A and h stars according to a computer program. Celestia is a program for simulating a virtual universe. Free programs download for free

is a free program - a virtual planetarium that allows you to see:

• star map;
• constellations;
• planets of the solar system;
• and other objects of the vast space.

Observing the planets and studying the constellations of the starry sky will be interesting for both children and adults.

Night sky over Japan

Mars with satellites

Stellarium is easy to learn and use.

The program interface is completely Russified. In the settings menu, however, there are items in English, but they are not particularly important (for example, the help item “about the program”).

Settings panels are equipped with tooltips.

Program settings.

In the lower left corner, when you hover the cursor, two panels with settings appear

The top icon on the left panel opens the location settings window for stargazing:

Here you can select a location by entering coordinates, selecting a city and country from the list, or selecting a point on the map. You can use the default location of your choice; to do this, you need to check the appropriate box.

The second icon opens the time setting window.

The third will show you the view settings.

On the first tab, called “Sky,” you can configure the display of stars: absolute and relative magnification, turn on/off flickering and dynamic sensitivity adaptation.

You can also turn on/off the atmosphere display. Settings for planets and satellites include enabling/disabling planets, their labels, orbits, modeling the speed of light and scaling the Moon.

You can also turn star, nebula, and planet labels on or off, and change the size of the labels. And even adjust the number of passing meteors per hour...

In the “Notations” tab, you can configure the “celestial sphere”: display in the sky the equatorial grid, equatorial grid j2000 (this is the grid of the epoch j 2000, i.e., the times of 2000), azimuth grid, equator line, meridian, ecliptic and cardinal directions .

There are also constellation settings: constellation lines, names, contours and images of constellations (more on this below) and image brightness. You can also select projections; descriptions of the projections are displayed to the right of the name.

In the “Terrain” tab, you can select the landscape that will be shown during observation, such as the ocean, or the landscape of other planets, such as Mars or Saturn. You can also control the display of the ground, haze above the ground, and set the selected landscape as the default landscape.

The “Star Knowledge” tab allows you to learn ancient knowledge about the stars of various civilizations, such as the Aztec or Polynesian. If you choose one of these knowledge models, the names and shapes of the constellations will be displayed in the sky in accordance with the names of these peoples.

The next icon on the left panel will open a search window for the object you want to see.

The penultimate icon opens the settings window:

In the “Main” tab, you can select the program language, the option to display information about the selected object: all available, short or nothing.

In the “Movement” tab, you can enable/disable movements with the keyboard or mouse, and also select (set) the start time of observation.

In the “Service” tab there are settings for the planetarium parameters, such as: distortion of the spherical mirror, disk field of view, for more realistic star observation, non-horizontal object signatures, if you want to change the position of the star signatures, etc. Screenshot settings, purpose /change the folder for screenshots.

Star catalog settings, you can download additionally nine star catalogs.

"Scenarios" tab. Here you can run an observation script, the program will act “automatically”, all you have to do is observe.

In the “Plugins” tab, you can enable the loading of the plugin when the program starts and configure it. There are eight plugins in total. The last icon on the left toolbar is help.

The first and second buttons on the bottom toolbar include constellation lines and their names, respectively.

The result of their actions is shown in the figure.

The third button shows images of constellations in the sky:

The next two buttons enable the display of grids.

The sixth button turns on the landscape.

The seventh button turns on the display of cardinal directions.

The eighth and ninth buttons allow you to see nebulae and marks of planets of the solar system in the starry sky.

The next button switches between equatorial and azimuthal entry.

The twelfth button positions the selected object in the center of the screen.

Thirteen turns on night mode

The following icon enables full screen mode.

This is what the moon looks like when this option is selected.

The next button turns on the display of Earth satellites.

The last group of buttons controls time, slows it down, speeds it up, etc.

And the last button on this panel is to exit the program.

Download for free Stellarium - star map on your computer

Celestia program is a virtual planetarium. Many of us looked at the night starry sky with interest and saw many stars that we wanted to see closer. In the recent past, this desire could only be realized with the help of a telescope.

