Stellarium 25.4 / 1.2 – Free Astronomy Planetarium Software

Stellarium is a free, open-source planetarium that transforms your computer into a breathtaking virtual window to the cosmos. It utilizes OpenGL to render photo-realistic 3D skies in real time, displaying the universe exactly as you would observe it with the naked eye, binoculars, or a telescope.

This powerful astronomy app displays a vast range of Celestial Bodies (including stars, planets, and nebulae) and detailed Terrestrial Features (such as landscapes and atmospheres). Furthermore, it includes robust functionality to download additional Solar System objects directly from supported online sources, continually expanding your virtual universe.

Users can easily add a wide variety of content, including deep sky objects, custom landscapes, constellation images, and scripts. Furthermore, the powerful plugin system expands functionality to include artificial satellites, detailed ocular simulation, telescope configuration, and many other advanced features.

Stellarium is available for a comprehensive range of platforms, including Linux, Unix, Windows, macOS, and Android. Its rendering engine is so accurate that it is actively used in planetarium projectors worldwide. Set your viewing coordinates and start exploring instantly!

Features:

sky

• default catalog of over 600,000 stars
• Further catalogs with more than 177 million stars
• default catalog of over 80,000 deep-sky objects
• Further catalog with more than 1 million deep-sky objects
• asterisms and illustrations of the constellations
• constellations for 20+ completely different cultures
• Images of nebulae (complete Messier catalog)
• realistic Milky Way
• very realistic atmosphere, sunrise, and sunset
• The planets and their satellites

interface

• a robust Zoom
• time control
• multilingual interface
• The fisheye projection for planetarium domes
• Spheric mirror projection for your low-cost dome
• The all-new graphical interface and in-depth keyboard control
• telescope control

visualization

• equatorial and azimuthal grids
• star twinkling
• shooting stars
• tails of comets
• Iridium flares simulation
• eclipse simulation
• Supernovae and novae simulation
• 3D sceneries
• Skinnable landscapes, now with spherical panorama projection

customizability

• plugin system including artificial satellites, ocular simulation, telescope configuration, and more
• ability to add new solar system objects from online resources…
• Add your deep-sky objects, landscapes, constellation images, scripts…