NOTICE: CyberSky sales have stopped!
Due to my CyberSky astronomy software generating low revenue over the last year, Digital River MyCommerce, the company that has handled online sales and fulfillment for me for many years, has terminating my account.
The software business has changed dramatically since I first released CyberSky as shareware, a term I don’t think is used any more. I took the termination of my account as a sign I should retire, and have stopped sales of the program, effective May 3, 2024.
Thank you for your support, for sending me bug reports and a lot of suggestions to help me make CyberSky better, and especially for the many kind words you’ve sent me about my software over nearly three decades.
Program updates
You can update your copy of CyberSky 5 to version 5.2.1 by using the patch found below.
Use the link below to download the patch.
CyberSky 5.2.1 Full Patch (5.32 MB)
The patch includes all of the bug fixes, minor enhancements, and other changes introduced since the release of CyberSky 5.
Note A full version of CyberSky 5 must be installed on your computer before you can use the CyberSky 5.2.1 patch. The patch won’t work with a trial version of CyberSky 5, nor will it work with CyberSky 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Installing the update
To install the CyberSky update on your computer, download the patch file, double-click the file to start the patch program, and then follow the instructions that appear.
During installation, the patch program modifies or “patches” the CyberSky program and Help file installed on your computer so that both include all of the improvements introduced in newer releases.
After you install the CyberSky update, you don’t need the patch file to run the program, but you should save it in case you need to reinstall CyberSky.
Release notes
Notes about recent releases, including descriptions of bug fixes, minor enhancements, and other changes to the program are found below.
CyberSky 5.2.1
(August 10, 2023)
- Changed the names of five countries in the program’s list of locations: Cape Verde to Cabo Verde, Czech Republic to Czechia, Macedonia (FYROM) to North Macedonia, Swaziland to Eswatini, and Turkey to Türkiye.
- Updated the program’s table of known ΔT values with the values for 2022 and 2023.
CyberSky 5.2
(November 23, 2021)
- CyberSky now uses the proper names of stars approved by the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Star Names. The number of star names used by the program has increased from 247 to 406; 166 names have been added, 23 have been changed, and 7 have been deleted because they are not approved.
- Updated the program’s table of known ΔT values with the values for 2019 through 2021.
- Removed the option to receive CyberSky on a compact disc. The program is now available only by downloading it using a link you’ll receive when you purchase a license.
CyberSky 5.1.2
(September 27, 2018)
- Asteroid and comet catalog downloads stopped working because the Minor Planet Center changed their URL from minorplanetcenter.org to minorplanetcenter.net and they now require a secure connection. Fixed.
- The predicted values of ΔT calculated for dates between the present and about a century in the future were incorrect. Fixed.
- Updated the program’s table of known ΔT values with the value for 2018.
CyberSky 5.1.1
(April 24, 2017)
- Clicking the Copy button in any of the Properties dialog boxes for objects, or in any of the other dialog boxes that let you copy information to the Windows Clipboard, could cause the program to crash. Fixed.
- Updated the program’s table of known ΔT values with the value for 2017.
CyberSky 5.1
(November 22, 2016)
- You can now include multiple-line titles on printed maps, and can add any notes you feel are useful as well. CyberSky automatically adjusts the sizes of the title and note boxes to accommodate the text. As is the case with other text that appears on printed maps, you can customize both the color and the font used for notes.
- If the size of text, apps, and other items in Windows 10 was set to a value higher than the default of 100%, the map wasn’t being scaled properly in print preview. Fixed.
- You now have the option to include the day of the week in dates displayed by CyberSky, as either three-letter or two-letter abbreviations. In other words, CyberSky can now display dates like “Wed 08/10/2016” or “We 08/10/2016” on screen and on printed maps.
- The method that CyberSky uses to determine the value of ΔT has changed. For the years 1001 BC to 1700, CyberSky now uses tables of ΔT values published by L. V. Morrison and F. R. Stephenson in 2004. For the years 1701 to 2016, the program uses tables published in The Astronomical Almanac and updates from the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. For dates that fall outside the range 1001 BC to 2016, CyberSky extrapolates the value of ΔT as recommended by Morrison and Stephenson. These changes, which bring the program’s output into closer agreement with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s latest planetary and lunar ephemeris, DE431, will be of interest primarily to those using CyberSky for archaeoastronomy research. For more information, see the topic “Accuracy of ΔT values” in the program’s Help file.
- The distances of planetary moons from the Earth weren’t being calculated correctly, so those moons weren’t being “layered” properly on the map. For example, if Jupiter was being occulted by the Moon, it was possible for Jupiter’s moons to appear in front of the Moon. Fixed.
- You no longer have to right-click an object to edit its path displayed on the map or to delete its path from the map. You can now right-click any position along the object’s path to use the Edit path and Delete path commands.
- You can now right-click any position along an object’s path and use the new Path position time command to set the time to when the object reaches that position along the path.
- The phase of the Moon displayed in the Moon Properties dialog box now includes the appearance of the Moon: waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous, and waning crescent. For example, “Waxing crescent, 1.5d before first quarter.”
- The Properties dialog boxes for all types of objects now display the azimuths at which the object rises and sets, as well as the altitude at which the object transits the meridian.
- In the Seasons dialog box, the duration of each season was being displayed incorrectly for locations in the Southern Hemisphere. Fixed.
- The Twilight dialog box now displays the azimuths of the Sun at sunrise and sunset, and the altitude of the Sun at which it transits the meridian.
- If the size of text, apps, and other items in Windows was set to a value higher than the default of 100%, hovering the pointer over an object on the map resulted in a tiny window that displayed no information about the object. Fixed.
- If you changed the size of text, apps, and other items in Windows from one value to another, say from 100% to 125%, the and bars weren’t resized to match. Fixed.
- Removed support for the Office 2007 Scenic and Office 2007 White color schemes.
- Removed support for Windows XP.
CyberSky 5.0.3
(October 4, 2011)
- The Roman numeral designations of planetary moons—for example, Saturn VII for Saturn’s moon Hyperion—were not being displayed correctly in the Properties dialog box for planetary moons. Fixed.
- If the path of an asteroid was added to the map, the path was calculated and displayed correctly, but the current positions of asteroids weren’t updated correctly. Asteroids therefore disappeared from the map. In some cases, CyberSky would even “lock up.” The same thing happened to comets if the path of a comet was added to the map. Fixed.
- The rise, transit, and set times for meteor showers, displayed in the Properties dialog box for meteor showers, were not being calculated correctly. Fixed.
CyberSky 5.0.2
(January 4, 2011)
- If the time was set to a moment in the distant past or far in the future, a bug could cause the program to “lock up” or stop reponding. Fixed.
CyberSky 5.0.1
(November 22, 2010)
- Each time CyberSky was started, both the bar and the bar were placed at their default positions instead of being placed at the positions they had when the program was previously quit. Fixed.
CyberSky 5.0
(November 10, 2010)
- Initial release of CyberSky 5.