Nowadays, astronomical programs have been created for this purpose to view the starry sky from your computer. One of these programs is the virtual planetarium of the Universe - the Celestia program.

The Celestia program displays both individual planets and stars, and galaxies, allowing you to freely move through the expanses of the Universe. In the program you can see space objects not only of the Solar system, but also about 120 thousand stars, the trajectories of which are known to astronomers.

All space objects are made in the program in three-dimensional form. With the help of beautiful, realistic graphics, you can see the beauty of the Universe that you will not see when looking at the starry sky from Earth. As you travel through space using the Celestia program, you can speed up, slow down, or reverse time.

The Celestia program can be useful not only for astronomy enthusiasts, it can also be used for educational purposes. The 3D universe is very beautiful and interesting. I think many will be interested in seeing and learning what familiar and unfamiliar space objects look like.

For example, I was interested to know what, for example, the star Betelgeuse looks like. The heroes of Pierre Boulle's famous novel "Planet of the Apes" ended up on the planet Sorora, in the Betelgeuse star system, and not on Earth, as in the famous 1968 film of the same name (a remake of this film was released in 2001) and in subsequent sequels of this film (7 films were released in total) , most recently Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011).

The free Celestia program has a Russian interface. There are versions of the program for Windows, Mac OS and Linux operating systems.

Celestia download

You can easily find a portable version of this program on the Internet.

After starting the program, the program opens in windowed mode with a view of the Earth from space.

Celestia Settings

The current time and date are displayed in the upper right corner. In the upper left corner of the program, brief reference data about the space object is displayed (distance to the object, its radius, apparent diameter and phase angle). In the lower left corner the speed of movement in space is shown (now it is zero). In the lower right corner, information about actions in the program is displayed (currently this is the observation of planet Earth).

When you press the "Shift" button + left-click + move the mouse back or forth, the object will increase or decrease. To switch the program to full-screen mode, click on the “View” menu => “Screen mode...”.

In the Screen Mode window, you can select the appropriate screen resolution for your monitor. In full-screen mode, the menu bar will not be visible, which is not very convenient. The menu bar will only appear when you move the mouse cursor to the top edge of the monitor screen. Therefore, it is more convenient to maximize the program window in the traditional way for the operating system.

In the menu “View” => “Texture Resolution” you can change the quality parameters for displaying objects. Higher settings affect the performance of the computer.

You can choose the optimal settings for your computer experimentally by changing the program settings. In the “View” menu, you can also configure other display parameters (how the stars will look, diffuse light parameters, more or less stars will be displayed in the program).

In the “View” menu => “View Settings...”, in the Settings window, by checking the appropriate checkboxes, you can enable or disable the display of the appearance of space objects.

Navigating the 3D Universe in Celestia

In the “Navigation” menu => “Solar System Catalog...” a window with Solar System objects appears. If you are in another star system, then in this window there will be objects located near the specific star (if any) that you will be near.

Select the desired object, and then click on the “Go” button. In this case, you are moving towards the planet Saturn. By rolling the mouse wheel forward or backward, you can bring a celestial object closer to you or further away from you. You can move around the space object in different directions by moving the mouse and simultaneously pressing the right mouse button.

To rotate around the selected object, press the “Shift” + button and the arrows on the keyboard at the same time, the rotation will occur in the corresponding direction (you can press two arrows at the same time).

When you hover the mouse cursor over an object, clicking on it with the left mouse button will give you help information, and by right-clicking in the context menu, you will see the name of the object and can go to this object. If you click on the “Information” item, then the program will send you to the site for background information about this object.

When you go to the “Navigation” menu => “Star Catalog...” you can select a star from the list in the “Star Catalog” window, and after clicking the “Go” button, you will be moved to this star.

By moving the slider along the axis, you can adjust the number of stars in this list. By activating the corresponding item, you can change the criteria for searching for stars (“Nearest”, “Brightest”, “With planets”). Select the star, and then click on the “Go” button.

