Stellarium

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Excellent Can't wait to use it

[erick (Eric)]

Yes, a second download worked. I'm still trying to get the hang of driving it! Looks nice. Cute to watch the RA/DEC of the Moon slowly changing in real time

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Sensational program, love the way it just updates the previous version

[Barrykgerdes]

If you have the basic program
and plenty of memory try some of the larger star catalogues.
With 512MB you can install cataloges 4,5 and 6. This will give a very nice display of open clusters without resorting to nebula texture photos.

There are some nice landscapes available too. Use the mars landscape and set your home planet to Mars and see what the solar system looks like from Mars.

The next update will be even better! "Out of This World" you might say.

Barry

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Where do i see what catalogues are available for download?
I have it installed in linux and the basic install package has few dso's.

[erick (Eric)]

Under "Extras" on this page??

http://www.stellarium.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

[hookedonsaturn]

I have just downloaded stellaruim and spent the last 2 hours scanning through it.While i may be very new at astronomy I am not new in computer programs. Stellarium to me is very user friendly and well thought out and put together.To sum it up iI would say it is a piece of artwork painted by a master. It will make my stargazeing all the more pleasent and aid in my learning curve.Thank you for all your effort it is appreciated very much

[astroturf (Bryan)]

Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes

Hi Ken?

Version 0.8.0 had some bugs in it and it was quickly updated to 0.8.1 and then 0.8.2 which is the current version. The speed slow down of the computer is interesting. I have had it happen once or twice but I haven't chased it up because all comes good next time I load. It could be lack of memory. A minimum of 256MB is usually OK but the program likes 512 or more. The 3D video display with openGl also needs lots of memory.

I have been playing with version 0.9.0 which hasn't been released yet and since build 1786 (now up to 1824) it doesn't like computers with no openGL drivers. Version 0.9.0 source can be downloaded in Linux and compiled. This gave me a lot of trouble and I needed to patch the source code to bypass the latest development for openGl.. However it now works and the new star catalogues are fantastic. My biggest trouble with Linux is there are no openGl drivers for my video display. When the 0.9.0 version is finished development a Windows and Mac version will be available.

You showed a screen shot of Orion. With the 0.9.0 version and star5.dat catalogue you can zoom in on M42 and see the trapezium. Just like a telescope view.

Three of the things I like about the program are easy adding of your own astronomy pictures, Displaying a real horizon panorama and It drives my LX200. Have a look at one of the screeen shots on my web site showing Pleides setting through the trees. That is actually the same as what I saw through a pair of binocculars yet it is computer generated.

Barry

Hello everybody
I've just upgraded to the newer version of Stellarium & I think it's a great piece of work
Barry I've noticed that you use this with your LX200 & that they list it on their website,they don't however ,list the lx90 ,but they list "meade autostar"
do you or anybody know if this would work with my LX90(gps)
Thanks
Bryan

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Bryan

Stellarium will drive the LX90 which uses the 497 hand control with the LX200 settings. If you need to drive the 494 handbox as fitted to the ETX70 you need the special cable and need to alter the delay in the config.ini file from 50000 to 150000.

The full list of drivers and compatability is tabled in the stellaium wiki on the web site.

Barry

Originally Posted by astroturf

Hello everybody
I've just upgraded to the newer version of Stellarium & I think it's a great piece of work
Barry I've noticed that you use this with your LX200 & that they list it on their website,they don't however ,list the lx90 ,but they list "meade autostar"
do you or anybody know if this would work with my LX90(gps)
Thanks
Bryan

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi All

I haven't posted on Stellarium for some time now so here is some later info.

Version 0.9.0 (the current version) was released in July and has some major changes to the star catalogues with 9 catalogues now available. The location of many files has changed along with some changes to the format of the ini files. Download the user manual for information.

Version 0.9.1 will be released soon but if you can compile it yourself in Linux or Windows the development source code is available from the svn. There is also a precompiled Windows version available if anyone wants to try it out. There are more changes to the files and the display programming has been changed. These changes that have been made will make compiling for Windows and Macs easier.

The program needs an openGL display card with the latest drivers and a minimum of 32 Mb of display memory otherwise it will be very slow or not work at all.

Barry

[programmer]

Any more features or improvements in 0.9.1?

