Star Charts

Download FREE, high quality star charts - right here!

ALL SKY MAPS

First, here's an interactive sky map from Astroviewer that you can open right now into a pop up window. You'll see what the whole sky looks like right now!

Please enable JAVA^TM to use the Mini-AstroViewer night sky map.

Another free, but printable, all-sky map of the night sky showing what the star look like in the current month, visit Skymaps.com and click on the download latest issue links partway down the page.

DETAILED STAR CHARTS

For more detailed sections of the sky, see the free star charts below made by Andrew L. Johnson. These star charts show stars down to magnitude 7.25, which is about the limit of naked-eye visibility under exceedingly dark skies and a person of exceptional vision. For the rest of us (living as close to the light pollution of the greater Chicago area as we do) it's a great set of charts for finding our way around with binoculars or a very small telescope, and gives the locations of all kinds of galaxies, nebula, double stars and star clusters.

Black and White star charts

Chart-1.pdf	North of declination +65 URSA MINOR, URSA MAJOR, CASSEOPEIA, CEPHEUS, DRACO	Chart-11.pdf Chart-11a.pdf	RA 12h to 16h, Dec +20 to -20 - VIRGO, COMA BERENICES, CORVUS, SERPENS CAPUT RA 11.5h to 13.5h, Dec +20 to 0 Close up of VIRGO galaxies
Chart-2.pdf	RA 0h to 4h, Dec +65 to +20 PERSEUS, ANDROMEDA, TRIANGULUM	Chart-12.pdf	RA 16h to 20h, Dec +20 to -20 AQUILA, OPHIUCUS, SERPENS CAUDA
Chart-3.pdf	RA 4h to 8h, Dec +65 to +20 GEMINI, AURIGA, PERSEUS	Chart-13.pdf	RA 20h to 0h, Dec +20 to -20 AQUARIUS, DELPHINUS, EQUULEUS, PEGASUS
Chart-4.pdf	RA 8h to 12h, Dec +65 to +20 - URSA MAJOR, LEO MINOR, LYNX	Chart-14.pdf	RA 0h to 4h, Dec -20 to -65 ERIDANUS, SCULPTOR, PHOENIX, FORNAX, HOROLOGIUM
Chart-5.pdf	RA 12h to 16h, Dec +65 to +20 URSA MAJOR, BOOTES, CANES VENATICI, CORONA BOREALIS	Chart-15.pdf	RA 4h to 8h, Dec -20 to -65 CANIS MAJOR, COLUMBA, PICTOR, PUPPIS
Chart-6.pdf	RA 16h to 20h, Dec +65 to +20 HERCULES, LYRA, VULPECULA, SAGITTA	Chart-16.pdf	RA 8h to 12h, Dec -20 to -65 HYDRA, ANTLIA, PYXIS, VELA
Chart-7.pdf	RA 20h to 0h, Dec +65 to +20 CYGNUS, LACERTA, PEGASUS	Chart-17.pdf	RA 12h to 16h, Dec -20 to -65 HYDRA, CENTAURUS, LUPUS
Chart-8.pdf	RA 0h to 4h, Dec +20 to -20 PISCES, CETUS	Chart-18.pdf	RA 16h to 20h, Dec -20 to -65 SAGITTARIUS, SCORPIUS
Chart-9.pdf	RA 4h to 8h, Dec +20 to -20 TAURUS, ORION, MONOCEROS, LEPUS, CANIS MINOR/MAJOR	Chart-19.pdf	RA 20h to 0h, Dec -20 to -65 PISCES AUSTRINUS, MICROSCOPIU, GRUS
Chart-10.pdf	RA 8h to 12h, Dec +20 to -20 LEO, CANCER, SEXTANS, HYDRA	Chart-20.pdf	South of declination -65 CIRCUMPOLAR, SOUTH

Color star charts

ChartC-1.pdf	North of declination +65	ChartC-11.pdf ChartC-11a.pdf	RA 12h to 16h, Dec +20 to -20 RA 11.5h to 13.5h, Dec +20 to 0
ChartC-2.pdf	RA 0h to 4h, Dec +65 to +20	ChartC-12.pdf	RA 16h to 20h, Dec +20 to -20
ChartC-3.pdf	RA 4h to 8h, Dec +65 to +20	ChartC-13.pdf	RA 20h to 0h, Dec +20 to -20
ChartC-4.pdf	RA 8h to 12h, Dec +65 to +20	ChartC-14.pdf	RA 0h to 4h, Dec -20 to -65
ChartC-5.pdf	RA 12h to 16h, Dec +65 to +20	ChartC-15.pdf	RA 4h to 8h, Dec -20 to -65
ChartC-6.pdf	RA 16h to 20h, Dec +65 to +20	ChartC-16.pdf	RA 8h to 12h, Dec -20 to -65
ChartC-7.pdf	RA 20h to 0h, Dec +65 to +20	ChartC-17.pdf	RA 12h to 16h, Dec -20 to -65
ChartC-8.pdf	RA 0h to 4h, Dec +20 to -20	ChartC-18.pdf	RA 16h to 20h, Dec -20 to -65
ChartC-9.pdf	RA 4h to 8h, Dec +20 to -20	ChartC-19.pdf	RA 20h to 0h, Dec -20 to -65
ChartC-10.pdf	RA 8h to 12h, Dec +20 to -20	ChartC-20.pdf	South of declination -65

Keep in mind that for our location near Chicago, we're unlikely to have much use for charts 14 through 20 unless we are going WELL south (like Hawaii, or Central America, or further). But I've provided all of them here just in case. Charts are in both black and white and color - use whichever ones suit your eyes best.

These charts above are covered under the Creative Commons license, and can be utilized by anyone for most purposes that are non-commercial. For more information about these charts and the copyright restrictions, please see this link at CloudyNights.com.

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One last thing: Please be sure to turn off your outdoor lights, or if you must have an outdoor light on, be certain it is a full cut-off fixture, and the minimum wattage required. No sense in lighting the underside of planes at night - it just ruins the night sky for everyone else! Besides, doing so really will save you money on your electric bills. For more information about light pollution, please visit the International Dark Sky Association.