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Educational: 5.0 Overall Design: 4.8
Ease of Use: 4.8
(4.0 = good,
4.5 = very good,
5.0 = excellent)
Starry Night Enthusiast is the more in depth version of this software for the more advanced astonomer. Click on the image to learn more.
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Program Description Who Is This Program For
Why We Selected This Program Computer Requirements
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Starry Night Complete Space & Astronomy Pack (CSAP) is a versatile, comprehensive and very interactive software program that allows you to navigate around our solar system and beyond as a way of understanding and learning the basics of astronomy.
Once you launch Starry Night CSAP, you can view the constellations from any location on earth by simply selecting the desirable latitude and longitude (i.e. where you live). The sky above, as viewed on the screen, appears exactly as it would at the selected location at the date and time specified. In fact, the program has the ability to view the sky from different points in time, both in the past and in the future as well as from different angles, (i.e. altitudes from 0 to 90 degrees), directions, and vantage points.
Pausing the cursor over any star will identify it by name on screen, reveal the constellation it is found in, and show its distance from Earth in light years. On a few occasions while using the program late at night, I stepped away from the computer and walked outside the front door to observe an identical view of the sky above, immediately reinforcing what was just learned. Likewise, one can gaze outside at the stars overhead and then return to the computer screen to click away and obtain information on what was just seen. By simulating a changeable viewpoint of the sky so realistically, it is a nice replacement for the more timeworn tactic of using sky charts to locate astronomical objects. (best of all have the program going on a laptop as you sit outside and look up)
For Astronomy buffs who have the misfortune of living in a heavily light-polluted environment, the program has the flexibility of adjusting the level of ambient light pollution to either simulate local conditions or improve the view usually seen. (i.e. What you are missing)
If a view of the heavens from a location on Earth is too mundane, one can enjoy a view of the constellations from the surface of the moon instead. Other perspectives are also available, from various locations around the solar system.
The program also reveals how seasons on Earth are produced, by offering a perspective that clearly demonstrates the Earths position relative to the sun coupled with its tilt as it revolves. One can also observe realistic simulations of lunar and solar eclipses. The movement of comets, asteroids and planets can additionally be selected.
Starry Night CSAP has many different capabilities so the way to start is to take the four Guided Tours - Welcome, First Night Out, Night Sky Tours and Our Solar System. The tours are well done and get you on your way. As well the Starry Night Companion (approximately 200 pages of very readable text and illustrations), provides a helpful background explanation of the concepts in addition to tips of how to navigate through the many different applications.
I have quickly highlighted just some of the applications available, but many other interesting features that describe the movement and history of celestial objects can be discovered, particularly in conjunction with the accompanying guide.
Back to the Top
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Click Images To Enlarge
Starting Point Home Page
Navigating into Space and you are at the wheel
Seeing the Detail of the Moon's Surface
Navigating the Constellations as you would see them from your backyard
An animated understanding of how the earth's tilt produces the four seasons
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"Starry Night is a beautifully constructed desktop planetarium that is easy to learn."
- The New York Times.
"The more I used this program, the more I liked it. Of all the astronomy programs I've tried I consider Starry Night the most powerful, most elegant and most pleasing to use."
-Jim Kendrick, SkyNews
Starry Night is a well-organized program that is easy to learn without the aid of any of the supplied manuals. The details and options that are included in Starry Night are absolutely phenomenal. Being able to view the night sky from anywhere in the universe (even the Sun!), changing the light pollution, and details such as the Mars probe put this program above all others. Starry Night allows you to travel throughout space in just a few seconds, seeing all of the stars, constellations, planets, and galaxies. If you weren’t interested in astronomy before, you will be after you try this program.
- Rory O'Connell, Grade 11, Crescent School, Toronto Ontario
"Starry Night is a superb program. In its screen representation of the night sky, it is without peer. The seamless integration of photographs of Messier objects in computer generated star fields, and the realism of those star fields, is a work of genius. The speed and smoothness of its engine are incredible. Intuitive, and with wide-ranging tools and features, this program is the next best thing to actually going out and observing. I love it."
-Astronomy & Space
"Starry Night is the closest you can come to space travel without a heavy suit and a lot of training."
-Popular Science
"Starry Night is effortless astronomy software that lets you go anywhere in the solar system. Watch an eclipse from a planet, its moon and the Sun, all at the same time. Recommended."
-New Scientist
Starry Night is ideal for anyone interested in amateur astronomy, from a novice of about 12 years old and up. Essentially, any person who enjoys looking at the night sky and wants more information about what the celestial objects overhead are, and how or why they move, would benefit from the program. It would serve as a nice supplementary resource for students studying Astronomy at the high school level (for example in the new Ontario grade 9 Science curriculum) or even in an introductory university course.
This software is also ideal for teachers who want a realistic substitute of the night sky that students could work with in the classroom during the day. It is a great way to reinforce concepts learned in a textbook.
The image quality and the animation of the planets moving around the sun give you a marvellous sense of the dynamics of our galaxy. The ability to navigate yourself into space and explore is really engaging and what the creators of this version of Starry Night have done so well is produce an enormously sophisticated experience and yet make it very accessible and easy to use.
I really enjoyed being able to see our galaxy from perspectives other than from the earth. Ever wonder what a sunset looks like from Mars or what it would be like to hitch a ride on a comet?If you want to find a specific planet, just type the name, and the program takes you across the night skies and slowly zooms in on the planet you have selected, so you get a real sense of where this planet is, in the night sky. Just by clicking and dragging and zooming in and out, you can easily guide yourself around the galaxy. Among the alternate astronomy programs we have seen, this is by far the best of it's kind we have seen.
Of course, there is nothing like viewing the night sky late on a clear evening, far away from the lights of a city. Unfortunately, this situation doesn’t readily present itself when one is teaching Astronomy to students in a classroom during the day. Starry Night CSAP is an ideal program for students to utilize in the absence of genuine star-gazing or as a very useful learning complement as you look at the night skies.
We are planning to use it for our grade 9 Science program, so that students could work with it over an extended period of time, then have an opportunity to compare it to real sky conditions for reinforcement.
Reviewed by Greg Michalski, Science teacher, Crescent School, Toronto, Ontario
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Pricing and Online Ordering
(or call toll free -1-800-250-9229 )
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Windows™: Requires Windows XP with 500 MHz or higher processor, 128 MB RAM and 500 MB of hard disk space. OpenGL® support requires a 32MB OpenGL® capable graphics card. Minimum recommended monitor resolution of 1024 x768 pixels.
Macintosh™: OS 10.3 or higher with G3 450 MHz or higher processor, 128 MB RAM and 500 MB of hard disk space. OpenGL® support requires a 32MB OpenGL® capable graphics card. Minimum recommended monitor resolution of 1024 x768 pixels.
or to see other science based programmes
My Amazing Human Body - ages 5-10
Magic School Bus Explores Bugs - ages 4-9
The New Way Things Work - ages 8-15
Pinball Science - ages 9-15
Field Trip To The Rainforest - ages 9-16
ScienceMatrix (cell biology) - ages 12 & up
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