Open Source Software for the Stars
Previously, I’ve talked about free, open source applications like Open Office and Sauerbraten, and of course, Linux in its many flavors.
Today I am reaching for the sky, with an astronomy program that is a viable alternative to the venerable Starry Night astronomy software.
But first, a quick run down of Starry Night. Starry Night has been around for ages, and the publisher sells about 6 different basic versions of the software, along with a couple dozen add-on modules. The range goes from the casual backyard astronomer to materials deep and broad enough to teach a couple of semesters of basic astronomy at the college level. Boxed sets can include DVDs of images and video. But the strength of Starry Night has long been it’s interface, which is both simple and intuitive. You drag your way around the sky in no time.
In short, there’s not a lot to say about Starry Night that isn’t good. But there is a program coming up in the open source world called Stellarium that does many of the same things that Starry night does, but being open sourse, is free. And where Stellarium may not boast 100% of a full feature set, remember they’re only on version 0.8. Starry Night is on version 6.
Stellarium has much of the same easy, intuitive interface that Starry Night has, and will help you identify pretty much any star you can find. The biggest difference then, is the price. Starry Night starts at $50, Stellarium is free.
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