Astronomy Software

Marclau (Marcel) · #1 21-06-2009, 11:15 PM

For the past couple of months, I have been playing around with some software including Celestia, Cartes du Ciel, Stellarium and my favourite Asynx Planetarium.

Has anyone tried others which can be download off the net or have a favourite?

Octane (Humayun) · #2 21-06-2009, 11:17 PM

Marclau,

Starry Night Pro Plus.

You'll most likely have to purchase it, but, it is pretty much the bees knees.

Screenshot on my Windows machine: http://users.tpg.com.au/octane2/snpp6.html

Regards,
Humayun

Marclau (Marcel) · #3 21-06-2009, 11:25 PM

Humayun,

Very nice and dont have a problem buying if its good.
What about ease of learning the software and able to print maps?

cheers
Marcel

Octane (Humayun) · #4 21-06-2009, 11:29 PM

Yep, it's very intuitive and fairly straight forward.

There's a myriad of options you can go through. You can also set it up to automatically update orbital elements every time you load it (so you can follow space shuttle missions and satellites).

I use it for all my planning and framing for astrophotography. It's indispensable.

And, yep, you can print maps!

Regards,
Humayun

Marclau (Marcel) · #5 21-06-2009, 11:44 PM

I found this site which highlights several version based on experience. Considering I'm new to this again after such a long lag time (over 20 years)
which version would be a great option?? I was thinking of Starry Night Pro 6.2 found directly off their webiste: http://www.starrynightstore.com/stniso.html

I was also hoping you can put the software on multiple laptops that way I will teach my kids to play with it as well....

Octane (Humayun) · #6 22-06-2009, 01:07 AM

Sounds like the way to go.

The Plus version has the advantage of the All Sky Map which you can see in my screenshot. It's basically photographs of the sky mapped into the software. I think it only makes it look pretty (if you have older machines it can slow down a bit -- you are able to change the level of quality for accuracy or for speed) and also helps you guage how big objects really are instead of just looking at outlines as a guide. If you're not too fussed about having the All Sky Map and just want to be able to find things, as well the ability to control your telescope from the comfort of your laptop/PC, you can go for the Pro version as you've highlighted.

Having said that, you could just stick with Stellarium or Cartes du Ciel if you just want to be able to find objects. Best part about those are that they're free.

Hope this helps somewhat!

Regards,
Humayun

Octane (Humayun) · #7 22-06-2009, 01:14 AM

Here's the differences straight from the web site.

Exclusive to Pro Plus:
Zoom in on full-color AllSky CCD image mosaic of the entire night sky to a limiting magnitude of 14-15, mapped precisely to Starry Night's databases
AllSky CCD image loads 20X faster in DDS texture format (additional 6 GB of hard drive space needed)
View positions and outlines of 1400 dark, emission, planetary and reflection nebulae
Identify 1700 globular and open star clusters
Fly over super-high resolution 24-bit color map of Mars land mass topography above the sea
Hover over Earth and see details within 1 km (0.6 miles) resolution
Create your own astrophotography using imaging plug-in to integrate Starry Night and MaxIm DL imaging software (sold separately, Windows only)

Cheers.

Regards,
Humayun

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #8 22-06-2009, 07:33 AM

Ditto with Voyager v4.5 from CarinaSoft in Canada - which I personally prefer to Starry Night Pro by a large margin. Again, it's pay-for, at about US$180 but worth every penny. I've actually uninstalled all other planetarium software - including Starry Night. This does everything I want without SN's extra bulk which is quite frankly...uhmmm dead weight.

The SN interface is still a little "slicker" and prettier, but I prefer the starfields and map projections generated by Voyager once tuned to my preferences. They are both immensley powerful offerings, amd I think that it probably comes down to symantics when trying decide between the two. I just get the feeling that Starry Night's coders spent way too much time on candy and forgot the main mission. That's only my own subjective opinion, mind.

Voyager is a 4.5Gb install. This software has been steadily developed since 1987. Says it all. Windows (Vista, absolutely wonderful), MacOSX and now iPhone apparently.

http://www.carinasoft.com/products/v.../features.html

Octane (Humayun) · #9 22-06-2009, 08:51 AM

Chris,

You've got me curious now. I'll have to try it out!

You're right, Starry Night does hog down the system. Especially when you have all the layers enabled (nebulae, galaxies, etc.) along with the AllSky map.

Cheers!

