A and h stars by computer program. Celestia is a virtual universe simulation program. Free software download for free

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

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

Observations of the planets and the study of the constellations of the starry sky will be interesting for both children and adults.

Night sky over Japan

Mars with moons

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”).

The settings panels are equipped with tooltips.

Program settings.

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

The top icon on the left panel opens the window for setting the location when observing the stars:

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

The second icon opens the time setting window.

The third one will show you the view settings.

On the first tab, which is called “Sky”, you can configure the display of stars: absolute and relative magnification, enable / disable flicker and dynamic adaptation of sensitivity.

You can also turn on / off the display of the atmosphere. Planets and satellites settings include enabling/disabling planets, their markers, 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 label size. And even adjust the number of flying meteors per hour ...

In the "Designations" tab, you can configure the "celestial sphere": displaying the equatorial grid, the j2000 equatorial grid (this is the grid of the j 2000 epoch, that is, the times of 2000), the azimuth grid, the equatorial line, the meridian, the ecliptic and the designations of the cardinal points in the sky .

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 projections are displayed to the right of the name.

In the "Landscape" tab, you can select the landscape that will be shown when observing, such as the ocean, or the landscape of other planets, such as Mars or Saturn. You can also control the display of the earth, haze above the ground, 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 in the left pane will open a search box for the item you want to see.

The penultimate icon opens the settings window:

In the "Basic" tab, you can select the language of the program, the option to display information about the selected object: all available, short or nothing.

In the "Movement" tab, you can enable/disable movement 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: spherical mirror distortion, disk field of view, for more realistic stargazing, non-horizontal object labels, if you want to change the position of star labels, etc. Screenshot settings, purpose /change folder for screenshots.

Star catalog settings, you can additionally download nine catalogs of stars.

Scripts tab. Here you can run the monitoring script, the program will act "on the machine", you will only have to observe.

In the "Plugins" tab, you can enable the loading of the plugin when the program starts, 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 in the figure.

The third button shows 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 points.

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

The next button toggles between equatorial and azimuth occurrences.

The twelfth button sets the selected object to the center of the screen.

Thirteenth turns on night mode

The next 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 the Earth's satellites.

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

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

Free download Stellarium - star map on your computer

Celestia is a virtual planetarium. Many of us looked with interest into the night starry sky 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 for viewing the starry sky from your computer. One such program 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 beautiful realistic graphics, you can see the beauty of the universe that you will not see when looking at the starry sky from Earth. Traveling through space with the help of the Celestia program, you can speed up or slow down time or reverse time.

The Celestia program can be useful not only for astronomy lovers, but it can also be used for educational purposes. The 3D universe is very beautiful and interesting. I think it will be interesting for many to see and find out 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 the famous novel by Pierre Boulle "The Planet of the Apes" landed on the planet Sorora, 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 (a total of 7 films were released). , most recently Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011).

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

Celestia download

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

When you press the "Shift" button + left-click + move the mouse back or forward, the object will increase or decrease. To switch the program to full screen mode, click in the menu "View" => "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 hover your mouse over 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" => "Resolution of textures" you can change the quality settings for displaying objects. Higher settings affect the performance of the computer.

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

In the menu "View" => "View settings ...", in the Settings window, by checking the boxes in the corresponding checkboxes, you can enable or disable the display of the appearance of space objects.

Navigating the 3D Universe in Celestia

In the menu "Navigation" => "Catalogue of the solar system ..." a window appears with the objects of the solar system. 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 rotating the mouse wheel forward or backward, you can bring a celestial object closer to you or move it 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, simultaneously press the "Shift" + button on the keyboard and the arrows, the rotation will occur in the corresponding direction (you can click on two arrows at the same time).

When hovering the mouse over an object, clicking on it with the left mouse button you will get help information, and by right-clicking in the context menu, you will see the name of the object and you 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 menu "Navigation" => "Catalog of Stars ..." you can select a star from the list in the "Catalog of Stars" window, and after clicking on the "Go to" button, you will move 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"). Highlight the star, and then click on the "Go" button.

