Into Astronomy?

Stellarium – the planetarium software which shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars

It’s February the 8th 2010 and as I face South and look up into the sky on this cold night, all I see is cloud.

Not particularly exciting, but if there was no cloud to spoil the view, around midnight, I’d probably see the following:

I’ve always wondered which ‘light’ in the pin holed blanket of night was which, and now, thanks to software technology, I can identify, track and follow and even ‘zoom’ in on planets in our solar system and watch their moons orbit in time lapse.

There’s been a number of Astronomy software packages available for years across various formats, but one of the best value for money PC packages by far has to be Stellarium.   Quite literally, this planetarium software shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars, and its totally free!

So if you’re keen like me but know very little about our heavens, and wish to learn and take advantage of Buxton’s glorious night-sky (when it’s not cloudy) let’s have a basic look at what we can learn from observing just a few stars, kindly assisted by the Stellarium software.

One of the most visible and recognizable constellations in the night sky you may have heard of is Orion’s belt.

Here is Orion’s belt without any detail, as you would find when looking into the night sky.  This representation is facing South (look for three stars in a diagional line):

Next, here is some detail.  The stars now have lines which ‘outline’ the shape of what has become known as ‘Orion’…

In Greek mythology, ‘Orion’ was ‘the hunter’.  Here is ‘the hunter’ in mythology sketch detail:

I’m not a software reviewer, so I won’t bore you with the features of the program.   Discover for your self, it’s more fun and you’ll totally appreciate.  One word to sum up though -  brilliant!

Come warmer weather, I’ll be grabbing the iTablet and viewing the stars with greater interest.  A star hikers guide indeed!

Judge for yourselves – to download the open source software direct from the Stellarium website.

DOWNLOAD FREE FROM HERE!

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