Star Charting Software

More Information Price $49.00 Weight 4.8 oz.

Consider the planetarium functions of TheSky6. You can quickly specify any viewing site (not just your backyard) by selecting it from a list of over 1,200 locations, or by clicking on a World Map, or by manually entering your coordinates (for example, obtained from a road map or GPS). You can input any date (from 4,712 B.C. to 10,000 A.D.) and any time to show you a graphical representation of what the sky looked like (or will look like) from that location at that moment. TheSky6 generates the most realistic and attractive graphical rendition of the night sky ever. With almost photographic realism it shows you the shimmering haze of the Milky Way, with horizon glow behind photographic horizons, and with haloed stars that look so real you’ll think you’re under the stars themselves.

Switch to the chart mode and TheSky6 can show the positions of all of the planets, the Moon, comets, asteroids, satellites, millions and millions of stars and hundreds of thousands of deep-space objects (galaxies, clusters, nebulas, double stars, variable stars, etc.). Here’s a list of the star and object databases included in TheSky6 Student Edition:

• the Hubble Guide Star Catalog (GSC) Version 1.2, with 19,000,000 stars and deep space objects to the 14th magnitude;

• the Hipparcos/Tycho Stellar Catalog, with 1,200,000 stars to the 12th magnitude;

• the Washington Catalog of 99,068 double stars (WDS);

• the Struve catalog of 4,307 double stars;

• the General Catalog of 37,383 variable stars;

• the New General Catalog (NGC) of 7,840 deep space objects;

• the Index Catalog (IC) of 5,382 deep space objects;

• the Tom Lorenzin 2000+ catalog of 2,088 deep space objects;

• the 900,000 galaxy Catalog of Principle Galaxies (PGC);

• the PK Planetary Nebula Catalog (PLN) of 1,455 planetary nebulas;

• the Abell Clusters of Galaxies Catalog of 2,712 galaxy clusters;

• the Arp Catalog of 338 peculiar galaxies; and

• the Galactic Globulars Catalog of 2,495 globular clusters.

In addition, TheSky6 is packed with thousands of detailed images. You get over 13,000 images from the NGC and IC Catalogs (shown in-place on the star charts using 1.7 arcsecond per pixel images from the Digitized Sky Survey). There are almost 200 full color deep-space images from the David Malin collection; over 400 full-color images from the Hubble Space Telescope, and over 150 images of solar system objects, including images from the Mars Rover and other space missions. You get detailed descriptions of the planets, the Sun, Moon, Jupiter and Saturn's major moons, and comets.

TheSky6 has a powerful Find command so you can locate any object.
You can find stars by their common name; Bayer designation; Flamsteed designation; General Catalog of Variable Star (GCVS) designation; non-stellar variable star (NSV) designation; Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) Catalog number; Struve designation; or Washington Catalog of Double Star designation.
You can find non-stellar objects by their common name; Caldwell number; Herschel number; Index Catalog (IC) number; Lorenzin Catalog number; New General Catalog (NGC) number; Principle Galaxy Catalog number (PGC); Principle Galaxy Catalog cross-reference number; Zwicky number; Arakelian Catalog of Galaxies number; Catalog of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies (CGCG) number; David Dunlop Observatory Catalog of Galaxies number; Fairall Catalog of Galaxies number; Karachentseva Catalog of Galaxies number; Kazaryan UV Galaxies number; Kiso UV Galaxies number; Second Byurakay Survey number; Tololo Galaxies number; Uppsala General Catalog of Galaxies (UGC) number; University of Michigan Catalog of Galaxies number; Virgo Cluster Catalog of Galaxies number; Weinberger Catalog of Galaxies number; Planetary Nebula designation (PLN); or Saguaro Astronomy Club Deep-Space Object catalog (SAC) listing.
You can find solar system objects like comets, planets, the Sun and Moon by name.
You can find constellations by their common name.

Click on any object, or use the Find command to show extensive information on celestial objects, including: the common name; catalog number (including cross references to other catalogs), for example M42 or NGC1976; a description of the object; its magnitude; distance information; rise, transit, set times; the constellation to which the object belongs; its equatorial and horizon-based coordinates; other object and catalog specific data, such as spectral data for stars, Dreyer descriptions for deep space objects, and apparent equatorial and polar diameters for planets; its position angle (as measured from the Celestial Pole) from the previously identified object; and its phase (where applicable).

TheSky6 can adjust the display to suit your instrument. You can see a naked eye view, a telescope view, or one through a finder scope or binocular or more. TheSky6 can display reference lines that show coordinates, help you visualize your orientation, or indicate what part of the sky you’re looking. They include: the ecliptic; galactic Equator; Milky Way (picture) or Milky Way (solid); constellation lines, boundaries, or drawings of the mythological characters in the sky that the constellations were named for; equatorial grid lines with customizable spacing; horiizon-based grid lines; a customizable local horizon, a refracted horizon; or a customizable panoramic horizon. You can show stars with their spectral color, change the contrast, gradient fill, density, halos on bright stars, red color in Night Vision Mode and more!

The handy Move To command lets you center the display on any equatorial or horizon-based coordinate, from any Epoch. The Eclipse Finder allows you to search for and animate solar and lunar eclipses, and view their geometry. TheSky6 even displays a solar eclipse's path of totality on a map of the Earth.
The program shows the positions of Jupiter's Galilean major moons and Saturn's major moons at any given time, allowing you to set the moons into motion. It lets you locate conjunctions between any three planets, or the Moon. TheSky6 shows you detailed, medium-resolution photographs of the Moon's surface. The Moon Viewer can label common features, landing sites, and shows historical references about feature names.
You can view the planets, comets, and minor planets from anywhere in the solar system. Watch comets race around the sun. Plot comet and minor planet's paths through the solar system. Lock On and/or View From any object during a time skip animation in the 3D solar system mode.
You can simulate the daytime sky to view sunrises, sunsets, or solar eclipses, in real time or accelerated time. You can watch the motion of the stars over hundreds, or thousands of years. Proper motion "vectors" show the path that the stars will follow over time.
And star hopping was never easier! You can print a hard copy of any portion of the night sky, and use it in the field to help identify objects with your telescope, binoculars, or unaided eye.
An installed Astronomy Tutorial will bring depth and breadth to your astronomy experience, helping you explore and actively develop your understanding of astronomical science.
A very full instruction manual is included on the program’s CD-ROM in a PDF format that you can print out or refer to on-line.

TheSky6 Student Edition places most of the known universe at your fingertips with breathtaking graphical beauty, gigabytes of data that plot nearly instantaneously, and a depth of features to fulfill a professional’s wish list and still perform so easily that even the newest astronomers find navigating the night sky to be as simple as point and click. It is quite simply an exceptional buy.

A word of caution . . . TheSky6 Student Edition does not include telescope control functions, although it can be upgraded later to include telescope control. Should you want to control your go-to telescope remotely or from a laptop immediately, use TheSky6 Serious Astronomer or TheSky6 Professional Astronomer rather than this version.

Computer system requirements . . . Windows 98 or newer (XP recommended); CD-ROM drive; 1 GHz or faster processor recommended; 128 MB RAM or more; 200 MB free disc space.