Celestia - A Planetarium With A Difference

[wallis23]

I don't know if any of you guys have this but i thought i'd recommend it. I've had it for a while now and love it. It doesn't tell you the location of planets and stars ect.. but while most planetariums show a view of the heavens from the Earth, this one is like having your own personal spaceship to zoom around the universe. It's great!

The basic package offers great Solar System views, and you can download (free) upgrades for diffenent surface maps for the planets and their moons, close encounters, galaxies, ect... You can even view space probes that were sent into space years ago! (Some space probes don't require upgrades.)

It's free to download and can be found here. http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

I recommend reading the manual and downloading the add-ons to get the best out of this software. Although you can simply download and use it right away, by reading the manual after you've had a little play you will find helpful shortcuts ect... And the add-ons are great!

Hope you like it!

[Sam]

I agree it's a great tool. I used it as my primary star map until I discovered Stellarium.

[jgs001]

Thanks I'll grab a copy of that later.