WinStars lite

WinStars is a planetarium running on computers, tablets and mobiles. It is a 3D simulator that accurately represents celestial objects at a given time. It also allows you to travel in our galaxy and its close neighbourhood. A thread dedicated to scientific news allows you to follow and display in the software the results of research currently conducted in astrophysics. WinStars is a software in constant evolution. New functions are regularly added to make it an educational tool dedicated to the discovery of our Universe. Main features :

- Visualise the sky as it was 500 years ago or as it will be in 10,000 years!
- Discover the names of the main stars or locate the constellations by moving your mobile.
- WinStars will help you to identify the objects you are pointing at.
- Are you looking for an object? Just type its name and let the software guide you.
- WinStars gives you access to a lot of information about each object.
- The software manages ASCOM (Windows) and INDI (Linux and MacOS) compatible telescopes. Click on an object and WinStars will point and follow it automatically.
- The software includes a huge database of billions of objects.
- Each object has a detailed card which is updated in real time (distances, right ascension, declination, azimuth, altitude and magnitude).
- It is possible to track all satellites placed in orbit around the Earth and predict, for example, the times of visibility of the International Space Station (ISS).
- Represents with precision the position of the main satellites of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. All you need to do is zooming in sufficiently on the main planet.
- Also calculates the position of hundreds of thousands of additional objects in our solar system (comets and asteroids).
- Track planetary missions (Voyager 2, Pioneer 10, etc.).
- Indicates the significant astronomical phenomenons visible from your observation location.
- Plots the celestial equator, the ecliptic, the azimuthal and equatorial coordinate grids.
- Represents the orbits of the planets in 3D.
- A night mode allowing you to watch the screen in the dark without being dazzled.
- Easy installation of additional modules.
- Automated software updates.
- Customisable landscapes.
- Available languages: bulgarian, english, french, german, russian, spanish

The free version offers most of the functions available, but the acquisition of a licence provides an additional enhancement to the software:

- Add the Gaia EDR3 catalogue containing 1.7 billion stars... up to the magnitude 22 ! (internet connection required).
- Explore the stars close to our Sun.
- Leave the Milky Way and visit other galaxies. Discover the large-scale structures of our Universe.
- Planetary surfaces rendered in 3D with improved textures. Fly over mountains and lunar craters !
- Displays the DSS (Digitized Sky Survey) digitized sky in various wavelengths.
- Add interplanetary missions.

Documentation : https://winstars.net/docs/en

Visit https://winstars.net/en for more information about the software.