I'm not a hard astronomy nut, just a beginner and this program is ideal for beginners in studying astronomy. very user friendly. Study the stars. Every night, I go out for a jog and sometimes I find myself looking up at the stars and I wonder what is that bright star over there or that one. Now, I know - with this program. For example, a few nights ago, I was looking up to the very top of the dome of the sky and I saw this bright star (there are not many stars to be seen even on a clear night in urban, brightly lit Beijing). I was wondering what the star was. Thanks to consulting Stellarium before going out for a jog, I knew!! It was Vega, 5 brightest star in the night sky, in the constellation Lyra. I think I can make out Arcturus too, 3rd brightest star in the night sky in the southern sky. Wow, I can't recommend this program highly enough. Get started in astronomy. It's not as hard as you may think. It's laid out in a user friendly format. You learn some of the basic terminology pretty easily such as azimuthal lines and celestial lines and so on. You can turn on the constellations lines if you wish and their names. You can even turn on stylized pictures to help you remember the constellations and their constituent stars all the easier. It's great the appreciate the vastness of space and it's almost unchanging nature. Most of the stars have been fixed in their locations for millions of years or tens of thousands of years at any rate. Some of the nearer stars, such as the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, only 8 light years away, a stone's throw away in celestial terms, have actually moved a bit over the past 2 millennia. Sirius, for example, has travelled about half an arcminute south over the past 1800 years, which, may explain why the 3 stars of Orion's Belt don't accurately line up with it any more whereas, during the time of Christ, there would have been a more accurate alignment.
Wonder and marvel at the vastness of space. Learn how to find north using the Polar Star. Learn how to find the Polar Star. Learn all the constellations and their relationship with each other. Great introductory program for aspiring astronomers and, at 35, I think it's never too late to take an interest in the subject. You set your location and you set the time. You can travel quickly forward in time or back. You get a representation of the night sky in your area even before you go out and check it for yourself. I'm kind of sorry I didn't take my telescope from Ireland. I bought one there and never used it!! Why? Because I didn't take any interest then in astronomy. It was all gobbledygook to me. Now, I figure I ought to buy a telescope. I'd look to see the bright red disk of Mars, or the light red and white of the Venusian cloud bands, or Jupiter and its moons or Saturn and its largest moon, Titan. Ah, Titan, that beautiful bright orange planet. Humankind must go there and pierce through that cloud cover to uncover the mystery underneath.
Titan (in natural colour) as seen by the Space Probe, Cassini.
There's another matter I'd like to talk about, related to astronomy, but I'll keep that to another post later.
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