Regards,
Humayun

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #10 22-06-2009, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane

Chris,

You've got me curious now. I'll have to try it out!

You're right, Starry Night does hog down the system. Especially when you have all the layers enabled (nebulae, galaxies, etc.) along with the AllSky map.

Cheers!

Regards,
Humayun

Hi Humayun

Download their demo - it's nearly fully functional, but comes (obviously) without the high-resolution equivalent to AllSky images, and without the dimmer stars. Still pretty good though.

Robert9 (Robert) · #11 22-06-2009, 09:47 AM

Marclau,
Have a look at Stellarium. This is excellent planetarium software.

Version 0.10.2 is a free download. The software gives excellent 3D - style images of the night sky. These can be saved to the desktop and printed out. Check it out: http://www.stellarium.org/

Cheers,
Robert

Marclau (Marcel) · #12 22-06-2009, 11:16 AM

THanks guys........
Firstly, Rob, I already have Stellarium so have been playing around (see my first post)........might now try and download Voyager now and get a feel for it too.
For me, its to be used to identify the night sky and help me look for things. I guess, for the kids, it will also be a visual look at the stars, planets etc etc to gauge their interest...........
I did'nt realise the software packages were that hungry.
Although I have plenty of PC/laptop power, i am looking at a dedicated laptop 12" Lenovo with the new Ion/Nvidia chipset and graphics netbook. This will be what I take with me each time we go looking to the heavens...now not sure if this new netbook (to be released end Aug 2009) will have the power to run that kind of software...........ummmmmm

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #13 22-06-2009, 11:19 AM

I run the cut-down version of Voyager, "SkyGazer v4.5" on my 4Gb eeePC without issue. Quick-as.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marclau

THanks guys........
Firstly, Rob, I already have Stellarium so have been playing around (see my first post)........might now try and download Voyager now and get a feel for it too.
For me, its to be used to identify the night sky and help me look for things. I guess, for the kids, it will also be a visual look at the stars, planets etc etc to gauge their interest...........
I did'nt realise the software packages were that hungry.
Although I have plenty of PC/laptop power, i am looking at a dedicated laptop 12" Lenovo with the new Ion/Nvidia chipset and graphics netbook. This will be what I take with me each time we go looking to the heavens...now not sure if this new netbook (to be released end Aug 2009) will have the power to run that kind of software...........ummmmmm

Marclau (Marcel) · #14 22-06-2009, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omaroo

I run the cut-down version of Voyager, "SkyGazer v4.5" on my 4Gb eeePC without issue. Quick-as.

Perfect Omaroo............will download it in a minute (I'm hoping its a 30 trialware) option there somewhere............

Marclau (Marcel) · #15 22-06-2009, 11:25 AM

Chris, does SkyGazer allow you to upload your view from your house and then produce the skyline from their?? I notice that Voyager looks like it does but wondering if the cut down version SkyGazer does as well??

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #16 22-06-2009, 11:44 AM

I believe so Marcel. I haven't tried it on StarGazer, but it lets you choose from several photo-realistic horizons (in the same manner as Voyager) which are included - so I can't see why you couldn't create your own panorama and calibrate it to the cardinal point references.

Marclau (Marcel) · #17 22-06-2009, 12:18 PM

Thanks Chris. I am downloading the CD Trial version right now.........607MB......

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #18 22-06-2009, 12:24 PM

Good stuff Marcel.

607Mb? It's a tiddler... the full version is much, much larger. Still - it's a great deal larger than Cartes DuCiel, Stellarium, et al.

Make sure you spend some real time to tweak the display settings, such as star sizes in reference to their magnitude, and the percentage of DS objects in view, etc. The standaard settings are a little austere to keep things simple. It's incredibly configurable.

Marclau (Marcel) · #19 22-06-2009, 12:53 PM

Many thanks Chris, I will begin to play with it now...........woooo hoooo

Zaps · #20 22-06-2009, 07:32 PM

There are lots of choices and, like most folk here, I've just about tried them all, but the only one I always come back to - in fact, never stop using - is Cartes du Ciel.

Another good one is HNSky (or 'Hallo Northern Sky'). It's free, and will run on just about any old piece of junk computer.

Then there's XEphem, for those who like things Linuxy/Unixy, although there is a Windows version also.

The huge and relatively expensive apps like Starry Night and TheSky are fine, but for me the freebies such as CdC, HNSky, Stellarium and XEphem are also the "besties".