8 Best Free Astronomy Software

Astronomy Software covers all aspects of the universe. It is a mapping software which covers various positions of our solar system with the help of a planning software which observes every aspect in detail. It is also a planetarium software.

Here we list eight most popular astronomy software which are available for free. These are used to produce sky maps. There are certain planetarium programs covered by these software. In these programs,

- The stars or the view are seen as if you are directly looking at them.
- Various planets, the moon and the sun are displayed.
- They hide or display constellation names.
- They hide or display planet names and symbols.
- They hide or display designations or names of brighter stars.
- Lunar phases are displayed.
- Space objects such as Andromeda galaxy are displayed.
- Different sky sections can be zoomed in.

Viewers

Sky-Map.org

Sky-Map.org, also termed as WikiSky, needs a browser and an internet connectivity. It uses your browser to view things online. The images are colorful and taken from various sources such as IRAS Infrared Sky Survey, DSS2 all Sky Survey and photos uploaded by the users. The deep space objects and each star are found by the index. The planet location is also indexed.

You can upload a photo which can be displayed in its list. There are many image layers for some views. These are opaque and put under each other. If an area has more than one image, left click on it. A window will be opened and you can choose an image you want to view. When you zoom out the layered images, these give an odd display.

Aladin

A browser for astronomy, Aladin browses through density maps, astronomy images and various astronomy sources such as VizieR service, Simbad database and Hubble images. Choose an item you want to view. A view for that specific item will be downloaded automatically. This program offers quality images in different wavelengths. It downloads the images from the web.

Therefore, some displays might take some time to update. The results depend upon the speed of the connection and the number of databases you are using. Files can be downloaded and you can view these offline. Various views can be superimposed to one. 16 panels can be opened up with images. It gives you an option to bookmark views. You can index every deep space object and each star. You need Java 1.5 to run this program. You can use it in Mac, Linux and Windows. However, it does not index any object of the solar system.

Planetariums

Cartes du Ciel

Cartes du Ciel, also termed as Skychart, is a simple planetarium program. Additional catalogs are available for stars less than magnitude 16. Certain specialty catalogs are also available. There is a calendar calculating ephemerides for planets, sun, comets, moon, twilight, asteroids, lunar and solar eclipses between two specific dates.

It has a star observer that predicts the minima & maxima for most of the variable stars. This is done for the coming few cycles. It requires you to add a PPMXL catalog which needs a RAM of 24 GB and a hard disk of 148 GB. It runs on Mac, Linux and Windows. The images of the space objects are included in the program in its planetarium window. You can check out planetary images in Linux. There are no bookmarks.

Stellarium

Stellarium produces very realistic sky views. The program captures more than 6,00,000 stars. Theadd-ons give an access to around 240 million stars. Constellation groupings are shown in this program. Various visual effects are offered by Stellarium such as Milky Way, shooting stars, light pollution, clouds and twinkling stars.

It includes certain landscapes too. The catalog has less details on asteroids and comets. Zoom in features the real images of deep space objects and planets. There is a plug in for telescope control. The computerized telescope can be controlled by the program using this plug in. It runs on Mac, Linux and Windows.      

Computer Aided Astronomy

Also termed as C2A, this program is very simple to use. Additional catalogs are available for download. There is an ephemeris generator in the program. Tables are generated for planets, sun, moon, asteroids and comets between two specific dates. There are various tools using which trajectories can be generated for comets, asteroids and planets between two specific dates. The solar system can be displayed in the form of animations with asteroids and comets by using an Ecliptic View tool.

Data section is provided with the object details. You can bookmark views. You can also go forward and come back through the latest views. The program includes many images. There is a different window to view the images. Images can be downloaded from ESO and STScl sky surveys. These can be displayed in planetarium field or image viewer. The computerized telescope can also be controlled by the program. It runs only on Windows.

Home Planet

It locates asteroids, comets and artificial satellites. Its catalog has around 2,56,000 stars. It does not show planetary moons.

It also does not give a realistic display as others do. It indicates the objects on the solar system in the form of symbols.

WorldWide Telescope

This program has two versions: Web Client and Windows Client. The performance of both the versions is excellent. It automatically downloads images with an internet connection.

Its catalog has less information on planetary moons, asteroids and comets. The computerized telescope can be controlled by Windows Client.

Simulators

Celestia

Celestia captures more than 1,00,000 stars. It has images of various objects of solar system such as Ceres and Deimos. The catalogs, images of stars, comets, space objects and solar system objects can be expanded with various add-ons.

Fictional objects like Babylon 5, Star Trek, Star Wars can also be added. No constellations are indicated. You can point out a particular location. It also has telescope controls.