Every star here is real. Each one is placed by its measured parallax and moves along its measured 3-D space velocity (Hipparcos and Gaia astrometry). Scrub through time and the sky changes as the kinematics dictate: nearby stars move quickly while distant ones barely stir, and brightness follows the inverse-square law, so approaching stars brighten and receding ones fade.
Motion includes a second-order galactic-tide correction from the MWPotential2014 model, verified against full galpy orbit integrations; the model error stays below 0.005 pc across the whole timeline. Beyond ±100,000 yr the band turns amber because measurement uncertainty (Gaia parallax and radial velocity, propagated over the extrapolation) starts to dominate, so figures out there are best estimates rather than certainties. No internet, no tracking: everything runs from this one file.
Stars: the HYG v4.1 database by David Nash / Astronomy Nexus (CC BY-SA 4.0), built on Hipparcos and Gaia astrometry; Gliese 710 uses Gaia DR3 astrometry, and published closest-approach estimates span 0.05 to 0.06 pc (Bailer-Jones 2022; de la Fuente Marcos & de la Fuente Marcos 2022). Constellation figures: the Stellarium modern sky-culture line set. Milky Way panorama: ESO/S. Brunier (CC BY 4.0). Galactic potential: MWPotential2014 (Bovy 2015), cross-checked against galpy. Star colours: B−V converted to temperature with the Ballesteros (2012) relation.