The Globe

The whole sphere

The star map shows the half of the sky above you. This is the other thing entirely — the celestial sphere as an object, turning in your hands. Drag it. Pinch it. Put your own horizon on it.

Turning slowly. Drag to take hold of it.

How to read it

The brass lineCelestial equator
The faint gridHours of right ascension
Top and bottomThe two celestial poles
The red circleYour horizon, right now
Inside the redSky you could see tonight

Everything is in its real place: right ascension and declination, the same numbers an atlas uses. Turn it until Orion faces you and you are looking at where Orion actually is.

Elsewhere