Use F4 to configure the display accordingly. If this interests you, Stellarium is a good starting out point for further research. You can also find objects with the Search window tool (or press F3).Īstronomy is among the oldest sciences with many myths surrounding it. It should be mentioned that the ocular tool only works with a selected object. The size is in reference to the angle at which the object appears to the naked eye. The smaller the magnitude, the brighter the object. The important data apart from the catalog designation (e.g., M31 and NGC224) includes its light magnitude ( 3,50) and size ( 2★8’00”).īoth light magnitude and size are meaningful descriptors to experienced amateur astronomers in that they indicate how well the object can be observed under meteorological conditions. For more photorealism, you could remove the labels.Ĭlicking an object calls up its astronomical data in the upper left at the time and place of view. You can recognize globular clusters (a circle with a cross), open clusters (a circle), and close clusters (a dotted circle).Īs soon as you start scrolling around an object (or press PgUp or PgDn), you’ll get a closer view of it (Figure 3).įigure 5: M31 shows up as if in an 80EDF telescope with an ocular width of 40mm. The shape of the object tells you something about it. If you turn on Planet labels (P) and Nebulas (N) from the tool bar, you’ll see the planets with name labels, and nebulae and galaxies as yellow objects, with or without labels depending on size. That leads naturally to the question about what equipment is the most suitable for observing the desired objects. Many observers are especially interested in what objects will appear on a given night. The program shows great potential based on the growing number of its co-designers. Stellarium provides some useful help to prepare for an observation or photo session.
The other speed controls are also familiar. You can pause by clicking the triangle icon it changes to the double bar familiar to users of video recorders. If desired, you can work from historical observations and compare them with contemporary reports.īuttons below the date and time on the bottom tool bar allow for slowing or speeding up, moving in, or pausing time to study a particular moment of a phenomenon. You can set the time, for example, to the Venus transit of June 3, 1769, as seen from the North Pole. Whether you want to see a Venus transit, eclipse, or conjunction, just enter the date and time, and Stellarium displays the event. The status bar at the bottom edge shows just the current observer location, field of view (FOV), frame rate, and current time and date.Ĭonfiguration is through keyboard shortcuts or menus that appear as soon as the cursor hits the left or bottom edge of the screen (Figure 1).įigure 2: Date and time can be set for any astronomical event you want to capture.
Who wrote the stellarium web page full#
Stellarium starts out in full screen mode to get a full view of the sky. In my test, an apartment building blocked part of my view of the sky. Note that getting a fitting environment can be anything but trivial. You can even change the settings to provide interesting views from the moon, Mars, or Saturn. Help with settings is provided in the manual. You can change the default to the location of your choice, for example, the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, or your own garden. The same goes for the location, which is Paris by default.
Who wrote the stellarium web page software#
The software takes the time from your computer’s clock, although you can set it to whatever you want. One important element is missing in Stellarium: clouds, rain, and fog – precisely those meteorological phenomena that send many Central European amateur astronomers on distant travels, such as to Namibia or Tenerife, for a clearer view.Īfter starting up, Stellarium adopts a southern view of the sky at the current time of the preset location. At night, the sky is dark and the stars are resplendent during the day the sky is bright and the sun bursts on the landscape. The software is aware of current events and exhibits the sky from the perspective of different parts of the globe.
Photorealism means that Stellarium presents the sky as observers experience it on the ground. And, because Stellarium is available in the repositories for all the major distributions, installation is at the click of a button. Because the software presents the sky photorealistically, nothing stands in the way of making it available in a classroom or during a lecture.
Moreover, Stellarium helps in observing the actual night sky. The Stellarium software, however, provides a really interesting and convenient alternative. A visit to a planetarium might be fascinating, but doesn’t occur very often.
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