Starry Night Pro Version 6

Reviewed by Dr. Eric Flescher

Viewing the heavens has mesmerized man since he first looked up at the night sky. Venturing to a planetarium or using one of the online website programs however allows astronomy buffs to “look at the stars” in a different way that can add perspective to your view of the universe. Budding astronomers can upgrade personal experiences by using astronomy software that simulates viewing of the heavens. These popular tools, for amateur astronomers and hobbyists, assist with viewing the Universe in different ways and allows for the observing the heavens in many ways not normally possible. There are many planetarium software programs on the market - commercial, shareware, freeware - and even some for PDAs. Some of these planetarium packages include a wide range of features, numerous multimedia applications and allow for a variety of user needs. Whether you are a novice, intermediate or advanced user, there are many good ones to try, but I recommend one of the versions of Starry Nights.

This review covers the Pro version 6 (a more advanced version is Pro Plus - essentially the next to the highest version). Pro version 6 comes with Skytheater CD, the Pro DVD-ROM, in dual versions: one for Windows- XP and one for Mac OSX (OS9 not supported in this version). The software is easy to install.

Starry Night Pro v6 includes more then the software, includes additional resources, multimedia capabilities and more. Included in this version is the very nice Starry Night Companion book - a 192-page guide by John Mosley – with a wealth of astronomical information for the novice and intermediate astronomy buff. The Version 6 DVD comes with Windows and Mac versions, include the User’s Guide which explains the features, and the All Exclusive “SkyTheater” DVD with over an hour or original movies about space is also included.

This version retains many of the popular tools that intermediate and advanced users have used from previous versions of Pro. There is SkyCalendar, built in Ephemeris Generator (where moving objects are at certain times with their coordinates), a helpful observation planner and tools to log information. Star charts are printable in 180 degree format. There is a customizable equipment list, computerized telescope control (plug-in), Conjunction tools, and a useable Equipment list. There are viewable settings for Altitude -Azimuth, Ecliptic path and the Galactic grid. There is also the Dynamic Hertzsprung- Russell diagram chart with 8 options from labeling the stars to limiting the brightness or distances of the stars for your diagram. Nice!

The program controls most popular brands of robotic telescopes, including Orion SkyQuest Intelliscope, Meade LX200 and Autostar, Celestron Nexstar series and all ASCOM compliant scopes (additional cable required). The remarkable accuracy allows the exploring of 65,000,000 stars, accessing 500+ million stars online, exploring PGC Catalog of 980,000 galaxies as well as choosing from over 30 photorealistic horizon panoramas (which can give a nicer view of the sky. Custom field of view indicators display the sky as seen through your telescope, eyepiece, binoculars, CCDs or DSLRs.

Some planetarium programs have some multimedia effects, but Starry Night excels at multimedia. Version 6 has 100 interactive tours (other versions of SN include 50 tours), new joystick-supported spaceship mode, allows saving and exporting color images and creating QuickTime movies of your celestial simulations. If you want a more multimedia-based view of the universe, Starry Night is the application for you.

Advanced users who require use of telescopic operations will notice that in this version (missing from Windows only version of Pro plus version 6) is the integration with the Maxim DL/CCD for astrophotography - a popular non-Mac astronomical program which can steer a telescope.

See the real night sky in full-color photographic detail from any place on Earth. High Resolution Earth Graphics allow the user to appear as if he/she is hovering above the Earth for a detailed view of our Earth planet before exploring deep space. Nebula outlines make it easier to spot the diffuse edges of nebulae you're observing.

For the advanced amateur astronomer, the full-color AllSky CCD mosaic, sophisticated telescope controls and comprehensive observational tools included in Starry Night Pro Plus version 6 will engage you in the hobby like no other software.

The biggest single addition to Starry Night software since its inception is the full-color AllSky CCD image mosaic of the entire night sky visible from Earth weighs in at 6.44 billion pixels in size. Named AllSky for its uniform coverage from pole to pole, it’s a single picture of the whole sky that has been precisely mapped to Starry Night’s computer generated stars and databases. The AllSky CCD mosaic is comprised of about 20,000 individual images, originally imaged at a resolution of 12 arc seconds per pixel with a scientific grade, custom built AP9E CCD camera. This consistent resolution, color and depth of coverage eliminates the uncertainties of comparing images from many and varied sources. Zoom from the widest possible view of 180 degrees to 0.5 degree field of view.

