind, you can always add modules.
There are all kinds of available modules with each performing different tasks including the world’s premier pointing software (TPoint™), the ability to control cameras and other devices (Cameras+), the ability to control domes (Domes), the ability to switch operating systems (Multi-OS+), and the ability to access the largest single collection of object-databases to be found anywhere including the complete 1.7 billion-star Gaia catalogue (Databases).
If you want nearly all the modules in a single download (and many do), you can choose TheSky Universal edition which bundles TheSky™ Professional and four modules including TPoint™, Domes, Cameras+, and Multi-OS+ (Multi-OS+ also includes a license to run TheSky™ on up to 6 different computers).
If you don’t think you’ll want to start out with nearly all the available modules but you’re either involved with imaging or plan to be, consider TheSky™ Imaging edition as it bundles TheSky™ Professional along with two of our most popular modules, TPoint™ and Cameras+.
TheSky™ Professional is available for Windows or macOS. You can later add Linux with the Multi-OS+ module. In the meantime, TheSky Imaging edition is immediately available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Since TheSky™ Universal bundle includes the Multi-OS + module, you can run TheSky™ on any operating system you want.
You might not care so much about the ability to switch operating systems today but that could change in the future. With TheSky™ Professional you won’t need to worry about painting yourself (or your institution) into a corner.
With its various modules in place, TheSky™ Professional allows you to be more productive by letting you control all your devices with a single software application from a single software developer. The alternative is to assemble various software packages from different developers. However the presence of multiple parties can make troubleshooting exponentially more difficult.
By far, the largest investment you’ll make with astronomy software is in the form or your time, not your wallet.
When it comes to astronomy software, none of the various packages are especially easy to use as they involve the need to learn some basic functions and why they’re important. With that said, TheSky’s consistent user-interface across multiple functions should ease your learning process.
That same consistency-of-approach benefits from one developer instead of many applies for support as well. You can get a taste of what TheSky Professional’s online help looks like by visiting the TheSky™ Help area (see here).
You can also download TheSky™ Professional’s 800-plus page user manual which provides concise and detailed descriptions about how to do just about anything involving TheSky™ including its modules and in a form that you can print. In addition, our online support forums provide answers to just about every question you might come up with — and if you don’t find an answer, you can always post a question. Our support forums have tens of thousands of active users.
In addition to getting you answers to your questions, we do everything we can to eliminate the need for support by continuously updating our software with new features, support for new devices, bug fixes, and support for several operating systems.
We provide multiple software updates throughout the year so that you’ll have the best possible experience (see here). Your first-year subscription is included in the price.
Afterwards, you’ll have the option to renew your annual subscription and enjoy another 12-month period of updates. In most cases, your software should continue to operate normally should you elect not to renew your subscription.
We invest our resources in updating our software so that you’ll have a more uptime, night after night.
$100.00 / year and a $229.00 sign-up fee
TheSky™ Professional is your astronomical toolkit, with features and capabilities to empower your fascination with the heavens and drive discovery. Becoming proficient in astronomy is a lifelong journey. TheSky™ will help get you there.
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TheSky™ Professional, on macOS, Windows, Linux ARM64, ARM32, and x86_64 architectures, is your astronomy toolkit and is loaded with features you need. The table below lists most of TheSky™ Professional’s standard feature set. In addition to these standard features, TheSky™ Professional offers optional modules that extend the standard feature set.
Feature |
Sample Screen |
Explanation |
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Display an Interactive Sky Chart |
Looking up at dusk. Looking North.
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The flexible interactive Sky Chart shows you the simulated sky.
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Databases of Celestial Objects and Photos |
Large databases of pictures and Photos tab
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TheSky is packed with information on millions of objects and thousands of fascinating astronomical photographs. View and find the planets, dwarf planets, the Moon, comets, asteroids, satellites, and thousands of the most popular non-stellar objects from the Messier, NGC and IC catalogs and approximately 1 million stars from the Hipparcos-Tycho star catalog (complete to about 12th magnitude). Databases of Objects and Photos
TheSkyX also includes:
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What’s Hertzsprung-Russell Wide-field
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The simplified observing list includes a What’s Up? query that lets You can scroll through each object in the report and watch the Sky Chart update to show you exactly where to look for the object. |
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Create and Show Field of View Indicators (FOVIs)
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FOVI
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Choose your equipment from a database of hundreds of telescopes, eyepieces and cameras or define your own, then show an overlay on the Sky Chart.
