New Look and Feel

We've replaced the "home-grown" controls in many of our windows and dialog boxes with native controls that better match the Aqua interface of Mac OS X and the Aero theme for Windows Vista.

New Star Database

SkyGazer 4.5 includes star data from version 5 of NASA's SKY2000 Master Star Catalog, the August 2008 version of the Washington Double Star catalog, the December 2007 General Catalog of Variable Stars. SkyGazer 4.5 now includes every component of the 100 nearest star systems, with data from the Research Consortium on Nearby Stars (RECONS).

Detailed Sky Charts

Create detailed star maps that you can use to explore the night sky with binoculars or a small telescope, customized for your particular observing location or time. This star atlas view shows the rich southern Milky Way near Alpha Centauri and the Southern Cross.

New Planet Graphics

We've updated our maps of the Earth, Moon, and Mars; and added new high resolution maps of Saturn's moons from the Cassini mission. In addition, the code which draws the planets and their rings, moons, and shadows has been completely rewritten to include the effects of perspective and rotational flattening.

Historical Sky Simulations

Recreate eclipses, transits, conjunctions, and other celestial events which occurred hundreds of years ago. This image shows the extremely rare conjunction of Mars and Jupiter in 1170 AD, when Mars actually appeared to pass in front of Jupiter.

New Data Updates

SkyGazer 4.5 can now download and import the latest orbit data for comets, asteroids, and spacecraft directly from the Minor Planet Center and other sources on the internet. Bring your Solar System up to date with a single click of the mouse!

Seasons of the Earth

Using colorful animations, SkyGazer 4.5 illustrates basic astronomical concepts. Map the changing cycle of day and night on the Earth's surface. Study how the changing seasons result from the tilt of Earth's axis. Explore the seasonal change in the length of the day at different locations on Earth.

New Object Descriptions

In addition to their numerical data, SkyGazer 4.5 now includes textual, plain-English descriptions for literally thousands of stars, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, developed in conjunction with professor Jim Kaler of the University of Illinois. Learn "fun facts" about the objects you can see in the night sky!

New Deep Sky Object Data

SkyGazer 4.5 includes a completely rebuilt deep sky object database, using the latest version of the Wilton Dias open cluster catalog (April 2008), the latest Principal Galaxy Catalog (September 2008), all cross-referenced with Wolfgang Steinicke's latest Revised NGC and IC Catalogs (April 2008). A number of errors, omissions, and duplicate references in our previous deep sky object database have been fixed.

Digitized Sky Survey Images

SkyGazer 4.5 contains colorful images of hundreds of deep sky objects like the Pleiades star cluster, M 45, shown here at right. Images are based on real data from the second-generation digitized sky survey, and are rotated and scaled to match the object's actual appearance in the night sky. This release includes 70 new DSS2 images.

New Planetary Ephemeris

SkyGazer 4.5 contains a high-performance implementation of JPL's "state of the art" DE408 planetary ephemeris. It computes the positions of the planets even more accurately, and dozens of times faster, than our previous version.

Eclipses - Shadows of the Earth and Moon

Follow the path of the Moon as its shadow moves across the surface of the Earth during a solar eclipse. View ancient solar eclipses from any location on Earth and preview eclipses that will occur in the coming years.

New Display Options

SkyGazer 4.5 lets you zoom in out on the sky using your mouse wheel, just like you can do with Google Maps.We've added a number of display options, including the ability to show comets and asteroids separately, and to turn on/turn off the Sun, planets, and moons individually.

Phases of the Moon and Planets

Follow the phases of the Moon and determine the conditions which produce lunar and solar eclipses. See the moon-like phases of Venus, the retrograde motion of Mars, the bright moons of Jupiter, and the changing appearance of the rings of Saturn. Investigate the nature and motion of comets and asteroids.

New Horizon Panorama

We've added a new 360-degree horizon panorama of a Golden Gate Park meadow.

Paths of the Poles and Planets

Watch the looping path of Mars and see how the Earth and Mars repeat this pattern every few years. See how the axis of the Earth precesses over thousands of years, creating many new "North Stars".

Journey to the edge of the solar system to observe the clockwork motion of the planets.