Planetarium on your PC
Stellarium is a free, open-source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with your eyes, binoculars or a telescope, for any place on Earth and any date and time.
It includes a catalogue of hundreds of thousands of stars, planets, moons, nebulae and galaxies, with constellation lines and artwork from many cultures. You can speed up or rewind time to watch eclipses, planetary alignments and meteor showers, simulate the view through telescope eyepieces, and even control a real telescope. Its realistic atmosphere and landscapes make it beautiful to explore.
The many options can take some exploring, and it benefits from a decent graphics card. For students, teachers, amateur astronomers and anyone curious about the night sky, Stellarium is a wonderful learning tool.
Pros
- Realistic, beautiful sky
- Huge object catalogue
- Great for teaching astronomy
Cons
- Many settings to explore