Windows Software

Software: Meagastar

I love this program. It not only has almost every object I could possibly see with my 16” scope, it has ways to select them and

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Starry Night Special Edition v5.0.3 Software

I've found this free software to actually be quite invaluable! It's extremely useful when you want to

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Carina Software - Voyager 4.5 Software

The software has been magnificent to work with. The user interface is very intuitive for novice users, and also provides multiple access locations for different features

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ProDigital Software - StarSpikes Pro

As an active DSLR Astro-imager and frequent poster on the Cloudy Nights DSLR Imaging forum, I am always on the lookout for something new and interesting that can be used to improve my images

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Clear Sky Clock Gadget for Windows Vista

A Clear Sky Clock Gadget for Windows Vista

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Photoshop Online Tutorials

Photoshop Basics and Photoshop Intermediate Online tutorials

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3 Lunar Software Packages Compared

For almost two decades, lunar observing has been the forgotten step-child of astronomy. New atlases and guide books for DSOs have come out nearly every year, while the Rukl Atlas of the Moon is no longer even printed (and there is no sign of the new Rukl or any other new atlas). In the same manner, there has been a ton of software written for telescope design, DSO planning, planetarium programs, and almost anything else not related to the moon. But in the last couple of years, interest has swung back to lunar observing. And with that has come three new software packages for lunar observers. Last year I began working with these three lunar software packages:

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Lunar Map Pro

As I worked on my first scope back in the 60's, the "Race to the Moon" was in full swing; lunar fever was high! When you couple that atmosphere, with the fact that I was growing up under the light-polluted skies of suburban Detroit, it's not too difficult to understand that the moon was on the top of my short observing list. To feed my newly found interest in our closest neighbor, lunar images filled the pages of the popular astronomy magazines and books. I remember drooling over the "Picture of the Century"; a shot of Copernicus by Lunar Orbiter 2. Then there was that image of the Taurus-Littrow valley, taken out the window of the Apollo 17 lunar module. Enticements like these, inspired me to observe every chance I got.

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Lunar Map Pro

Lunar Map Pro is the latest entry into a field of software that is just beginning to fill a long-standing vacuum - lunar mapping software. While star charting has been a common use of desktop computers for over a decade, lunar mapping has been a largely neglected field. It isn't entirely clear why this is the case - lunar observing has been very popular for many years, and a computerized atlas is the obvious solution to solving such problems as depicting libration and image orientation, the traditional bugbears of paper-chart users. So it was with considerable excitement that I dove into this new application.

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Home Planet, Astronomy software for Windows

I stumbled upon Home Planet when it was in version 2 and we were all left-clicking away in Windows 3.1. Then, 1994 I think, I had just got connected to the internet and found it a great resource for learning about astronomy. Once I’d downloaded Home Planet (a lengthy affair on my 14,400 baud modem on dodgy analog phone lines) I thought I’d hit the motherlode.

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