Stellarium is an open-source cross-platform desktop planetarium program. It offers an accurate night sky simulation as well as access to an immense catalog of images and celestial objects.
This free and intuitive software includes a night mode to preserve your eyes’ adaptation to dark conditions, as well as various telescope-simulation features and web versions for convenient accessibility anytime of the day or night.
Features
Stellarium is a fully featured planetarium program that lets users take in the night sky and explore various astronomical objects with ease. Its minimalist interface enables users to effortlessly explore space with its ability to navigate the skies, travel through time and change locations at the click of a button – hiding its toolbar for maximum screen focus if desired – selecting pre-made sky settings or designing their own from scratch; multiple languages support and touch pads/directional keys are supported as well.
Stellarium provides users with access to an expansive library of astronomical objects, from stars, planets, moons, comets, asteroids and satellites (like the International Space Station ) through comets, comets, asteroids satellites (like ISS) to deep sky objects like nebulae and galaxies. Each object can be identified by name, catalogue number magnitude distance distance while also featuring a search function that allows them to identify them by name location or time. Stellarium features a search function which allows users to identify objects by name location or time while its search feature allows users to identify objects by name location or time; users can also simulate telescope-eyepiece setup as well as overlaying camera/lens setup on screen using its plug-ins menu located under configuration window ‘Plug-ins’ menu under configuration window ‘Configuration’ window’ ‘Plug-ins’ menu under configuration window ‘Plug-ins’ menu in configuration window for easy use.
Stellarium stands out among similar apps with its high-resolution photos of galaxies, planets and other celestial bodies such as nebulae. This makes the app even more realistic for users while helping them understand what these objects would look like when seen through a telescope. Astronomy enthusiasts will especially love Stellarium; newcomers can use it as an educational resource.
Stellarium Mobile Plus was developed by the original creators of an open source desktop PC planetarium known as Stellarium and offers an illustrative yet realistic star map that’s both easy and free of charge to use. The premium version includes access to Gaia DR2, an expansive database containing 1.69 billion stars and two million galaxies and nebulae, plus features an enhanced catalog for identification purposes based on name, catalog number and distance from Earth of celestial bodies like moons, planets and satellites as well as preparation by predicting an object’s observability or transit times for observing sessions.
Installation
Stellarium is an immersive 3D planetarium which creates photorealistic 3D skies in real time using OpenGL technology, enabling users to explore the night sky from their own location with various weather conditions and weather-based filters, including telescopes or binoculars. Users can explore stars, constellations, nebulas and planets as well as customize settings such as landscapes, fog simulation and light pollution simulation simulation with scripting capabilities allowing for an unforgettable viewing experience.
One useful feature for those interested in astrophotography is the capability of configuring the program to show the field of view that a camera equipped with a particular lens or mirror will have at a given distance from an object. This helps astrophotographers estimate how long and focus are necessary to capture an image, as well as previewing what their image will look like beforehand, helping plan ahead for potential issues that might arise.
Another interesting feature is the’multiple sky cultures’ feature, which allows users to explore the sky as seen from various astronomer viewpoints, including Polynesian, Inuit, Navajo and Korean constellations in addition to traditional Western constellations. Furthermore, this software provides information for each object such as name, catalogue number and magnitude; users can even customize which objects display information by clicking them directly on celestial bodies.
Other features include a’sunrise/sunset’ button that enables the user to simulate the passage of sun and moon through the sky at a particular local time, and an’astronomical events’ plugin which displays various astronomical events that might occur at that moment in time. An ‘oculars’ plug-in simulating viewing objects with virtual binoculars or telescopes, and the’satellites’ plug-in which plots satellite positions such as International Space Station and geostationary satellites is also included.
As soon as Stellarium begins running on your computer, it synchronises to its date and time automatically. To switch up how the daytime begins for yourself, use the ‘Startup Date and Time’ feature of the Navigation Tab of the Configuration Window (F2). Here, you can also modify other settings, including default zoom level and star names/labels according to magnitudes.
Compatibility
Stellarium is an astronomy software program that transforms your computer into an immersive planetarium, providing access to night skies from any location around the globe. Your viewing location can be selected using either clicking on a world map and selecting a town or city, or via the Location menu by inputting specific longitude and latitude coordinates. Furthermore, extra-terrestrial viewing locations can also be selected so as to simulate views from within our Solar System. Stellarium features constellation asterisms and illustrations from over 20 cultures; pictures of nebulae (including Messier’s NGC and IC catalogs); major galaxies with clusters; planets and their moons – even realistic sunrise/sunset glows! The program even boasts realistic atmosphere effects!
Your mouse can be used to move and drag around the view or screen in order to change its position, while keyboard arrow keys and roller wheel zoom can also be used for navigation. Left clicking an object selects it for more detailed information such as magnitude and distance; pressing F3 activates Stellarium’s search function which displays results as a list that can be sorted by name, brightness, or magnitude.
Stellarium software supports an assortment of telescopes and can be used to plan stargazing sessions. It can determine coordinates of any location in the sky and display it as a marker on a map; furthermore, it can identify planets and celestial objects on said sky map and even calibrate and track moving targets using Stellarium.
One useful feature of the software is its capability of downloading parameters of all existing comets and asteroids; however, this option requires several gigabytes of free disk space. Furthermore, ASCOM interface allows the program to control telescope mounts.
Stellarium is one of several free planetarium programs available on Windows, Linux and Mac OS. Other popular choices are WorldWide Telescope, Aladin Sky Atlas and Home Planet; although each offers similar functionality Stellarium stands out by running both on desktop PCs as well as mobile devices.
Final Words
Stellarium is an outstanding software program with an accurate night sky simulation, but it lacks some features that may appeal to some users, including light pollution (not well implemented) and being able to switch back from daylight savings time (though it would be straightforward enough to fix).
Overall, I recommend this program to any stargazer out there; it provides an excellent alternative to Google Earth and will satisfy even die-hard star gazers!
