[RussellH]

I looked back through all the threads, and I'm surprised this hasn't come up before.

I'd have thought one of the first noobie questions would be 'Which astronomy software should I get?', or is it just everyone here has been doing Astronomy long enough that this is obvious by now?

But it appears not, so let me be the guinea pig to see what answers come up.

It seems Starry Night Pro is the "ultimate" software, although I've seen die-hards poo poo it as being for compter geeks, not real astronomers, and those have usually espoused the virtues of Deep Sky instead.

I'm downloading various freeware and trial software as we speak, and Catre de Circe or whatever it is I also see mentioned.

Came across Distant Suns too, which seems more of a teaching tool than skychart software.

I've also downloaded several satellite programs, assuming one of them will have Iridium flare predictions, as my kids like those.

So, opinions on what's good for what would be appreciated.
- Which of the 500 versions of the starry night software is required/good/crap (the US$260 package is obviously quite expensive)?
- Why is Deepsky better/worse than Starry Night?
- Which freeware is better than all the commercial stuff? etc

I'm a computerholic, so saying don't get any probably won't cut it. The cost of this may also reduce the amount I have to spend on a scope, if opinion was that Starry Night Pro +bells & whistles is really worth the money.

Thanks. Russell.