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

In order to go to an object within the solar system, you need to click on the "Go to object ..." item in the "Navigation" menu with the mouse. In the "Select object" window, enter the name of the star - "Sun" (Sol), and then click on the "OK" button. Only after that it will be possible to move within the solar system.

If you enter the name of an object in the solar system while outside of it, then the movement will not occur. First you will need to move to 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.

In order for the background information to be missing from the image, you will simply need to click on the information and it will disappear. After the image is saved, you will be able to view it using the operating system without using the Celestia program.

With the help of the program, you can record video files in the "AVI" format. To do this, in the "File" menu, select the "Save video ..." item. In the "Save As" window, choose 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 "Compressor" section, "Full frames (no compression)" is selected by default. If you leave this item unchanged, the video file size will be very large.

Therefore, for video compression, it will 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 the recording, press the "F12" button.

There are a large number of commands to control the program. To get acquainted 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. The time spent on this, in my opinion, will not be wasted.

A large number of add-ons have been created for the Celestia program, which allow you to add new objects (both real and fictional) to the program. The size of add-ons is many times greater 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 additions Celestia Extended Pack.

Article Conclusions

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

Summer vacation time is a time of travel, relaxation from everyday work and doing your favorite hobbies. Astronomy is one of the few hobbies that you can indulge in today, not only 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 apps that can help you learn a lot about the stars, planets and other objects in 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 by modern media. Three of them provide a very significant expansion of capabilities through 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 of Star & Planet Finder, it only shows the location of the planets of the solar system and the moon, and for the demonstration of 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 apps (over 12 million downloads) is Star Chart, that is, the 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 the 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 Monsieur, including various galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. Finally, in the Star Chart database, all the visible stars of the Northern and Southern hemispheres, numbering more than 120 thousand units.

Among the unusual features of Star Chart, the ability to go back in time to 10,000 years ago and see how the starry sky looked like in that distant era deserves mention. To access the timeshift 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. In a similar way, you can travel to the future. If you want to find a specific event, it is better to use the calendar of eclipses, moon phases and other important dates.

The asset of the program is really great graphics and a lot of detailed information about various astronomical objects. For a fee (from 66 to 329 rubles) you can get access to advanced 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 partnership with the American space agency NASA and uses many of the stunning high-resolution photographs taken from space exploration.

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

The view of the night sky changes both during the day and throughout the year. This is due to the fact that our planet makes a revolution around its axis in a day, and in a year - a revolution around the Sun. Therefore, astronomy lovers face the task of determining the visibility of certain constellations. For a long time, the planisphere, a special movable map of the starry sky, was popular among astronomy lovers. By rotating the upper part of the map, you can find out exactly which constellations are visible at one time or another. However, the planisphere is gradually being replaced by a variety of planetarium computer programs.

Stellarium

Stellarium is the most popular planetarium software. It models the view of the starry sky, denoting constellations, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects on it. In a way, Stellarium is like a computer game where you can look around and observe the positions of the stars and planets. Let's take a closer look at this wonderful program.

When the program starts, 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, the object is selected with a single click. The "Space" button can be used to place the celestial body of interest in the center of the field of view. You can zoom in/out by rotating the mouse wheel. When an object is selected, 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 place of observation by going to the "Location window" (vertical panel, top icon). You can enter geographic coordinates or specify the nearest settlement in the search bar.

"Date/Time Window" allows you to set the date and time of the observations to the nearest second. "Date/Time Window" allows you to set the date and time of the observations to the nearest 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, borders is turned on. To correctly display the details of the planets, you must check the box "Simulate the speed of light."

"Search window" allows you to find an object by name. After the search is completed, the program will automatically display the desired object in the center of the screen. "Search window" allows you to find the object by name. After the search is completed, the program will automatically display the searched object in the center of the screen.

In the settings window, you can select the interface language, set up the display of information about the object, view scenarios - mini-movies demonstrating various processes and events in space. The "Plugins" tab is a variety of useful features. For example, the "Eyepieces" plug-in allows you to see the sky as it is seen through the eyepiece of a telescope, and the "Protractor" plug-in allows you to measure the angular distance between different objects. We should also mention the plug-in "Satellites", which displays artificial satellites of the Earth on the map.

