One thing I love about my house is that I can go out on the porch on a clear night and see the Big Dipper, Orion’s Belt, etc. But it always leaves me wondering what else I could see. Now, at Heavens Above, I can find out! That’s right, they can predict what constellations you can see in your local area, but to do it, you need to register. It’s easy and free to do!
If you don’t want to register, don’t despair. You can still search for your location. Just look under Anonymous Users for the Search link. Then choose your country and type in your city. It will then give you a listing of places to choose from. Select yours and you will be all set for this visit. While registering has its benefits, if you do choose to stay an anonymous user, you might want to check out this page to learn how you can get the most out of this site.
On your Local page, you will find out what satellites and iridium flares you can see, as well as, get your whole sky chart. You’ll find the data distributed among these categories on the page as well: Configuration, Satellites, Astronomy and Miscellaneous.
Under Astronomy, I highly recommend that you look at your local Whole Sky Chart, because it really is amazing to see what you might be missing. I was shocked at what else I could see in the sky from my house. I can’t wait to sit outside on a clear night now! What is even cooler about this is that it is set up for your current day, so as the days change, so do the sky charts.
One great idea would be to print out your sky chart on a clear night and take your kids out to see how many of the constellations they can see. I know I’m going to be doing that for sure!
This site is a real gem and I hope you’ll bookmark it. I know I did. Have fun!
~ Amanda