It asks for your location on your browser window. Nope, you don't, and I'll give you a bit of a demo on how to use the web version.įirst, get to the website. Do I have to download and install this to use it? Finally, it's available in a wide range of languages, meaning almost anyone can use it. It also includes a scripting language that allows you to create animated events-great if you're teaching or just want to mess around. There's an option to act like you're looking through a telescope which is just as real as you doing it yourself from your backyard.

Your view will look as if you were standing on the ground staring at the sky yourself. If you think, 'It really can't be that realistic,' you would be wrong. You can create customized views and pick a time and location of what you want to see. With the most accurate database, you get some super high-quality maps in the most realistic way possible. Amateur astronomers and educators use Stellarium to explore the sky, and it is considered one of the best planetarium programs available. Stellarium also includes advanced features such as telescopic controls and the ability to track the motion of celestial objects. Also, the software allows you to view the sky from any location on Earth at any time in the past or future, so you can look at a future night sky your descendants may see. What's really cool about it is that it has a comprehensive database of stars, nebulae, galaxies, and so much more. It's an amazing 3D simulation of the night sky that lets you explore and observe stars, constellations, planets, and other celestial objects. Stellarium is a free, open source planetarium software for every OS. I discovered Stellarium, an amazing open source planetarium for your computer! This article is all about this open source way to view the universe. So there's no comet sighting for me, at least not in real life. So my window to see the comet was down to one night when it would be visible without any special equipment.Īs of writing this article, that would be tonight.īut as I write this article, there's full cloud coverage and rain. In theory, you can see the comet through a telescope across several days, but I don't own a telescope. If you've seen the news recently, you'll have noticed many articles on the comet with the green tail (C/2022 E3) that will only come once in a lifetime for everyone to see.

Web stellarium