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This webpage is very good for viewing the night sky and learning the names of the stars Timeanddate - Astronomy

However, it shows too many stars. Because I live in the city, I can only see about 50 stars. If I could filter out all of the dim stars, that would help me focus on just the top 50 brightest stars. If I want to learn the names of the stars and how to identify them I have to start with the brightest. Yes, you can scroll over the star and it will tell you how bright it is, but that is very time-consuming.

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I think your requirements can be met by Stellarium. It is a freely available open-source planetarium software available for PC, and can be used offline.

There is also a web version, which you can try out here.

You can filter stars out by pollution levels, as illustrated in the stellarium wiki.

Here is an Astronomy Stackexchange answer on matching the magnitude of stars to what is visible from specific cities.

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    $\begingroup$ The web version doesn't appear to have the light pollution setting. $\endgroup$
    – Kreiri
    Jan 12, 2021 at 14:43
  • $\begingroup$ I do not use the Web Version, it seems that you can only turn on or off the Atmosphere. The PC as well as the mobile versions do support it though. The PC version is incredibly detailed though. $\endgroup$
    – lordparthurnaax
    Jan 12, 2021 at 15:42
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    $\begingroup$ This is exactly what I was going to recommend when i clicked the question. Stellarium is an amazing piece of software that deserves to be in the toolbox of any aspiring amateur astronomer. The PC version even has a night mode that shifts everything into red monochrome, so you can take a laptop outside and actually compare what you see in the sky directly to what’s on-screen. $\endgroup$
    – Austin Hemmelgarn
    Jan 12, 2021 at 18:55
  • $\begingroup$ Absolutely. Plus the add-ons for comets etc are amazing as well. Hell even catalogues like NGC and UGC are there. The all red night mode is available in the android version as well, albeit there the functionalities are reduced overall. $\endgroup$
    – lordparthurnaax
    Jan 12, 2021 at 19:28
  • $\begingroup$ Actually I'm not seeing how you filter out dim stars on stellarium. I have a mac not a pc. Do I have to do a lot of programming to filter out these stars. i'm will to do some but now much. i'm a programmer and i'm aware that five hour projects can easily turn into 50 hour projects and i'm not willing to spend 50 hours on this. $\endgroup$
    – bobsmith76
    Jan 13, 2021 at 2:30
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Perhaps use a phone app instead of a web page. Lordparthurnaax and I both recommende skEye, you can vary the brightness. A phone will rotate and map the sky it's directed towards. I learnt all the constellations and major stars. Search for astronomy on your app store. Here are the search results for Google Play Store.

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    $\begingroup$ Indeed, virtual observatory apps on phones are great, especially for beginners. I use the premium version of Stellarium on my phone. You should try out Skyview Lite, it has a charming AR interface. I also found SkEye to be really useful too. $\endgroup$
    – lordparthurnaax
    Jan 12, 2021 at 10:25
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    $\begingroup$ Hey Awesome! it was skEye that I used to see the stars too, i had fogotten. I spent a week sleeping on a 40x20' water bed in Luberon region. The sun kept the bed at a steady 28 degrees and the stars were fascinating. good times. $\endgroup$
    – bandybabboon
    Jan 12, 2021 at 10:58
  • $\begingroup$ I don't own a smart phone and I don't want to own a smart phone. Be honest, do you really increase productivity with those things? $\endgroup$
    – bobsmith76
    Jan 12, 2021 at 15:16
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    $\begingroup$ @bobsmith76 A smartphone is just a tool. You don't have to use it for non-productive activities. For example I receive a few hundred texts a year as delivery tracking notifications from courier services, reminders for medical appointments, etc. I probably send less than 10 per year. The amount of time I spend interacting with social media sites is zero, since I am not a member of any. Oh, and if my car breaks down, being able to contact a breakdown service and report my exact position "in the middle of nowhere" using GPS can be quite "productive" compared with the alternatives. $\endgroup$
    – alephzero
    Jan 12, 2021 at 16:20
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    $\begingroup$ Just asking, how do you count the hours? No offense meant :) $\endgroup$
    – lordparthurnaax
    Jan 13, 2021 at 16:34

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