SkyView performs many of the functions of a planetarium. It allows you to see the appearance of the sky from any specified location on the earth. You can change the date and time for which the sky is displayed to see the sky as it looked in the past or as it will look in the future.
SkyView displays the positions of the sun, moon, and all naked-eye planets, as well as all the stars down to a limiting magnitude you select. You can orient the sky display so that the North, South, East, or West horizon is positioned at the bottom of the screen. The ecliptic, celestial equator, galactic equator, and equatorial coordinate lines can be added to the display in any combination. You even have control of the colors used for most of the sky objects and for the background.
SkyView is a valuable tool for interactively exploring the fundamentals of astronomy or for planning your observation time.