Stellarium version 0.7.0, an open source desktop planetarium program, has just been released. Stellarium is freely downloadable software which renders realistic skies in real time with openGL. It is available for Linux/Unix, Windows, and Mac OSX (version 0.7.0 for OSX is not yet released, but 0.6.2 is available).

Realism is one of the great strengths of Stellarium, its developers say. "With Stellarium you really see what you can see with your eyes, binoculars, or a small telescope. Stellarium is a great resource for educators, parents, amateur sky gazers, or anyone wanting a better understanding of the night sky," according to the company. The interface is simple and intuitive, which makes it easy even for children to operate.

Stellarium renders over 100,000 stars from the Hipparcos catalog, as well as in-situ images of most of the Messier deep sky objects. Basic features include time control, viewing positions anywhere on Earth, photo-realistic landscapes, basic coordinate grids and lines, labels for all objects, an object search function, planet orbits and trails, precession of the equinoxes, and constellation line drawings and art.

Special features include the beautiful contemporary constellation art by Johan Meuris, realistic atmosphere rendering, meteor showers, eclipses, and the ability to view the whole sky at once in a 180 degree fisheye projection. Constellation drawings for other cultures now include Chinese, Polynesian, and Egyptian. A major new feature with this release is a scripting capability, which allows Stellarium to perform complex tasks easily or even to play back complete prerecorded lessons.

Stellarium can be downloaded from: http://stellarium.sourceforge.net