Where can I find some really good star charts online?

Question

Preferably good enough that I could enter information like "I live at 40 degrees north latitude, and it's 12:30 at night on august 13th 2005. What does the sky look like, including the position and phase of the moon and any planets which may be visible?" Or at least as close to that much information as possible. Greatly appreciated, and 10 points to the best link!

Oh, and also, I've seen some really expensive astronomy software at microcenter. Is that worth it (or would I need to buy one to get the kind of detail as I asked in my questions) that have several different levels, including some kind of professional package that's over $200 and an amateur one for $75 or so, but I wasn't clear on how much I'd be getting for that kind of money.

Answer 1

Try the two source links I posted below. They may not have everything you are looking for but they are free.
Have fun.

Many years ago, I purchased "Dance of the Planets". It was a sophisticated software package. But I haven't purchased any astronomy software recently.

Answer 2

This is the one I use all the time ==>http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/

It takes some getting used to operating, but once you do you'll find that it fills your needs exactly. The only thing that get's kind of hairy about the site is that you need to be able to convert between GMT and your local standard time, but that's not an insurmountable problem.

Answer 3

The links that Poor Horatio gave you should answer your basic questions. If you want more in-depth star charting there's a freeware package called Cartes du Ciel: http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/

Answer 4

stellarium.org


Starry Nights Pro is wirth every penny.

Answer 5

i use xephem. try sky & telescope's online web page thingy.