Download a free trial copy of
Starry Night Backyard and explore the night sky yourself.
SPACE.com offers convenient online ordering 24 hours a day, every day.
“Starry Night is an excellent
aid for exploring the heavens...a superb, well documented program that
will transform you into an expert in no time.”
--ZDNet, 5 star rating
"There are few experiences as invigorating as being out in the countryside standing under a canopy of star on a still night. Starry Night conveys that feeling better than any other desktop planetarium"
--New York Times
StarGazer
Each week most PBS stations air Star
Gazer with Jack Horkheimer, the world's first and only weekly TV series
on naked-eye astronomy. The images on this page illustrate the show for
the week of Monday,
August 28, 2000.
Vega: The Brightest and Most Wonderful Star Of The Summer Triangle
Vega is the brightest star in the Summer Triangle, and is almost directly overhead (at the zenith) just after dark in late August and early September.
Today Vega is far from the north's celestial pole. Currently the North Star is Polaris, which is the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper.
However, 14 000 years ago Vega was the North star and Polaris was far from the pole! Vega will again be the pole star about 10 000 years in the future.
Click here to see a QuickTime movie showing how Vega moves relative to the North Pole over a timespan of 25 000 years.
Still want to know more?
Click here for an archive of the past shows.
Introduce yourself to the wonders of the night sky with Starry Night Backyard. Astronomy software so realistic and easy to use that learning your way around the night sky has never been easier. Learn how to identify planets, stars and constellations. View the heavens from your own backyard or anyplace on Earth. Blast-off and explore the solar system, ride a comet or check out the view from the International Space Station. Do it all using Starry Night Backyard.
And for those whose interest in the night sky goes even deeper, you'll want to get the new advanced Starry Night Pro. With extended data sets, dozens of new Pro-only features and Internet support not found in any other program you'll wonder how you ever observed without it!
See the wonders of our Universe in all its three-dimensional glory. Pilot a starship through 700 million light years of space and 30,000 galaxies. See what's really out there, with Deep Space Explorer.
Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions about Starry Night that you can't find answered here on our website. We also welcome your feedback and suggestions.