[Barrykgerdes]

I suppose there are some improvements Here is a copy of the changes for version 0.9.0 amd 0.9.1

0.9.1 [In developement]
Got rid of autoconf/automake (Hooray!)
Fixed a grid RA labeling bug.
Improved the plug-in managment.
Fixed nebula names loading (bug #1740287)
Recoded time methods based on Qt time function (this fixed bug #1740595, LANG=en_IN crash).
Use the new Grid class by Guillaume Chereau for NebulaMgr.
Made StelUI and StelCommandMgr real StelModules.
Increased grid labeling brightness.
Fixed splash screen flikering and logo image truncation in full screen mode.
Fixed wrong nebula size (bug #1673142)
Fixed constellation art intensity bug (bug #1733482)
Got rid of all wstreamstring and therefore don't require STLPort anymore for MinGW compilation.

0.9.0 [2007-06-6]
Larger star catalog including stars from Hipparcos, Tycho2 and NOMAD
Can select multiple constellations at one time
Local script directory is reread when enter TUI
Inuit constellation art by Johan Meuris
More sky cultures
Large code reorganization into a modular structure based on StelModule, StelApp singleton and its "manager" classes providing services to the modules.
Projection code cleaned and splitted into Mapping classes.
Movement control code encapsulated into the MovementMgr module.
Code cleaning and commenting.
Sidereal day/week keystrokes (ALT -, ALT =, ALT [, ALT ]).
Data files reorganized
Added back Hawaiian translations (invented locale "hw")
Orthographic projection, Lamberts Equal Area projection, Cylinder projection.
Interpolate the elliptic coordinates (or the spherical coordinates in case of the moon).
Do not place the Earth at the EMB but at its proper position.
New orbit type comet_orbit for proper calculation of elliptic, parabolic, hyperbolic orbits.
Added loading of jpeg textures and re-coded most of the texture manager.
Allow loading of plug-ins (unstable until version 1.0).
Selection of object is managed per module, and by the StelObjectManager.
Recoded Grid display to allow for adaptative scale wrt zoom and labeling.
The main window managed by QT4.2 instead of SDL.
Window resizing
Smooth go to selected solar system body by pressing control-g
Location map updates on changing observer to new solar system body
Titlebar updates after moving to new planet
Landscapes may now have location, can update observer by selecting landscape
More nebula textures and better placement of most existing textures
Build is now managed by cmake instead of autoconf/automake. These old tools are still supported for this version.

Barry

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Hi Barry i have linux and the means to compile, but i couldn't find the source for 0.9.1. Could you link me please?

[programmer]

Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes

I suppose there are some improvements Here is a copy of the changes for version 0.9.0 amd 0.9.1

0.9.1 [In developement]

snip

Ok definitely no major new features in 0.9.1, but look forward to it nonetheless. It's great in its present form . Thanks.

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by Starkler

Hi Barry i have linux and the means to compile, but i couldn't find the source for 0.9.1. Could you link me please?

Hi

Compiling in Linux is quite easy. The procedure is described in the stellarium wiki. You need to install the dependancies first and then get the source code.

There is a step by step procedure at www.stellarium.org . All the instructions are placed in the terminal and at the moment the program needs to be run in a terminal because the start up needs to be told where the mainstelib is.

Remember the program will run slow if you don't have the opengl drivers for your video.

If you have problems get back to me and I will point you in the right direction.

Barry

[gmbfilter (Geoff)]

Hi Barry

." Looking at Mars as viewed from its satellites is interesting." quote is from your first post

How can I do this please?

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by gmbfilter

Hi Barry

." Looking at Mars as viewed from its satellites is interesting." quote is from your first post

How can I do this please?

Enter the solar system object in the find window, go to it and press Ctrl G. This should take you there. If you now add some sort of a barren landscape the effect is very good.

Incidently there are some data files included now that give you a choice of positions on Venus, Mars and the moon, refered to as cities where you can set your "spaceship" for viewing.

Barry

Barry

[gmbfilter (Geoff)]

Fantastic!!!!!
Thanks

[erick (Eric)]

Yes, that was fun. I went and sat on the Moon then went back to 28 August 2007 while observing the Earth!

[gmbfilter (Geoff)]

too cool