All Night Sky

All Night Sky is an interactive web application for exploring celestial objects. Built with modern web technologies, it provides an immersive experience for stargazers and astronomy enthusiasts.

Features

The app features smooth animations and an intuitive interface for navigating the cosmos from your browser:

• Real-time sky map - See what’s visible from your location right now
• Planet and star identification - Tap any object to learn more
• Time travel - Scrub through time to see how the sky changes
• Constellation overlays - Toggle constellation lines and mythology
• Dark mode by default - Because you’re probably using this outside at night

Why I Built It

I’ve always been fascinated by the night sky, and living in Alberta means access to some genuinely dark skies when you get away from the cities. But figuring out what you’re looking at—especially planets that move around—can be tricky without a reference.

Most existing apps were either cluttered with features I didn’t need or required subscriptions for basic functionality. I wanted something clean, fast, and web-based so it would work on any device without installation.

Technical Approach

The star and planet positions are calculated using standard astronomical algorithms rather than relying on external APIs. This means the app works offline once loaded and can accurately show the sky at any point in time—past or future.

The rendering uses WebGL for smooth 60fps animation even with thousands of stars visible. The challenge was making the interface feel natural—panning and zooming the sky should feel like turning your head, not manipulating a spreadsheet.

See Also

• Aviation hobby page - Night flying offers some spectacular views of the stars
• Photography hobby page - Astrophotography attempts