Plugin system adding artificial satellites, ocular simulation, telescope configuration and more.

Skinnable landscapes, now with spheric panorama projection.

All new graphical interface and extensive keyboard control.

Spheric mirror projection for your own low-cost dome.

The fisheye projection for planetarium domes.

Very realistic atmosphere, sunrise, and sunset.

Images of nebulae (full Messier catalog).

Constellations for twelve different cultures.

Asterisms and illustrations of the constellations.

Extra catalogs with more than 210 million stars.

It is being used in planetarium projectors. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars, or a telescope. If stargazing is your passion, you'll definitely feel at home here.Stellarium 64-bit is a free open source planetarium for your computer. Since Stellarium for Mac is a multiplatform and open-source app, there's a huge community supporting it. There is also an IRC channel full of passionate people who are willing to help out, so you may have to ask for help but there are options if you get stuck. The interface lacks descriptions and there are no tutorials available, but there's a PDF guide available for download on the developer's Web site. You can click on the star/galaxy to learn more about it and it'll show you its current angle, position, and how far it is, etc.

One of the advantages of this app is that it works even when it's offline, which is perfect if you're taking your Mac far out of town. The application reminded us of the Night Sky feature from Google Earth. If you want to see more stars you can simply zoom in. Once you launch the app, you will be greeted with a night sky full of stars, which looks really amazing. The installation of Stellarium for Mac takes no time at all as it requires a simple drag and drop into the Applications folder. With Stellarium for Mac, users can now explore the galaxy anywhere, anytime.

Stargazing is an amazing hobby, but the weather isn't always perfect for it.

Stellarium free app