This is what one of the largest stars looks like, the red supergiant Betelgeuse, located in the constellation Orion.

In order to go to an object within the Solar System, in the “Navigation” menu, click on the “Go to object...” item. In the “Select Object” window, enter the name of the star - “Sun” (Sol), and then click on the “OK” button. Only after this will it be possible to move within the solar system.

If you enter the name of an object in the solar system while outside of it, the movement will not occur. First you will need to move towards the Sun. After moving to the Solar System, enter the name of the planet in the “Go to Object” window, for example, “Neptune” and the program will move us to this planet.

If you want to save the image to your computer as a graphic file (JPG and PNG formats are supported), then press the “F10” button on the keyboard (or from the “File” menu => “Save image...”). In the Explorer window, select the format and location where you want to save the image and click on the “Save” button.

To remove background information from an image, simply click on the information and it will disappear. Once the image is saved, you will be able to view it using the operating system without using the Celestia program.

Using the program you can record video files in AVI format. To do this, in the “File” menu, select “Save video...”. In the “Save As” window, select a location to save. Give the video file a name, select the video resolution, and then click on the “Save” button.

In the next “Video Compression” window, in the “Compression program” section, “Full frames (uncompressed)” is selected by default. If you leave this point unchanged, the video file size will be very large.

Therefore, to compress video, it would be better to choose one of the proposed codecs. After that, click on the “OK” button.

In the program window, the video size you selected will be marked with a red frame. To start recording video, press the “F11” button on the keyboard, and to end recording, press the “F12” button.

There are a large number of commands to control the program. To familiarize yourself with them, go to the “Help” menu, click on the “Program Management” item, and in the “Program Management” window, get acquainted with the commands.

There are quite a few different commands here, and mastering them will take some time. Time spent on this, in my opinion, will not be wasted.

A large number of add-ons have been created for the Celestia program that allow you to add new objects (both real and fictional) to the program. The size of the add-ons is many times larger than the distribution of the program itself.

On the official Russian-language forum (https://celestiaproject.net/ru/forum/viewforum.php?f=27) dedicated to this program, you can download a special version of the program with the Celestia Extended Pack add-ons.

Conclusions of the article

The Celestia program is a beautiful virtual planetarium in which you can admire the stars and planets and travel through our Universe.

Summer vacation time is a time for travel, relaxation from everyday work and practicing your favorite hobbies. Astronomy is one of the few hobbies that today you can indulge in, not just looking through a telescope or sitting in a planetarium. Modern technologies allow you to satisfy your passion for studying the starry sky from almost anywhere on the planet and absolutely at any time. All you need is a smartphone or tablet running iOS or Android.

Here are five free mobile applications with which you can learn a lot about the stars, planets and other objects of our Universe. In addition, you will be able to keep abreast of the latest scientific discoveries in the field of astronomy, which, unfortunately, are very rarely reported in modern media. Three of them provide for a very significant expansion of capabilities due to in-app purchases, but even with basic functionality they will be of interest to all fans.

1. "Planets"

The main function of Star & Planet Finder is to search for the location in the sky of a given planet, star, constellation or satellite: you can select them from the list, after which, by changing the position of your smartphone or tablet in space, you can determine where they are located relative to you.

In the free version, Star & Planet Finder shows only the location of the planets of the solar system and the Moon, and for demonstrating stars, constellations and satellites you will have to pay 33 rubles for each group of objects.

4.Star Chart

One of the most popular free astronomy applications (more than 12 million downloads) is Star Chart, that is, “Atlas of the Starry Sky,” and this is the only program in our review that is available simultaneously in versions for iOS and Android.

Star Chart also uses augmented reality technology and shows you a three-dimensional simulation of the starry sky in relation to the place from where you are observing and where you point the lens of your smartphone or tablet. That is, unlike most other similar applications, daylight and surrounding objects do not prevent you from seeing constellations hidden from the naked eye.

