Sky Charts (a.k.a. Cartes du Ciel) computes and prints customized charts of the heavens. When you download the program ("basic package") it comes with the Bright Star Catalogue (featuring stars down to mag. 6.5) and a database of 10'000 nebulae from SAC 7.2. Optionally, you may choose to download the "complete package", including also Sky2000, version 3, with 300' 000 stars to magnitude 9, high precision planetary satellites positions and Realsky support.

Anyway, the point is for you to later get additional free catalogues from its homepage, according to your interests and specific needs. For instance, Tycho-2 with more than 3 millions stars, down to mag. 12.1; a catalogue of 68'179 variable stars from GCVS, NSV and EVS; a database of 193'898 galaxies from PGC1999 catalogue etc, etc...

Main features offered include:

• about 30 catalogues of stars, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies;
• ability of demanding portions of star catalogues online so as to plot charts until mag. 20;
• facility of self-updating online, from different sources, the comet and asteroid elements databases;
• option to request from SkyView - Digital Sky Survey, and similar sources, real sky images of the region drawn on the chart - with the ability of superimposing and easily editing, filtering and chromatically juggling them;
• DDE interface allowing the joint use with VAROBS - another freeware by Patrick Chevalley, consecrated to variable stars;
• interface for telescope control;
• additional support of Real Sky and USNO Cds etc, etc...

DeepSkyStacker is a freeware for astrophotographers that simplifies all the pre-processing steps of deep sky pictures and is specialized in RAW files from DSLRs.

• Registering
• Stacking
• Simple post-stacking processes to quickly view the final result.
• Saving the resulting picture to a TIFF or FITS file (16 or 32 bit)

Features:

• Automatic registration of a set of pictures

• Automatic detection of stars using all the picture area

• Preview of registered stars

• Sub pixel registration

• Automatic derotation

• Automatic creation and use of offsets, flats and darks frames

• Sub pixel alignment and stacking

• Supported bitmaps formats : 8, 16 et 32 bit colour and monochrome TIFF files, 16, 32 and 64 colour and monochrome FITS files, JPEG, BMP, PNG

• Native use of RAW files from most DSLRs (CR2, NEF, CRW, ...) without using an intermediate file format (TIFF or other).

• Darks, Flats and Offsets computed from and applied directly to the RAW picture before any interpolation.

• Stacking methods: average, median, kappa-sigma clipping, auto adaptive weighted average, entropy weighted average, maximum...

• Preview of all pictures (including RAW)

• Simple post-processing with RGB levels, luminance curve and saturation adjustments.

• Save the resulting picture to 16 and 32 bit TIFF or FITS files with or without adjustments applied.

• Simple and intuitive user interface

• Optimal memory usage: the same amount of memory is required to register and stack 10 or 500 pictures.

• Optimal CPU usage: fully multithreaded with optimal use of duo/quad/multi processors.

• And much more...

In short: after a shooting night you give all your pictures (light frames, darks frames, offset/bias frames, flat frames) to DeepSkyStacker and you go to bed. The next morning you can see the result and start post-processing.

You can explore real planets - like Mars and Earth - or use imaginary data.

It's conceived to be easily usable "in the field" according to an observing session needs, but also to study "at home" the Moon and its relief. It's interfaced with "Sky Charts" freeware (above). This set is certainly now one of the most complete released.

It's possible to choose the language used by the software and database.

Files have been cut in several packages.

New features introduced in version 2 included :
- Introduction of "Moon complete globe" with Far Side;
- Simulation of a spatial flight orbiting the Moon;
- VMA is now separated in 3 modular versions;
-- AVL "Light”: 2D software for less performing hardware;
-- AVL "Basic”: Basic software presenting the "3D with librations" mode;
-- AVL "Expert”: Advanced software presenting the "3D complete globe" mode;
- New texture of complete globe realized with Clementine high resolution photos by professor Mark S. Robinson and his team of the "Northwestern University";
- More than 600 new Far Side craters and formations descriptions;
- Database corrections for some bad entries;
- New pictures library: "Moon Stars" 130 LOPAM pictures of the most famous lunar formations

News functions introduced with 2.1 included :
- Computerized goto mount support;
- Moon phase calendar.

On the graphical side, it offers the classical representation of the celestial sphere; the situation of the sky over the local horizon; elongations and heliocentric position of the planets and a tool to draft/register your sunspot observations.

On the ephemeris side, it gives you access to a wide set of utilities with all expected calculations: current time in some twenty calendars; eclipses; conjunctions; seasons; distances; moon phases; conversion of coordinates; an option to list the objects by type seen over a given period of time and on a given constellation etc, etc... Also featured is an interface to record personal observations.

Features:

• Over 120000 stars from the Hipparcos Catalogue with name and infos for the brightest ones.
• Planets and major satellites in real time, with a powerfull zoom mode to see them like in a telescope.
• Planet position computation now accurate enough for eclipse or transit simulation.
• Drawing of the 88 constellations with their names.
• Textured displaying of more than 70 nebulas (Orion, M31 etc..).
• Photorealistic Milky Way.
• Ground, fog, and landscape.
• Ultra fast realistic atmosphere rendering.
• Automatic eye adaptation to luminance.
• Star twinkling.
• Smooth real time intuitive navigation.
• Equatorial and altazimutal mode.
• Fisheye projection mode (e.g for planetarium dome).
• Grids in Equatorial and Azimuthal coordinates.
• Time control (real time and accelered time modes).
• Graphical menu for simple utilisation.
• Clikable stars, planets and nebulas with informations.
• Ecliptic and celestrial equator lines.
• Windowed and fullscreen modes.

This is the Windows version. Linux/Unix and MacOSX versions are also available.

It is offered without any restrictions, except it does not include some of the more advanced features the full version has to offer.