What is Stellarium ?

An open source planetarium for your computer, just what can be seen by viewing the nights' sky with the naked eye, binoculars or telescope. The program normally runs in real time, so makes it easy to work out which stars and planets are currently seen when looking at the sky.

Installation

Easiest way to install is via the Main menu - Software Centre. Search for 'stellarium'. Alternatively the program can be installed via System - Administration - Synaptic Package Manager and selecting stellarium and stellarium-data packages to be installed, Just click on the white box and select 'Mark for installation' and then click on the Apply menu option.

Hints and Tips

First set up the current location. This can be done by hitting F6 or by using the mouse move the mouse cursor to the bottom left-hand corner of the program screen so that the menus are displayed as shown in the screenshot above and selecting the double star icon. Either the city can be set up via the right-hand menu or the actual latitude, longitude and altitude can be entered manually (you can get this information from Google Earth). Don't forget to select this location as your default. To find out details on any object, just click on it with the mouse cursor. Night mode can be found in the menus as an 'eye' icon.

Main Shortcut Keys

Web Links

• Stellarium Home page - There's also a user manual to download here.

• Google Earth - Community installation page.

CategoryApplication