Developer: License / Price: Size / OS: Last Updated: Category: | John T. Haller | More programs GPL / $0 70.6 MB / Windows 2K / XP / Vista / 7 / 8 [view history] C: \ Portable Software \ Education |
This is the portable version of Stellarium, a simple-to-use application that allows you to view planets and constellations, as well as find out information about them. All of this is possible in a 3D environment.
Since installing the app is not required, you can store Stellarium on a USB flash drive or similar storage device, save it to any computer and directly run its executable file.
Therefore, you can have Stellarium with you whenever you're on the go. Plus, the Windows Registry is not updated with new entries and no leftover files can be found on the hard drive after program removal.
The application is initialized in full screen mode. So, you can click any spot or object in the virtual sky, in order to find out various details about it, such as the distance, spectral type, magnitude, galactic longitude and latitude, size.
In addition, you can toggle between daytime and nighttime, display constellation lines, labels and art, along with the equatorial and Azimuthal grid. But you can also view the ground, cardinal points, show nebulas, planet labels, switch to ocular viewing mode, display satellite hints, center on a selected object, as well as increase or decrease the speed of time.
From the 'Settings' screen, you can customize some preferences regarding the sky (e.g. absolute and relative scale of stars, hourly zenith rate for shooting stars), markings (e.g. perspective or fish-eye projection), landscape (e.g. Hurricane, Mars) and star lore (e.g. Arabic, Aztec). Plus, you can use a search function for celestial objects, among others.
The fun tool requires a very low amount of CPU and system memory, so it shouldn't put a strain on any computer. It is very responsive to commands and comes with nice graphics. All in all, Stellarium is an excellent application for all people interested in studying or merely observing planets and constellations.
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