Review: Starry Night Complete Space and Astronomy Pack 2006

Starry Night is a combination of three pieces of software. There’s a DVD movie giving an overview of our solar system, its planets and their moons.

There’s a CD-based PDF book detailing the basics of astronomy and what to look for in the night sky.

Then there's Starry Night itself; an interactive program that aims to teach better understanding of astronomy.

The star map is the most impressive part of Starry Night Complete Space and Astronomy Pack 2006; it can be viewed from anywhere on earth.

Your viewing point can be set at just about any point in the galactic ‘locality’ and there's also a photographic horizon to give you celestial perspective. The 3D star image is very free moving, it’s a bit like moving through a starscape in an early Star Wars game, except that all the stars hold their correct positions and name tags pop up, when the mouse pointer moves over them.

Smart Find is used for locating particular planets, stars and other objects such as asteroids and comets. If the object isn’t visible in the night sky for your selected location, Starry Night will jump to a time when it last was, or will be.

You can move freely in time, as well as space, and set the night sky for any point in history, to see how it has changed over the centuries and millennia. There’s plenty of guidance throughout, with helpful program tutorials, as well as what to look for on any given evening.

Useful tips are also offered, such as measuring the degrees of arc (distance) between objects, and using parts of your hand stretched at arm’s length as a rough and ready measure.

Starry Night is automatically updated as and when new star catalogues are refreshed or the results of observations broaden our knowledge of what’s out there - the controversy over whether Pluto is a planet or not, for example.

In all, this is an excellent piece of software for beginner and enthusiast alike.

Vista compatible: No