Planetarium Software

Be patient, FREE planetarium software shown is here too!

TheSky6/X - Software Bisque: Several versions available:
-    Student Edition:    $ 79.00 (download)
-    Serious Astronomer Edition:    $ 144.00 (download)
-    Professional Edition:    $ 329.00 (download)

TheSky is the most expensive (Pro) Planetarium software (slightly more than Starry Night) but if you plan on getting serious with astrophotography you will want to buy the Professional version. The Pro version has features that allow other astrophotography (MaximDL, FocusMax, T-Point, etc.) programs to automate some of the really tedious, time consuming tasks such as focusing and framing your imaging target. Don't underestimate the value of this benefit until you come to discover that, once you place a camera on the telescope, you no longer have the ability to look through an eyepiece to centre the object. All you know is that you just took a 5 minute exposure, and nothing but stars (where's the nebula?) are there, and you don't know which direction to move the mount. Your don't dare take the camera off because you just spend the last 45 minutes getting it focused!

FYI, you can get TheSky Pro for free, but you have to buy the $ 15K Paramount ME that comes with it!

Starry Night : Several versions available
-    Starry Night Enthusiast :  $ 80.00
-    Starry Night Pro : $ 150.00
-    Starry Night Pro Plus : $ 250.00

Starry Night offers a nearly identical experience to TheSky and can also connect to, and control your telescope. The only disadvantages, compared to TheSky are:
-    is does NOT integrate with other software that do "plate solve" and camera focusing
-    It is considerably more taxing on computer power.


Stellarium : FREE !!
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.








Cartes de Ciel : FREE!!

This program enables you to draw sky charts, making use of the data in 16 catalogs of stars and nebulae. In addition the position of planets, asteroids and comets are shown. The purpose of this program is to prepare different sky maps for a particular observation. A large number of parameters help you to choose specifically or automatically which catalogs to use, the colour and the dimension of stars and nebulae, the representation of planets, the display of labels and coordinate grids, the superposition of pictures, the condition of visibility and more. All these features make this celestial atlas more complete than a conventional planetarium.