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Universal Perspective
Open my sky

A live astronomy experience for understanding where you are.

Your view is local.
The geometry is universal.

Identify the Sun, Moon, and visible planets. Watch Earth turn. Pull back into the solar system. Share a real moment with someone elsewhere.

Open my skySee how it works

No account required. Location access is requested only when you choose to use it.

One observer, one horizon, one sightline up.

Start with your question.

  1. What is that bright object?

    Identify the Sun, Moon, and visible planets from where you are standing.

    Identify my sky

  2. Why does the sky appear to move?

    Watch the ground beneath you turn east while the sky appears to drift west.

    Watch Earth turn

  3. Where are we in the solar system?

    Pull back from your horizon to the real positions of Earth, the planets, moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets.

    Pull back

  4. Can someone else see this too?

    Find one real object that two people can observe from different horizons.

    Find something we can both see

  5. How did people learn to keep time from the sky?

    Follow the repeating patterns that turned observation into prediction.

    Begin the story

Different reference frames. The same physical event.

These are not separate apps. Each stage below is a step back from your own horizon, toward the wider geometry that explains it.

Stage 1From the groundWhat is above me?Stage 2On a turning EarthWhy does it appear to move?Stage 3From outsideWhere is it in the solar system?Stage 4From elsewhereWhat does another person see?

Two ways people use this beyond tonight.

Interactive story

The Sky Was the First Clock

Follow the day, the Moon, the year, and the calendars people built when the sky was the only clock — then see the same cycles running live above you. Its companion reference, the Human Timekeeping Atlas, compares how different cultures solved the same problem.

Begin the storyAll stories

Shared observation

One object, two horizons, one moment

Add a second observer anywhere on Earth and Universal Perspective finds a real object both horizons can hold at the same instant — with a countdown and a calendar entry so you can both actually look up.

Find something we can both see
Illustrative exampleOne horizonevening · 22° up, westAnother horizonnight · 41° up, east
Different skiesOne object. Two horizons.

The solar system is almost impossibly empty.

Switch between a readable model and true distances. Follow real orbits, focus on individual worlds, and see how small the bodies become when distance and scale stop being compressed.

Optional gravity visualizations help explore potential and curvature analogies. They are teaching layers, not literal spacetime fabric.

Explore the solar systemSee true distances

Readable model

True distance

Both diagrams are illustrative, not to astronomical scale on this page.

For learning

Built to be understood, not just looked at.

Families

Name what your child is pointing at, and follow the Moon night to night.

For families

Educators

Reference frames, apparent motion, phases, and honest scale from live geometry.

For educators

Also for people in different places.

Accuracy and privacy

Awe comes from accuracy.

Positions are computed in your browser from published ephemeris models, not illustrated. Where a view exaggerates size or distance, the interface says so. There is no account, and your location stays on your device unless you choose to share a rounded version of it.

Read the accuracy notesRead the privacy notesRead the mission

You are here.
You are moving.
Look up, then pull back.

Open my skyBegin the first storyFind someone else's horizon