Sky charts http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/
Your Sky http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/
Starry Night http://www.starrynight.com/
Some of the freeware that are available are
Ciel
Harcal
Skyglobe
Commercial available programs
Starry Night Pro
Apple Apps
With the advent of super computers in recent times there have been some significant advances in Astronomy and cosmology. Mathematical models that are run by super computers give a better understanding of the cosmos.