FREE Astronomy/Planetarium software

Comparison Chart

not listed in any specific order

Program name, website, and additional info

 Screen shots

Click image for larger view

System Requirements

WinStar

http://www.winstars.net/english/download.html

Click for more info

Click for more screen shots

 Minimum system requirements
  • a 1GHz CPU
  • Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/XP x64
  • DirectX version 9.0c
  • 128 MB of RAM
  • 100 MB of hard drive space
  • a 3D video card with at least 65535 colors (16 bits)
Stellarium

http://www.stellarium.org/

Click for more info

More screen shots

Stellarium's system requirements

A graphics card capable of rendering OpenGL. A Riva TNT2, released in 1999 or 2000, should do. Stellarium is also fairly processor intensive, so you will get higher framerates with faster processors. Any reasonably recent computer should be able to run Stellarium. Furthermore your computer should be running a Linux, Windows or MacOSX operating system.
Stellaris

http://www.stellaris-software.com/index.htm

 

More Screen Shots

 System requirements:

Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP

5.5 Mb disc space
StarCalc

http://www.m31.spb.ru/StarCalc/main.htm

Click for more screen shots

 System requirements:

Windows OS

1.65 Mb disk space
Adastra

http://www.stella2000.com/adastra.htm

 

 System Requirements:

Windows OS

5 Mb disk space
HNSky

http://www.hnsky.org/software.htm

 

Click for more screen shots

 System Requirements:

Win 95 or later

4 Mb disk space

(large version needs 40 Mb)

many add-ons available at website
Asynx Planetarium

http://www.astronomy.ch/

 

 System Requirements:

Windows

1.21 Mb disk space
Cartes du Ciel

http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/

 

click for more screen shots

 System Requirements:

Windows

11.4 Mb disk space
StarGaze

http://www.skymapper.co.uk/html/stargaze.html

 

 System Requirements:

Windows

1.39 Mb disk space
Digital Universe

& Partiview (Particle View)

http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/hp/vo/du/index.html

 System Requirements:

Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X

OpenGL

 
Celestia

http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

 

 System Requirements:

Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X

OpenGL
Spica

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Code/7659/welcomee.html

 

 System Requirements:
Microsoft Windows 95 or after;
Processor : Intel 386 or better;
4 Mo of memory;
Disk space necessary : 4 Mo

 
Alpha Centaure

http://www.astrosurf.com/alphacentaure/english/index1.htm

 System Requirements:
  • Windows 95/98/NT4/2000/XP
  • At least 64 Mo of RAM
  • At least 120 Mb of hard disk
  • A screen resolution of 800x600 at least and more 256 colors
    •  
    C2A

    http://www.astrosurf.com/c2a/english/

     

    		 System Requirements:

    Pentium processor at 166 MHz or equivalent, 32 MB of memory as well as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows Me, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Furthermore, it is recommended to have a graphic card with a 1024x768 resolution in 65,000 colors.

    Astrofly

    http://www.anumajor.com/astrofly/

     

    		 System Requirements:
    • Hardware:
       
      • Processor: Intel® Pentium® or better (Pentium® 4 is recommended)
      • RAM: 128 MB is a recommended minimum
      • Graphics System:
        • A graphics card with hardware accelerated OpenGL® is recommended
        • 1280 x 1024 resolution is recommended
      • Disk Space for Installed Files:
        • AstroFly 3.0 Basic Package: 7 MB
        • AstroFly 3.0 Plus Package: 27 MB
    • Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP
    Home Planet

    Lite and Full versions available

    http://www.fourmilab.ch/homeplanet/

     

    Click for more screen shots

    		 System Requirements:

    Windows 95 or above

    Disk space: Lite - 2.4 Mb, Full - 12 Mb
    Distant Suns

    http://www.distantsuns.com/

    		System Requirements:

    ?
    Open Universe

    http://openuniverse.sourceforge.net

    Click for more screen shots

    		 System Requirements:

    - Linux/Unix or Windows 95/98/NT/2000
    - 3D card (not required but strongly recommended)
          any card with decent OpenGL support, i.e.:
                 - Voodoo Graphics, Voodoo2 and Voodoo Rush
                 - Riva 128
                 - Riva TNT/TNT2
                 - GeForce / GeForce2

    SkyChart III (demo version)

    http://www.southernstars.com/skychart/index.html

    Click for more screenshots

    		 System Requirements:

    Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP, and Mac OS 8/9/X; the Mac OS X version is a native Mac OS X "Carbon" application
    Planisphere

    http://nio.astronomy.cz/om/

    		Minimal configuration:
    - operating system W95 OSR2, W98, Me, NT/2000, XP
    - 8 MB RAM
    - ~ 3 MB free hard disk space

    Also Contellation Editor: Editor.exe