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Iridium
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Predict and watch simulated Iridium Flares directly from TheSky.
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Tour
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TheSky includes animated tours that you can watch, learn, or show others basic astronomy concepts. Supplied Tours include:
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Tabbed/Dockable/Floating Windows |
Tabbed windows on the Sky Chart.
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By default, commonly used features can be accessed by clicking the List of the standard docking windows: Tours window – Watch animations related to many interesting astronomical concepts. Find window – Easily locate any object by name, catalog number and many other designations. Chart Elements window – Lets you turn on and off, or filter by
Labels window – Turn on and off the names of objects, including:
Photos Each tab represents a separate window that can be moved and sized to your liking. |
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Simple A list of common names that match the letters you type appears automatically. Advanced tab All object in TheSky’s |
The friendly, powerful Find command lets you easily locate any object in TheSkyX’s astronomical databases.All objects in the databases are listed in a “tree list” and sorted by type (star, double star, galaxy, cluster, etc.). Just double-click on the name to find it, or specific classification, including: Finding Stars by:
Finding Non-stellar objects by:
Finding Solar System Objects:
Finding the Constellations by:
Find 70 Common Asterisms The object’s name appear in green letter if it’s currently above the horizon, or in black italicized letters when it’s below the horizon. |
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Get Detailed Information on Celestial Objects |
Object |
Click on any object, or use the Find
*Please note that not every database or every Sample Object Information The table below lists the typical information displayed for
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Select Different Photographs for the Panoramic Horizon |
Software New Mountain
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Choose from several supplied custom panoramic horizons, including:
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Quickly Set Chart Options with Chart Elements |
Chart
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Turning on and off individual, selected or all object classifications or “chart elements” is easy with the Chart Elements window. |
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Show Reference Lines and Photos |
Reference Lines and Reference Photos
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Show the following reference lines and reference photos. Constellation Figures from:
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Show Object Names (Object Labels) |
Object Name Labels
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TheSky can show the names and labels for the following:
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Configure Appearance of Stars |
Sample Star
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Adjust the appearance of the stars by:
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Customize Tool bars to Access Commands You Want |
Look Orientation Tool
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Six standard tool bars contain buttons to access many frequently used commands. You can also add your own custom tool bars for the commands you The position of the tool bars can be customized. Show them as floating windows, or drag and drop them anywhere along the edges Star Chart window. |
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Chart Status window |
Chart Status window with configurable report |
The Chart Status window shows a continuously updated information about the current chart. Choose from the following list of status report options:
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Show/Hide Scroll Bars |
Chart with optional scroll bars turned on
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Show/hide horizontal and vertical scroll bars for easy chart navigation. |
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Look North, South, East, West or Up |
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Never get lost in space! Automatically adjust the star chart for your location to look North, South, East, West or straight up (at the Zenith).
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Zoom Box |
Zoom Box
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Click and drag the “zoom box” on the chart to magnify (or |
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Zoom to Pre-defined Fields of View |
Custom Field of View window.
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Built-in command to show the following fields of view:
Or, define any number of custom fields of view using the Custom Fields of View dialog. |
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Navigate the Celestial Sphere |
Navigate Navigate
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The Navigate window let’s you:
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Control the Date and Time |
The Custom Date |
Input any date from 4,712 B.C. to A.D. 10,000 and any time to show a beautiful star chart for your location. The Date & Time tab on the Command
The Date & Time tab allows you to specify specific times, including:
The Date & Time tab allows you to control the rate that time changes, or the increment of time to advance or retreat in time. The default increments include:
You can define custom increments and rates using the Custom Time Flow Increments and Rates dialog. The Date & Time toolbar allows you to set the Date & Time as well as specify the direction
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Choose your location on Earth |
Earth
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By default, your location on earth is detected automatically from the web. Or,
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Create Solar System Object Paths |
Mercury
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Create a “path” that represents the future or past positions |
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Find and View Solar and Lunar Eclipses with the Eclipse Viewer |
Solar Example
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When is the next solar eclipse? Where it visible on Earth? You’ll be able to answer these questions, learn about the dynamics of solar and lunar eclipses and more using the Solar and Lunar Eclipse Viewer. Solar Eclipses TheSky shows every solar eclipse for the next twenty years (or so) from the current date (starting from any date). Select an eclipse from the list and the three-dimensional view of the Earth gives the local circumstances:
You can adjust the viewing distance from Earth using the Solar Viewing Distance Slider. Lunar Eclipses As with solar eclipses, the next twenty years of lunar eclipses are listed. Select one from the list to view it’s local circumstances, including:
When a lunar eclipse is selected,
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Find Conjunctions with the Conjunction Finder |
Conjunction View
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Select any 2 or 3 planets (or the Sun and Moon) to find the future conjunctions of these bodies. For each conjunction that is located, |
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Show the Positions of the Major Moons of Jupiter and Saturn |
View View
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View the positions of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s major moons. |
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Display or Print Calendars showing the Moon’s Phase and other information |
Monthly
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Show a calendar of any month with the phases of the moon, as well as sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, and Iridium Flare occurrences. A full year’s calendar can be shown, too. The calendar can be saved (or exported) as a PDF file.
