Features
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License:
Free
- Editor's Rating:
- Average User Rating:
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Downloads:
52,157
- Requirements:
Windows 2000/NT/XP/Vista
- Limitations:
No limitations
- Date Added:
November 08, 2008
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Previous Versions:
Publisher's description of Stellarium
From Stellarium:Stellarium is a free open-source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.
Version 0.9.1 is primarily a bug fix and stabilization release, but users can expect to see improved start-up times and a new sky culture (Tupi-Guarani) as well as some progress with translations and overall stability.
Editor's review of Stellarium
4.0 stars
- "Reach for the stars"
Open source and currently in use by planetarium projectors, Stellarium brings astronomer-level features to stargazers of all levels of interest. It's not quite as robust as its competitors, but it's also a much faster program. It doesn't suck away your RAM into a black hole when loading or running. It does run only in full screen mode, making any other programs you're running inaccessible except for the ALT-Tab switcher.
The default catalog includes 600,000 stars, with upgrade modules that can push the count up to 210 million stars. The constellations of 10 different cultures are included, as well as illustrations and asterisms to help you visualize what the ancients saw. There's a full Messier catalog of nebulae, too. The dawn, dusk and atmosphere backgrounds were good, but not great on our monitor. They probably look better on a planetarium dome, which is why it's useful that Stellarium also includes a fish-eye view for curved surfaces. Besides equatorial and azimuthal grids, users also get shooting stars when appropriate, eclipse simulation, and skinnable landscapes. Stellarium incorporates star-views from the Moon.
The controls live in the lower left corner and are transparent--a bit hard to find. The nifty record feature is somewhat hampered by the dark interface. When you run the program for the first time it asks that you set your current location, but the mouse-over map of the world was too small to use easily. Stellarium should appeal both to users who need something more academic and less distracting than Google or Microsoft's offerings, as well as those who have a need for an open-source planetarium. Fortunately, that could be any of us.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.1 stars out of 65 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 15 user reviewsSee all 15 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Stellarium 0.9.1
Pros: More realistic than others I've seen
Cons: Nothing as of yet.
Summary: Gives a good view of what the night sky actually looks like as well as controls to look at different directions in different locations. Installed easily and runs well.
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Version: Stellarium 0.9.1
"I've used several astronomy apps, and this is the best."
Pros: The interface is reasonably intuitive. The zoom function is amazing: as you zoom in towards a planet or other object, it seamlessly transitions into a photographic image of the object.
Cons: Slightly non-standard key commands: F1 doesn't get you help, it switches between full screen and windowed, mode. ('H' gets you help.)
Summary: I've used other star programs--some of which were quite good--to find out what's going on in the sky. This is the first one that's been so good, I just sit and play with it.
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Version: Stellarium 0.9.1
"great product,use it for my grand children"
Pros: It has all the planets, constellations and nebula ,great teaching tool
Cons: Nothing so far
Summary: fun , educational for you and your children
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Version: Stellarium 0.9.1
Pros: I always wanted to know more about Our Solar system and I've sure learning Now!
Cons: It could be closer like mrstic_5 above said.
Summary: I'm learning so much I did'nt know and so is my Grandson! read
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Version: Stellarium 0.9.1
"very cool program for teaching and learning"
Pros: the overlay and grid features are well done
Cons: the graphics have a lot to be desired as there are much better stellar photos to work from out there.
also the search mechanism would have been more efficient if it allowed you to click,lock on,and zoom in and out - See all 15 user reviews Write review
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