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THURSDAY JUNE 1 2006 9:00 AM

Free, Open Source, Cross Platform Planetarium

Submitted by WilWheaton

Edited by WilWheaton

Just about every geek in the world has spent some significant time staring up at the night sky. Some of us were even lucky enough to do it with a member of the opposite sex on a blanket next to us who we were too terrified to touch.

But enough about my high school years.

If you'd like to know what you're looking at when you gaze up into the sky, beyond the Big Dipper and maybe Cygnus or Orion, or you're stuck in a huge light polluted city, you'll probably want to download Stellarium, a free, open source, cross platform planetarium, that shows you what you'd see when you look up into the night sky with the naked eye, a pair of binoculars, or a telescope.

I've played around with it a little bit on my Powerbook, and it's quite beautiful, with a simple, intuitive and easy to use interface. And check this out: if you have a projector, you can set it to output a projection that you can show on your own planetarium (now you can tell your spouse that it was totally worth it to convert the garage!) or the ceiling of your dorm . . . wakka chikka wakka chikka bow bow.

(via Chris Pirillo)

Comments

Slinky7

United Kingdom

July 2005

JUN 01, 2006 10:24 AM

thanks for the tip, gonna check it out right now!

Vestril

Coronado, CA

February 2003

JUN 01, 2006 10:52 AM

Thanks, I've never been too interested in stargazing but my dad is, I'll have to send this to him

Astrobouy

United Kingdom

July 2005

JUN 01, 2006 11:06 AM

Vestril said:
Thanks, I've never been too interested in stargazing but my dad is, I'll have to send this to him

I guess you could say that I've had a passing interest in stargazing, and can tell you he will like it. It is a loverly toy

cmdrfire

United Kingdom

December 2005

JUN 01, 2006 11:09 AM

I require this badly.

And Wil speaks much truth about the "partner of the opposite sex on a blanket you're too terrified to touch". With any luck, I'll be in such a position tonight. No double-entendres, please.

hey_fukko

Medford, OR

September 2003

JUN 01, 2006 12:03 PM

Whoah... that's the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Or I'm way too easily amused.

Next clear night, I'm gonna invite a bunch of friends out to the farm and WOW them with my knowledge. I'll even have to look up the stories behind the ones I can find.

ought

USA

September 2004

JUN 01, 2006 02:44 PM

Nice! I enjoy the fact that you can speed up time and watch the planetary rotations. This program has serious possibilities if they can develope the resolution of the images more. Imagine being able to zoom in for a high rez pick of a nebula hubble telescope style.