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Starry Night Pro 4

Space.com released Starry Night Pro version 4 planetarium software. This software package is much hyped about. It has full page ads in S&T and Astronomy and even has TV commercials. Space.com advertises Starry Night Pro as advanced software for the experienced astronomy enthusiast. In this review we will explore Starry Night Pro and see if it is worth its price and if it is truly for the experienced astronomy enthusiast.

Note: Click the thumbnails (mouse over will show a legend) to see a larger picture.

What is Planetarium Software?

Leg.: As you can see it looks very realistic. The sky is a dark purple near the horizon and only the bright stars are visible. Click to enlarge

What is planetarium software and how is it different then other astronomical software. Charting software is similar to book charts such as Uranometria and Sky Atlas 2000 except the software have lots more stars, deep sky objects, plots planets, comets and asteroids and is customizable. Planetarium software has many charting features plus it renders the sky as accurately and as beautiful as possible. The animation of planetarium software is much more fluid without the jerk, jerk, jerk motion of other software. Planets have photorealistic displays and you can travel to them. Planetarium software allows you to view the solar system from any angle to see how the planets move. In other words planetarium software allows you to explore the night sky and other wonders in a visually pleasing dynamic way. Starry Night has all the typical planetarium features and then some and it really excels at it.

Beauty of Starry Night

Leg.: As you can see the Milky Way is awesome. Also note how good Scorpius looks. It is a very realistic sky. Click to enlarge.

Without a doubt Starry Night Pro is the most visually stunning astronomical software on the market bar none. Starry Night uses 3D rendering technology called OpenGL. OpenGL has long been popular with games, CAD and 3D design programs such as 3D Studio Max. Starry Night is one of the first astronomy programs to take advantage of OpenGL to produce a visually pleasing program.

When the program first starts up you are standing in a field with mountains around the perimeter. If you open the program during daylight hours you will see the sun. As you pan around there is a lens flare coming from the sun that seems to leap out at you. As you advance the time the sun will set in the west. As it does so the sky becomes darker and near the horizon you see orange that gets darker as time moves forward. Keep advancing the time and stars will gradually appear, first the very brightest and then to dimmer ones.

The stars themselves are not ugly symbols. They are realistic renderings that are very beautiful just like you were out gazing at the stars of the night sky. The Milky Way is very realistically rendered. It looks like a milky hazy broad line that stretches across the sky just like it looks in real. The brighter and dimmer areas are accurately rendered.

The Moon and planets are photorealistic rendered that gives them jaw dropping beauty. The cratered moon is very accurate and pretty and wow the rings of Saturn.

Added: Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Reviewer: Shawn Grant
Score:
Related Link: http://www.starrynight.com/
Hits: 6608
Language: eng
Page: 1/5

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Posted by albornozrc on Feb 08, 2005 - 01:45 PM
My score:

Hola, otro software de exelente calidad y diseño tipo planetarium, pero deberia traer una base de datos mas amplia.

Posted by 14040093 on Feb 06, 2005 - 03:13 PM
My score:

This is the best desktop planetarium software I know!

Posted by Astrocharlie on Jan 24, 2005 - 03:37 AM
My score:

I have just bought SN Pro 4 and I find it as friendly and beautiful as the former SN Backyard that I've used for many years. It is up to me to extract all the new gadgets advertised in it. Will let you know.

Posted by xrayder on Jan 23, 2005 - 04:20 AM
My score:

nice review

Posted by i on Jan 20, 2005 - 01:19 AM
My score:

very very good in all levels

Posted by Anonymous on Nov 11, 2003 - 12:56 PM
My score:

I agree with Shawn Grant's conclusions. Starry Night Backyard is an excellent and beautiful tool for giving talks to schools, etc. and that is how I have used it; but I wouldn't dream of forking out for the so-called Pro version. The combination of Deepsky 2003 and Cartes du Ciel (which work seemlessly together) is one of the most astoundingly good value deals around in any software; what's more there are thriving e-groups for them and their developers give excellent support. It's all about fitness for purpose: the Backyard version fills a real niche, Pro does not. nickreiter 19.09.03, 21:23

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