Luckily there is a completely free Planetarium software called Stellarium that anyone can download to their computer that allows you to explore the heavens from the comfort of your own home. There is also a mobile app that is mostly free but requires you to pay for some of the more advanced features. Since I began working as a Planetarium presenter it’s a tool that I’ve found to be invaluable. It’s also a lot of fun to just play around with. of 2 - Stellarium at the scope - posted in Astronomy Software & Computers: I have Stellarium on my desktop computer, and I find it to be very useful. Stellarium can seem a little daunting when you first download it. so useful in fact that I frequently run back into the house to look at it, and then run back out to the scope. But I’d like to share some of the more basic functions that I’ve found myself using the most. You’ll find at the top of the page a series of operating system logos. You’ll also see a link to download a Stellarium User Guide that will come in very handy if you want to take a deep dive into everything Stellarium’s capable of. The view from Bristol in the year 6000 BCE. If you bring your mouse to the bottom of your screen, you’ll find another menu with a number of useful tools. Many of these tools can also be accessed via keyboard shortcuts, and personally I find these a lot easier to use.

Here is a list of some of the shortcuts I’ve found myself using the most. Left click: Select any object in the sky - a star, a planet, or a satellite. Right click: When you want to move on from your selected object, simply clear your selection. Space Bar: Get whatever you’ve selected into the centre of the screen. Page Up: Get a closer look at whatever you’ve selected by zooming in.Īlt + S: Some of the more notable stars are automatically labelled but you can turn those labels off and on again.Īlt + P: Planets are automatically labelled but you can turn those labels off and on again.Ĭtrl + Shift + M: Meteor showers are automatically highlighted with green marks but you can turn these off and on again.

Where is the stellarium