Free, Open Source, Cross Platform Planetarium

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)

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/geek/16386/Free-Open-Source-Cross-Platform-Planetarium/