As an amateur astronomer, I often use desktop planetarium software to plan my viewing sessions. There are many products available for all computer platforms. A Google search yields links to all of the sources.
Growing in popularity and features are the online planetarium sites. Below are highlights of some favorites of mine. Each has unique features, look and feel, and ease of use. Enjoy.
Top on the list is Eyes on the Solar System from JPL at NASA. It is accompanied by rich graphics and accurate simulations.
Jump in and start exploring the Solar System on your own. Explore the planets and their moons and ride onboard the spacecraft, past present and future, that explore our cosmic backyard. Keep checking back for new features, tours and news. Just like the universe, "Eyes on the Solar System" is expanding.
Eyes on the Solar System can take you through 100 years of spaceflight history but here are a couple of highlights. Ride Voyager 2 past Saturn or take a Titan flyby with Cassini.
There is an Intro as well as Tutorials.
Second is the Neave Planetarium. It is more intuitive and asks that you basically jump right in and try it. Click and hold your mouse to drag the sky around. Move the mouse over a star and it identifies it with the constellation containing it. The Menu...More From Neave at the top right has some other fun stuff to play with.
Third on my list is Astrotour. Follow the text directions at the bottom to guide you through some interesting aspects of heliocentric vs geocentric views of the heavens. Then, try out the controls yourself.
Fourth is one is SolarSystemScope. I found it just this past week. Here is a reply to my email.
Dear Jim
We are a little (4 members) company from Slovakia – central Europe and usually make multimedia presentations for local companies. As we are all fans of astronomy, we use our experiences and made free model SSS for two main reasons:
First of all, we want to popularize astronomy among people (especially the young ones). The next thing is that most space applications on internet have scientific character and are difficult to understand for a common user. So we've made the user-friendly model that makes anybody understand the movement of planets and recognize constellations. SSS has own Flash 3D engine and use NASA calculations to precisely position all celestial objects. We are only at the beginning of our project and are planning lots of improvements.
So please visit our website also in future.
Mito - SolarSysteScope
The final simulation is called Gravity and Orbits. Look for the first one in the second row. It is a downloadable program, or can be run directly. It is simple and direct allowing you to make and control orbiting systems under the influence of the force of gravity. Some presets are available. Or, build your own. Notice there are lots of other high quality simulations from this educational site. You could end up killing a lot of time here. But, you would be learning something.