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View High-Resolution Images of the Moon using the Moon Viewer |
Moon Location |
The interactive Moon Photo Viewer is a powerful tool that can:
Identify and get feature specific
When the “Highlight Photo’s Location |
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View the Solar System in Three Dimensions using the 3D Solar System Viewer |
Three
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Use this command to toggle between looking at the sky from Earth or from outer space (anywhere inside our solar system). When this command is enabled, the starry background is turned off by default and only the objects in our solar system The default location is an arbitrary point in space. |
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3D view of the
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View the stars in three dimensions with the 3D Stars tool. You can zoom, pan and scroll around the universe to learn about the relative Even isolate any of the 88 constellations and view only the stars within its boundaries. |
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Show Detailed Constellations Figures |
Bevis Constellation
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Show detailed drawings for all or selected constellations. |
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Simulate the Daytime Sky |
Sunset
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The Daytime Sky Mode lets you simulate and how the sky looks during daytime, as well as dawn and dusk. |
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View in Full Screen Mode |
Full
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Have the Sky Chart occupy the entire desktop in Full Screen mode. |
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Show the entire screen (and the entire desktop) predominantly red to preserve the eyes’ dark adaptation (or night vision).
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Show the Chart as a Mirror Image |
Show
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Mirror image reverses the Sky Chart, left-to-right. This lets you view |
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Show Photo-Like or Map-Like Star Charts |
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Chart mode displays Sky Chart to look more like what you would see in a book of star charts, or how a printed chart might look. |
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Create Publication-Quality Star Charts. Graphics and PDF Output |
Exported
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Sky Charts can be exported in portable network graphs (PNG) format, or saved in portable document format (PDF) for publication of charts and graphics to your astronomy club newsletter or web site.* *Please include the text “Copyright Software |
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Print and Export Star Charts |
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Print high-resolution star charts on your printer for field use. |
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Click to Drag the Sky Chart to Change Field of View |
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Click and drag the mouse and drag the sky chart to change its position.
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Rotate the Sky Chart to any position angle |
Screen
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Use the Rotate tab on the Orientation > Navigate window to rotate the Sky Chart to any angle to match your field of view or photo’s |
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Database Manager to Add/Remove Core and Additional Sky Databases (SDBs) |
Database
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Use the Database Manager to:
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Compute and View Stellar Proper Motion |
Chart Configure
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Stars’ proper motion lets you:
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Friendly and Extensive User Guide |
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TheSky User Guide teaches you many fundamental principles about astronomy and relates them to TheSkyX software. This document is available in three different digital formats to satisfy any preference:
Note that a printed copy of the 800+ page TheSky User Guide is not available. If a printed copy is required, Software Bisque can grant permission to have a copy printed and bound by your local printing shop.
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Wide Zoomed
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Simulate the celestial sphere, at any magnification from 235 degrees to 30 arcseconds. |
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Limit |
Filter and
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Select any object type (or all object types) and easily adjust the upper and lower magnitudes and the maximum and minimum angular sizes of objects that are shown on the Sky Chart. |
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Display Small Solar System Objects, including Comets, Asteroids and Man-Made Satellites |
Import Import Import Import
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Create Observing Lists
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Observing Observing Observing
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TheSky makes generating an observing list from this complex query simple!The Create Observing List command in the Tools menu can be used to perform advanced searches or database queries that can be used to generate observing lists. The Advanced Query tab offers much more detail regarding your query of celestial objects than the simplified options on the What’s Up Setup tab.Suppose you want to create an observing list that contains all the double stars from the Washington Catalog of Double Stars that have a spectral type of G5 in Orion. |
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Consider adding these modules for even greater functionality.