The program catalog contains detailed three-dimensional images of the planets of our solar system, data on all 88 constellations with luxurious illustrations from the atlas of the 16th century Polish astronomer Jan Hevelius “Uranography”. The application includes a complete catalog of 110 exotic astronomical objects of the 17th century French astronomer Charles Messier, including various galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. Finally, the Star Chart database contains all the visible stars of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, numbering more than 120 thousand units.

Among the unusual features of Star Chart, noteworthy is the ability to go back in time 10,000 years ago and see how the starry sky looked in that distant era. To access the time shift function, you need to click on the current time, year or date in the upper right corner of the application: a slider will appear on the screen, moving which you can quickly return to the desired date. You can return to the present time by clicking on the word “Now” in the left corner of the screen. You can travel to the future in a similar way. If you want to find a specific event, it is better to use the calendar of eclipses, moon phases and other important dates.

The program has truly excellent graphics and a lot of detailed information about various astronomical objects. For a fee (from 66 to 329 rubles) you can get access to extended data packages about stars, comets, satellites, nebulae and meteor showers.

5. Astronomy Picture of the Day

The Astronomy Picture of the Day app for iPhone and iPad was developed in collaboration with the US space agency NASA and uses a wealth of stunning high-resolution photographs from space exploration.

Astronomy Picture of the Day is essentially just a client for a giant NASA photo album available on the Internet. All photos are provided with brief annotations; you can search for images by date or jump to a random image. And although this is not an application application, we decided to include it in our review, since a true astronomy lover will never refuse to admire such unique views of the world around us.

The appearance of the night sky changes both during the day and throughout the year. This is due to the fact that our planet rotates around its axis in a day, and rotates around the Sun in a year. Therefore, amateur astronomers are faced with the task of determining the visibility of certain constellations. For a long time, the planisphere, a special moving map of the starry sky, was popular among astronomy enthusiasts. By rotating the top of the map, you can find out which constellations are visible at any given time. However, the planisphere is gradually being replaced by various computer planetarium programs.

Stellarium

Stellarium is the most popular planetarium program. It models the appearance of the starry sky, indicating constellations, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects on it. In some ways, Stellarium is like a computer game in which you can look around and observe the location of stars and planets. Let's take a closer look at this wonderful program.

When you start the program, the current time and date of observations are set, and the sky rotates in real time. You can change the direction of view by holding down the left mouse button, selecting an object with a single click. Using the "Space" button, you can place the celestial body of interest in the center of the field of view. By rotating the mouse wheel, you can zoom in/out. When you select an object, information about it is displayed (name, magnitude, coordinates, distance and much more). The program interface consists of two panels - a vertical settings panel and a horizontal panel for displaying celestial objects. When you hover over a button, its name is displayed.

After installing the program, first of all you should specify the observation location by going to the “Location Window” (vertical panel, top icon). You can enter geographic coordinates or indicate the nearest populated area in the search bar.

"Date/time window" allows you to set the date and time of observations with an accuracy of a second. "Date/time window" allows you to set the date and time of observations with an accuracy of a second.

Time control buttons are also displayed on the bottom panel - you can speed up, slow down and stop the passage of time.

In the "Sky and Observation Settings Window" the display of various objects and their captions and boundaries is enabled. To correctly display the details of the planets, you must check the “Simulate the speed of light” checkbox.

The "Search Window" allows you to find an object by name. After performing a search, the program will automatically display the desired object in the center of the screen. The “Search window” allows you to find an object by name. After performing a search, the program will automatically display the desired object in the center of the screen.

In the settings window, you can select the interface language, configure the display of information about the object, and view scenarios - mini-films demonstrating various processes and events in space. The "Plugins" tab contains various useful functions. For example, the “Eyepieces” plugin allows you to see the sky as it is seen through the eyepiece of a telescope, and the “Protractor” plugin allows you to measure the angular distance between various objects. Special mention should be made of the “Satellites” plugin, which displays artificial Earth satellites on the map.

