Stellarium is a free planetarium software for your computer. Stellarium shows you realistic 3D sky on your computer, in the same manner as you would see from a telescope.
Do you like gazing into the sky and looking at the stars for long? Then why go into your balcony or terrace as you can now view the sky on your computer screen using this free planetarium software. Another free software to explore stars and galaxies is Celestia.
Stellarium is an open source planetarium on your screen. It gives you a 3D effect and looks so real as if you are staring at the real sky. It gives you a very realistic sky on your screen that shows you stars, constellations, planets and even the ground and the landscape.
This type of program is run in planetarium projectors but now its for all you star gazers out there. This is also an educational program which tells you a lot about our solar system.
You just point at any star and it gives you its name and other features. You can even zoom in and watch the stars closely. They also seem like they are moving. It gives you a very realistic picture of the sky.
Here are some of the features of Stellarium Free Planetarium Software:
Sky:
- By default there are 600,000 stars but there are extra catalogues with more than 210 million stars
- There are illustrations and asterisms of the constellations so that you can visualize them
- There are constellations for 12 different cultures.
- There is a full catalogue of images of the nebulae.
- The milky way, planets and the stars all look very realistic on your screen.
- The sunrise and sunset gives you a realistic atmosphere
Interface:
- It has a zoom feature so that you can look at the stars and planets more closely
- It has a multilingual interface and time control option
- It gives you a fish eye projection for planetarium domes and a spheric mirror projection for your own low cost dome
- It has an extensive keyboard and telescope control
Visualization:
- It contains equatorial and azimuthal grids
- The stars seem to be twinkling which looks real
- The shooting stars look real
- The landscapes are skinnable
- It has an eclipse simulation
- You can move your mouse in the sky and get information about the star that interests you
Customizability:
- It has a plug in system which lets you add artificial satellites or telescope configuration and more
- You can add your own sky objects or constellation images and landscapes and many more additional stuff can be done with the plug ins
You can hide or show anything and play along with your mouse pointing it at realistic images from the sky and the atmosphere looks so real as if you are watching it with your naked eye. Its a free planetarium software, suitable for all those who wish to gain academic knowledge and those you just love gazing into the sky.
