Stellarium for Linux

Desktop Planetarium

Overview

Stellarium is a planetarium software designed for Linux users who want to explore the night sky on their desktop.

It shows 3D, real-time skies using OpenGL technology, making the stars and planets look very lifelike.

You can see stars, constellations, planets, and nebulae clearly, with features that include different panoramic landscapes and effects like fog and light pollution to make the view more realistic.

This software includes a star catalogue with about 600,000 stars by default.

If you want to see even more, you can download extra star catalogues that contain up to 220 million stars.

Stellarium supports multiple sky cultures, so you can view constellations from different traditions, such as Polynesian, Inuit, Navajo, Korean, Greek, Chinese, and the usual Western constellations.

This makes it interesting for users who want to learn how different cultures see the night sky.

You can also explore planets in our solar system.

For example, Stellarium lets you see the night sky as the Apollo astronauts would have seen it or view Saturn’s rings from the surface of Titan.

It has a built-in scripting engine for extra customization and features to suit advanced users.

If you are looking for safe software to study astronomy or explore the universe at home using Linux, Stellarium fits well.

However, it’s worth checking if it matches your workflow and preferences before fully adopting it.

Keywords: astronomy, planetarium, sky, universe.

Categories: Education, Science.

Pros

  • Stellarium renders 3D photo-realistic skies in real time with OpenGL.
  • It displays stars, constellations, planets and nebulae, and has many other features including multiple panoramic landscapes, fog, light pollution simulation and a built-in scrip…
  • Stellarium comes with a star catalogue of about 600 thousand stars and it is possible to download extra catalogues with up to 220 million stars.

Cons

  • Evaluate compatibility with your workflow and preferences.

Software details

Platform
Linux
Free license
Yes
Project license
GPL-2.0-or-later
Mobile friendly
No
Bug tracker
https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium/issues
Translate
https://app.transifex.com/stellarium/stellarium/

Keywords

astronomy planetarium sky universe

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