- License:
- Free to try; $9.00 to buy
- Editor's Rating:
-
- Average User Rating:
-
(out of 11 votes)
Rate it!
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Downloads:
-
84,105
- Requirements:
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Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, DirectX 9.0c drivers
- Limitations:
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No limitations
- Date Added:
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February 01, 2005
Publisher's description of WinStars
From Francky company:
WinStars uses the latest 3D technology to show the objects of our solar system in a realistic manner. Thus, it is possible to move from one planet to another, to follow a space probe on its long voyage or to observe a celestial event from a place to which you could never go. The use of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory s DE 404 planetary theories allow us to have a precise representation of the events displayed.
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Editor's review of WinStars
This feature-packed program brings the entire universe directly to your PC. It might help to think of WinStars as a virtual planetarium, as it lets you view galaxies, constellations, and planets. The application gives you a great deal of control over what items are displayed on its map, and you also can choose to animate the entire scene with the click of a button. The utility boasts a bevy of information on planets, stars, nebulae, and comets, and it can retrieve photos from the Web for a more precise view. WinStars' main window is neatly arranged, though the sheer volume of icons may initially intimidate new users. We also noticed a few menu items hadn t been fully translated from French. Although the program consumes a considerable amount of hard-drive space, it thankfully uses very little memory when running. This program may be a bit too in-depth for everyday users, but students and astronomy enthusiasts aren t likely to be disappointed.
User reviews of WinStars
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WinStars
Awesome!
by: comicfan
on 17-Aug-2005 09:08:46 AM
Pros: This is simply, well, awesome! You can track just about anything in real time, there are hundeds of things to track and learn about. Anyone who loves astronomy like i do, will appreciate this program. If you aren't an in depth type astonomer, you will still like it but not appreciate the complex portions of this program, like lattitude and longitude measurments, ruler, star names, solar flare and sattelite tracker, and a hundred other things.You can even get photos from a spot in space that you choose! I can't recommend this enough. My kids love it, even my wife loves it and she isn't into astronomy. The trial version gives anyone more than enough to do and was generous of Frank Richard to allow so much in the trial version. Most programs of this magnitude would have disabled many of the features. If you hate astronomy, try it anyway! You might look at things a bit differently.
Cons: No cons at all.
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WinStars
Accurate, entertaining and lots of fun!
by: scavok
on 23-Feb-2006 05:49:02 AM
Pros: It shows pretty much all stars, and even fades them in and out depending on their magnitude and the 'zoom' you are viewing the sky through. You can view all the constellations labelled with all their forms of titles. It has a very accurate "sky color" feature as well that will show you whether or not the sky will be dark enough to view objects like mercury. You can direct download true telescopic images form public databases through the program. Just zoom in on a nebula in the program, right click and choose download image and you can see what it looks like in real life.
You can toggle settings to show or hide names and labels of pretty much anything; planets galaxies, nebulas, constellations...
I use this program as an amature astronomer rather than star charts, and so find the "night vision" color scheme particularly useful when I bring my laptop out with me. They really thought things through when creating the program.
This program is almost as useful as my telescope when it comes to viewing the night sky!
Cons: It is a bit of a resource hog. My 1.5 Ghz laptop has trouble running other programs at the same time as this one.
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WinStars
Very fun and accurate!
by: SkyMan_TU24
on 15-Feb-2008 06:23:59 PM
Pros: Very good graphics and it is very accurate, right down to the location of satellites!
Cons: In the planetarium mode you cannot see passing satellites overhead and you cannot see comets that you can see with the naked eye in real life...but otherwise its a really good product.
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WinStars
Excellent for all levels of amateur expertise
by: Waylander101
on 05-Feb-2008 10:00:22 PM
Pros: I like everything about this program. As freeware it is comprehensive enough for all but the fussiest of users but if you register it you get access to a lot more star catalogues and hi-res overlay imagery planets and moons within our solar system.
The 3D view is breath taking and a sure fire winner with kids & adults alike, while the planetarium view is very accurate and easily customised. To define accurate I will use this example. One night not only was Jupiter exactly where Winstars said it would be, but the red spot was also in exactly the right place and so also were the 4 moons that Winstars track, upto and including Io's shadow traversing the Jovian landscape. This was all confirmed by me throught my 8" LX200R
It does use a fair amount of resource, but then it does an awful lot with that resource.
I have used numerous freeware & commercial products and for all around usability and functionality, this is the best.
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WinStars
Pretty, but not an extensive star catalog with names and numbers
by: N R Gordon
on 06-Jan-2008 10:18:08 AM
Pros: It looks nice, seems easy to use, and is very accurate -- in so far as it goes. A nice program for a beginning astronomy hobbyist, studying the night sky by naked eye or with binoculars.
Cons: It does not include the extensive catalog of visible (with my amateur telescope) stars and objects that I am looking for. It seems to include only stars and objects that may bee seen with the naked eye. It also seems to be very limited in the names / numbers of the stars it does show.
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