Star Charting Software Programs – What Kinds Of Programs Are Ordinarily Available?
Its amazing how popular astronomy is. There are literally millions of people each day who love star gazing. Some of these are professionals who work in observatories. Others are merely hobbyists who enjoy it. Some of these hobbyists have even made important discoveries at times. It used to be that astronomy required a telescope or at least binoculars. Astronomy software makes it possible study the stars and other phenomena without them. Here are some of the programs available. Click through here for extra information about planetarium software.
One popular application is SETI@Home. the point of this software was to use all the idle time on peoples home computers. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence was set to search space for radio signals that indicated intelligent design. Supercomputers on site were used to analyze the data. But now it’s all being done during the spare cycles on people’s computers at home and the office. People at home won’t be having discussions with aliens when they’re found. But if SETI does find alien intelligence then there are going to be a lot of happy people.
A 3-D screen saver is another type of star charting software. These programs kick in when a PC is idle, and show various space objects rendered in spectacular 3D computer graphics. These are anything from static images to interactive 3-D views. Try a handy search engine to find one of these programs.
Not many people know what F.I.T.S is. It’s Flexible Image Transport System, which is a NASA and IAU endorsed format to store and deliver not only images but spacial data and multi-dimensional arrays such as 2-D and 3-D images. It’s used in a lot of software. These include freeware and software for sale. A wide selection of FITS viewers can be found with a simple Internet search. Try Duke University’s website.
Software such as Aberrator allows an amateur astronomer to view images of stars through various telescopes with aberrations in the lens. Images seen through the telescope are compared with those shown by the software and adjustments can be made.
These are only a small sample of the astronomy software available. All you need to do is research and you will find some software that will be applicable to your situation. It is an ever growing field and more and more software is composed on a daily basis. There are a lot of sites where you can find both free and paid for software – all you really need to do is have a bit of a search. Download some and have fun. You will get more information about astronomy magazine here.
