New Features of the 5.x version

New Features of the 5.x version

The code of the 5.x version has been totally rewritten. Now, the Training and the Professional editions are within the same software. You have only to choose which version to use at startup.

Stellarium Console does no longer use external programs to play videos. Every video you will play with Windows Media Player, you will play on Stellarium Console too. You can move the video inside Stellarium, change the volume, use the fast forward and rewind controls.

• Support for Stellarium 0.18.0!
• Use PDF files inside the console (for example, you can use them as a guide for your lessons)
• Change your location on Earth by simply clicking on a big world map
• Draw on Stellarium (you can use the mouse to draw lines on Stellarium) – your audience will see your figures
• See the precession of the equinoxes both for the Northern and Southern emispheres
• Manage up to 16 multimedia files!
• Manage all the Messier catalogue and set a customizable zoom for each object (you can choose a zoom for each Messier object on a config file)
• Get simulation data directly from Stellarium (the console queries Stellarium and gets some data about the simulation)
• Show the distance from a Solar System Planet on Stellarium
• … and a lot of other new features!

These are the most salient features of the product:

Stellarium Console Professional

Display commands. Power on / off:

• lines, borders, images, and names of the constellations;
• cardinal points;
• landscape;
• planets’ names;
• Milky Way image;
• Planet, star and constellation label controls (hide/show labels);
• Four buttons for the solstices and equinoxes: each button will move the simulation time to one of each events;
• tracks of the planets as they move around the Sun;
• grids (equatorial, azimuth) and meridian, celestial equator, ecliptic lines and the orbits  of the planets, galactic grid, precession cicles.

Buttons.

• Display date and time for 5 seconds on the dome;
• Find Polaris: allows you to run a script that shows how to find the North Star starting  from the pointer stars Merak and Dubhe;
• Precession of the equinoxes: for North and South emisphere;
• Planets: a button for each planet in the solar system, including the one for the Sun, the Moon and Pluto;
• Change the observer location: the “From here” allows you to change the observer location;
• North Pole , South Pole  and Equator: These three buttons allow you to move the observer location to the North or South Pole or to the Equator of the Earth or any other planets of the Solar System. The animation gives the same illusion of movement of an opto-mechanical planetarium.
• Home: Takes you back to the initial latitude and longitude; resets the settings of the current view.
• Center object and automatic zoom : centers the selected object and it zooms to it automatically.
• Manual Zoom: fixes the zoom.
• Shooting stars : Enables or disables the display of shooting stars.
• Timer for the teacher: shows an initial message and starts the timer for the user.
• Emergency: it shows a very bright image on the dome in case of emergency.
• Speed of time: it accelerates or decelerates the passage of time. You can program up to 4 programmable buttons to assign different speeds of the time.
• Button “Now”: sets the virtual time and date to the system one.
• Button “Reverse Time”: reverses the time’s direction of the four programmable buttons.

Overflights (orbit around a planet).

the “Fly over” button, which allows you to select a planet and then perform an overflight close to it, as if you were on a spaceship that revolves around that planet, deserves a separate section. This feature is highly effective for your audience!

Multimedia functions.

You can set up to 6 buttons and assign to them up to four media files (video, audio, images, or Stellarium script files) or up to four media folders. In this way, videos, pictures, audio tracks or Stellarium scripts are directly callable by simply pressing the corresponding button on the console. As version 5.0, the playing is managed directly by the console (no need to use VLC). The “Slideshow” button allows you to create a sequence of images to be projected on the screen of Stellarium.

Events.

You can set up to 5 buttons and assign events. An event consists of a change of the date and/or time and/or place. With a simple click you can move your current location to another latitude and longitude on a given date and time in order to attend an astronomical event, such as an eclipse of the Sun or Moon. You can also change the position of the planet and zoom in on an object.

Search objects.Thanks to the intuitive search interface, you can turn on or off the constellations, or select stars, Messier objects or some NGC objects by simply entering the first few letters of their names. You can also ask the program which Messier objects or named stars are contained within a given constellation and, therefore, to select the desired object. As version 5.0, Messier objects are managed in a separate window.

Recording.

This function, unique of its own kind, allows you to record what is done on the console so that it is reproducible, with good approximation, at a later time. This feature does not perform a screen recording, but realizes a script that can be easily shared with other Stellarium Console’s users.

Find out all the other features for yourself!

Draw on Stellarium!

As version 5.0 you can draw anything with the mouse on Stellarium, to simplify your lessons to the audience. You can delete your lines by clicking with the right mouse button.

Stellarium Console Training.

Same features as the Professional version but suitable to be used without the need for a projector or a second monitor connected. Completely free of charge.