In the help window, you can familiarize yourself with all the "hot keys", as well as reassign them.

Now let's get acquainted with the buttons of 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 azimuth grids, horizon, cardinal directions, atmosphere, as well as deep space objects and planets.

Next, there are buttons for switching between equatorial and azimuth display of the image, centering the selected object. Night mode converts the image to black and red, which allows you to save the dark adaptation of the eyes. Additional image flip buttons can be enabled in the Docker (Tools tab).

Some plugins may appear in the bottom bar 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 designed 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 that of Stellarium, but there are many more functions. Cartes du Ciel allows you to download fresh databases of comets and asteroids, install additional catalogs of stars and nebulae. The map can be rotated with both the mouse and the keyboard buttons. You should start working with the program by setting the place of observation by going to "Settings>Observatory". There is also a "night mode". The program is fully translated into Russian, which is a big plus.

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

Redshift

Redshift is not just a virtual planetarium. It is also the most detailed interactive encyclopedia of the cosmos, containing almost all the knowledge on astronomy accumulated by mankind. 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, comets. Map navigation is done with the mouse. Approximation-removal is carried out with the mouse wheel, object selection - with the left mouse button. At the first start, the program will ask you to indicate the place of observation (by map or by coordinates). The current time is set by default and 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 the nearest astronomical events.

In "Tales of 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, due to which the star map on the screen rotates according to the orientation of the smartphone or tablet. This makes the search for the object of interest even easier and more interesting. The most common operating systems for mobile devices are Android and Apple iOS, so we will look at the most popular astronomical 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 of the functions are cut down, there are no plug-ins, there is no Russian language, however, the program is more than suitable for studying the constellations and navigating the sky. There is a "night mode", as well as map rotation depending on the position of the device 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 planetarium astronomical apps for Android. Alas, the program has not been updated for a long time, but, nevertheless, it is quite usable. The program uses the device's compass and accelerometer - 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 an object search function - for example, you want to find Mars in the sky, the program tells you which way to 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, the display of meteor showers and comets) must be purchased. The map displays both stars, constellations and planets, as well as artificial satellites of the Earth. 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 also knows how to navigate by the position of the device in space.

skyeye

Skyeye is another planetarium, fast and functional. The map displays 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 of 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 lovers of astronomy, it is very important to know the exact weather forecast, which allows you to plan astronomical observations. Astro Panel is a useful application that brings together weather forecasts and estimates of atmospheric conditions for observations.

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

Jupiter Widget

For Jupiter observers, a very useful widget is the Jupiter Widget. The program shows the visibility of the Great Red Spot, as well as the position of 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 the phase of the moon is now, as well as the next new moon 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. It is enough to raise the device to the sky, and you will see the location of the 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 beginners and experienced astronomers alike. 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 don't have a telescope.

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

Part one: planetariums.

Now it is rare to surprise anyone with planetarium programs or space simulators that many users have access to. Nevertheless, such a review will be useful for both beginner 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 raw or not functional enough, are now fully functional and began to satisfy the wishes of users. Arose following the example of popular games "folk assembly". Those. programs that initially require many plug-ins or add-ons can already be downloaded in a ready-made, quite digestible form. This greatly simplifies their installation and use. And this, in turn, turns the torment of layouts and settings into a pleasure to use.
I will immediately warn you that I will not consider all the programs, since there are probably already more than 3 dozen of them. In the review, I will try to pay attention only to the most popular and really useful applications. I will not make a rating and sort, so, alas, there are no universal programs. Very often, one function is present in only one single program. That's why you have to keep heels of planetariums and a couple of simulators. But what and how much is a matter of taste and tasks of the user himself. I hope this review will help in choosing.
So, I'll start.
The simplest and, according to many, reliable, like a Kalashnikov assault rifle, is StarCalc(author A. Zavalishin).
Indeed, it has many advantages:
Ease of management, absolutely free, in Russian initially, does not require mandatory installation on a disk. Turned on and working. What else do you need 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 the finished assembly with all the plugins.

Prepared by A. Angelsky January-February 2013