Stellariumby SchoolForge updated January 20, 2012
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer.

Software Details

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.

Requirements

Operating systems: Linux, Mac OSX, Windows
Screen libraries: Mesa, Qt, SDL

Reviews

3
Stellarium 0.11.2
4
Average: 4 (1 vote)

As an astronomy teacher, I'm always interested in programs that can display the features of the night sky. Stellarium functions in this manner as an Earth-based program that has a number of planetarium functions. The constellations can be drawn in with their line shapes, with their boundaries, and/or with some art related to the mythological personages or objects depicted in the sky. The Earth can be made tranparent, allowing for a full-spherical view of the sky. Planetary paths can be followed by displaying the orbits. Any location on the Earth can be accessed for the viewing of the sky; similarly, the calendar can be rolled into the past or the future to see the heavens as they were or will be then. Since the computer screen isn't the dome of a planetarium, the full effect of sky rotation can't be felt.
A curiosity of the program is the placement of the controls along the screen edges in the lower left. This varies from the customary drop-down menu style from the top edge. Once one is used to that, the process of using the program goes easily.

Stellarium Review
4
Average: 4 (1 vote)

Stellarium is a good easy to use planetarium program for your computer. It provides an accurate depiction of constellations and planets and many other celestial features. Users can control and select their viewing conditions and environment by choosing their location, season, and time of day. Additional references to cultural aspects of astronomy are also selectable and provides a source of information to astronomy lore.
I was impressed by the graphics and information presentation of Stellarium. It is appropriate for all ages from elementary school to college. Younger children may use Stellarium with the help of an older student or adult to select the various viewing options on a computer. More technical and advanced users can select various windows to view astronomical information on celestial bodies such as type, magnitude, azimuth, altitude, distance, and parallax. Other features of Stellarium include demonstrations of lunar and solar eclipses, transits of celestial bodies, and view of planets, stars, and nebula’s. One of the more interesting features is the inclusion of Starlore or cultural descriptions of the skies as seen through ancient and modern cultures. These descriptions include Starlore form Asia, Europe, Polynesia, and the Americas.
Most features of Stellarium worked well without incident. The only problem I had was trying to exit the demonstration scripts for solar eclipse and lunar eclipse. There was not “exit” button and Esc did not stop the script. The online help function also did not address this problem. Quitting the session then starting it again cleared the script.
Stellarium is very easy to install. Downloads can be found on Ubuntu Store, Edubuntu, SchoolForge, and http://stellarium.org/. Stellarium will run on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. More information and a user guide can be found on the main website at http://stellarium.org/. Stellarium is an ideal software tool for sky and star orientation and for learning more about astronomy in our environment.

Stellarium Review
4
Average: 4 (1 vote)

This program is easy to use, install and started up quickly. It would be a good program for 4th graders and above. 3rd graders could use it also with assistance from an adult. It shows the constellations, planets, and other features of our galaxy. You can choose the location, season, and time of day for viewing. The graphics are very detailed and give a lot of information. I’m giving this software 4 stars instead of 5 because of the controls. They were confusing to use and sometimes it was hard to stop an action once you started it. Other than that this software would be a great teaching tool in a classroom.