In the help window you can familiarize yourself with all the “hot keys” and also reassign them.

Now let's get acquainted with the buttons on the bottom panel. They partially duplicate the items from the “Settings and Observation Window”, allowing you to quickly turn on and off the display of names, images and lines of constellations, equatorial and azimuthal grids, horizon, cardinal directions, atmosphere, as well as deep space objects and planets.

Next come the buttons for switching between equatorial and azimuthal display of the image and centering the selected object. Night mode turns the image into black and red, which allows you to preserve the dark adaptation of your eyes. Additional image flip buttons can be enabled in the "Settings Window" ("Tools" tab).

Some plugins may appear in the bottom panel when activated. When you click the corresponding button, the plugin is activated.

As you can see, the program is quite easy to learn, the interface is intuitive, and its functionality is more than sufficient even for experienced observers. In addition, the program is developed for almost all operating systems - there are versions for Windows, Linux and Mac OS.

There is also a paid version for the Android platform for mobile devices (smartphones and tablets).

Cartes du Ciel

Cartes du Ciel is another popular free planetarium. Its interface is not as colorful as Stellarium, but it has many more functions. Cartes du Ciel allows you to download the latest databases of comets and asteroids, and install additional catalogs of stars and nebulae. The map can be rotated using either the mouse or keyboard buttons. You should start working with the program by setting the observation location by going to “Settings>Observatory”. There is also a “night mode”. The program is completely translated into Russian, which is a big plus.

For those who lack the capabilities of Stellarium, Cartes du Ciel is an excellent choice.

Redshift

Redshift is not just a virtual planetarium. It is also a detailed interactive encyclopedia of space, containing almost all the knowledge on astronomy accumulated by humanity. This is what the start screen looks like when you start the program.

The planetarium contains a detailed map of the starry sky, which displays stars, constellations, planets, galaxies, nebulae, clusters, and comets. Navigation on the map is done using the mouse. Zooming in and out is carried out using the mouse wheel, selecting an object is done with the left mouse button. When you first start the program, you will be asked to indicate your observation location (by map or coordinates). The default time is set to the current time, which can be controlled from the Navigation panel. There is support for controlling various telescopes with Go-To mounts.

In the context menu you can get detailed information about the celestial body.

The program has a convenient observation scheduler, thanks to which you can find out about upcoming astronomical events.

In "Stories about the Universe" you will get acquainted with various scientific and educational articles, which are voiced in a pleasant voice.

Redshift is a paid program, but its price is quite affordable. As you can see, the functionality of Redshift is very diverse, so if a simple planetarium like Stellarium is not enough for you, then Redshift will be a good choice. There is also a mobile version for iOS devices.

Mobile planetariums.

Many modern mobile devices have large screens and powerful processors. You can always take your smartphone or tablet with you, which allows you to study the constellations anywhere. In addition, for out-of-town observations, a small tablet is more convenient than a bulky laptop. Many devices have position sensors in space, thanks to which the star map on the screen is rotated in accordance with the orientation of the smartphone or tablet. This makes searching for an object of interest even easier and more interesting. The most common mobile device operating systems are Android and Apple iOS, so we will look at the most popular astronomy applications for these platforms.

Mobile planetariums for Android devices.

Stellarium for Android.

As already mentioned, there is a mobile version of the Stellarium planetarium for Android. Some functions are limited, there are no plugins, there is no Russian language, but the program is more than suitable for studying constellations and navigating the sky. There is a “night mode”, as well as map rotation depending on the device’s position in space (however, its accuracy depends on the accuracy of the position sensors).

The program has become paid, but the price for it is purely symbolic.

Google Sky Map

Google Sky Map is one of the first astronomical planetarium programs on the Android platform. Unfortunately, the program has not been updated for a long time, but, nevertheless, it is quite suitable for use. The program uses the compass and accelerometer of the device - just point your phone or tablet at the sky, and a map of the area of ​​interest will be displayed on the screen. There is a function to search for an object - for example, you want to find Mars in the sky, the program tells you in which direction you should turn to see it.