See a better image on your Mac than the best-trained human eye can capture in real-time viewing through a telescope on a "good seeing" night. See the entire Milky Way in exquisite detail and then zoom in to explore dust lanes and nebulae. Instead of dots and circles, you will see an actual photo of a star or a deep sky object.

If you have the processing power, set the AllSky image to be more precise and a better match between the photographic stars in the AllSky image and the Starry Night stars. For the highest quality AllSky image, you will need a video card with a minimum of 96MB VRAM.

I also found that Version 6 includes an additional 6 GB of the AllSky image in DDS texture format, which enables the AllSky image to load up to 20X faster. But, you will need a 64 MB OpenGL 2.0 (which is the graphics simulation software used both PC and Mac versions) capable graphics card (PC) to see this phenomenal improvement.

New Features for version 6 include Plan observing sessions with the Event Finder, which can instantly displays celestial events like lunar and solar eclipses and conjunctions for months in the future. Create observing lists of astronomical objects using a variety of filters such as magnitude, altitude above horizon, type or database. Quickly see what objects you have observed and which ones you still need to hunt down. Recognize 1000+ craters, valleys and more instantly with surface feature outlines for the Moon is possible while viewing the locations of 160+ extrasolar (planets out of solar system) planets.

New telescopic features also assist Starry Night Pro 6 users. Select your equipment from expanded default database of over 300 Orion, Meade, Celestron and Vixen scopes, binoculars, SBIG, Apogee, FLI and Starlight Express CCD chips. Take advantage of improved Digital Settings Circles Support for non-motorized telescopes like the Orion SkyQuest IntelliScope, NGCMAX, Lumicon Sky Vector, Discovery Digital Star Finder, Orion SkyWizard III, and Celestron Advanced Astromaster. Control your robotic telescope focuser with Computer Controlled Focuser Support (Windows only – no Mac support yet). Supported models include AstroOptik telescopes, Astrophysics GTO mount, Finger Lakes focusers, Gemini equipped mount, JMI Smart Focus, Meade LX200 and Autostar, Optec TCF-S, and PCFocus. Smoothly track and follow satellites with the Meade LX200/RCX400 telescopes (Mac only).

The panoramic horizons views are nice. First, set your location and save it in the folder so it loads when the software starts. Also, the presence panel tells you to update the data upon booting (you must be online), so your data immediately is updated – I find this most helpful for comet watching. The updated data also helps locate satellites, asteroids and other items that need additional data updates, especially if you plan to photograph one or more.

I increased the default setting for the numbers of asteroids, comets and satellites. The labeling features, which I don’t find as easy to use as previous versions, allows you to add colors to the celestial objects names. For example, I set the comets to an off yellow color.

In the past, I made simulations of several eclipses and captured in QuickTime video. It was interesting to see a view from Earth’s orbit as well from the ground to compare my real observations. I also “ went back in time “ to investigate whether Venus was close to Jupiter in 2 B.C. for research on the Star of Bethlehem. Using this software, I could see that both planets were extremely close to each other in the sky. Years ago I used Starry Night to find comets and actually found a dim comet in 2001. This software ultimately let me photograph 38 comets so far, and create and coordinate the Comet Observers Award for the Astronomical League.

Conclusion

I think you get the idea that I am hooked on this software. Not only is it fun, it is educational and is extremely versatile for doing all my astronomical activities. It is fairly easy to use. You just need to read up on all the different options, many I have listed and more that you will find. Selecting this software is a “ no-brainer” as it is not only a handsome piece of software, it also works on both Mac and Windows computers. Try it out first online or buy this version or one of the other versions of Starry Night. You will not be disappointed.

Note: Imaginova released a new update to Starry Night Pro - version 6.0.3 – available at the company website starting 12/21/06.