Star Chart

Star Chart is a colorful planetarium for the Android platform. The program is free, but various add-ons (for example, displaying meteor showers and comets) must be purchased. The map displays both stars, constellations and planets, as well as artificial Earth satellites. There is a “night mode”, as well as voice control.

When you select an object, the program displays additional information. The program is Russified and has an intuitive interface. Star Chart can also navigate by the device's position in space.

Skyeye

Skyeye is another planetarium, fast and functional. The map shows many faint objects, including galaxy clusters. The program accurately takes into account the position of the device in space; in automatic mode, the map moves very smoothly (compared to Google Sky Map). There is a mode for attaching to a telescope - after linking the planetarium to a bright celestial object, the phone can be used as a finder. Of course, there is a “Night mode”, as well as a “Twilight” mode.

Astro Panel

For astronomy enthusiasts, it is very important to know the accurate weather forecast so that you can plan astronomical observations. Astro Panel is a useful application that summarizes weather forecasts and provides an assessment of atmospheric conditions for observations.

It shows not only the weather forecast, but also an indicator of the calmness of the atmosphere (seeing), moon phases, humidity, wind, as well as the visibility time of the International Space Station (ISS).

Jupiter Widget

A very useful widget for Jupiter watchers is the Jupiter Widget. The program shows the visibility of the Great Red Spot, as well as the positions of the satellites relative to the planet. With it you will not miss a single transit of the Great Red Spot!

Moon 3D

To always know what phase the Moon is now, as well as the nearest new or full moon, you can install the free Moon 3D widget.

Mobile planetariums for iOS devices.

Star Walk

There are also various planetariums for the iOS mobile platform. One of the most famous is Star Walk. Just raise the device to the sky, and you will see the location of constellations and planets on the screen.

Moon Globe
Moon Globe is a great free moon globe for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The program provides image rotation and mirroring.

Starmap 3D

Starmap 3D is a portable star atlas for both beginners and experienced astronomers. Starmap 3D can be used to search for constellations, star clusters, galaxies, nebulae.

As you can see, the choice among virtual planetariums is quite large. First of all, we recommend that you install Stellarium on your computer, and any of the mobile planetariums on your phone or tablet. They will teach you how to navigate among the constellations and find interesting celestial objects, even if you do not have a telescope.

We wish you successful observations and success in studying the starry sky!

Part one: planetariums.

Nowadays, it’s rare to surprise anyone with planetarium programs or space simulators, which many users use. Nevertheless, such a review will be useful for both novice astronomy lovers and experienced ones who are already accustomed to their favorite programs. The thing is that everything is changeable in our world, and there is no limit to perfection. So many programs a few years ago, being crude or insufficiently functional, are now fully functional and have begun to satisfy the wishes of users. They arose following the example of popular games “folk assemblies”. Those. programs that initially require many plugins or add-ons can already be downloaded in a ready-made, quite digestible form. Which greatly simplifies their installation and use. And this, in turn, turns from the torment of layouts and settings into a pleasure of use.
I’ll warn you right away that I won’t consider all the programs, since there are probably already more than 3 dozen of them. In this review, I will try to focus only on the most popular and truly useful applications. I won’t rank and sort them; unfortunately, there are no universal programs. Very often, a single function is present in only one single program. That’s why you have to keep five planetariums and a couple of simulators. But which ones and how many are a matter of taste and the tasks of the user himself. I hope this review will help you make your choice.
So, let me begin.
The simplest and, in the opinion of many, reliable as a Kalashnikov assault rifle, is StarCalc(author A. Zavalishin).
Indeed, it has many advantages:
Easy to manage, absolutely free, in Russian initially, does not require mandatory installation on disk. Turned it on and it works. What else is needed for the first acquaintance with the sky, or simple control of the telescope? Support for many catalogs, including USNO.
I just recommend installing not the original, but a ready-made assembly with all the plugins.

Prepared by A.Angelsky January-February 2013