Library of useful space oriented programs and applications

[Camacha]

We are lucky to be alive in a pretty amazing era. Not only are there swathes of historic robotic missions going on, but the average consumer also has more calculative power in his pocket than the entire US and Soviet Moon programs combined. This can not only be put to good use viewing cat pictures, but also to improve and enhance the personal enjoyment of space related matters. This thread is intended to give a useful overview of the quality programs and applications out there.

The opening post will be updated with new programs and developments, the rest of the thread is intended for suggestions or discussion about the applications mentioned. I am hoping to crowd-source a very complete and high quality list. Please report broken or missing links. If you enjoy using a certain application, please consider donating money or buying the full version to support its development

Currently I am not too sure how to categorize things. Just a long list is not very useful, but most application seem to cross over into different territories, making grouping a rather complex affair. Suggestions are welcome!

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[table=width: 1000]

[tr]

[td]Name and website:[/td]

[td]Platform:[/td]

[td]Description:[/td]

[td][/td]

[td]Price:[/td]

[td]Available on: _____________________[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Celestia[/td]

[td]PC[/td]

[td]Catalogue, orrery[/td]

[td]Unlike most planetarium software, Celestia doesn't confine you to the surface of the Earth. You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.[/td]

[td]Free[/td]

[td]Windows, Mac, Linux[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]ISS Detector Satellite Tracker[/td]

[td]Mobile[/td]

[td]Satellite prediction[/td]

[td]Know when and where to watch for the International Space Station and Iridium flares. Simple yet effective app. Free version shows ISS and Iridium flares, paid version shows other famous objects, comets and planets.[/td]

[td]Free, €2,49 for all upgrades[/td]

[td]Android (free/paid)[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Orbiter[/td]

[td]PC[/td]

[td]Space flight simulation[/td]

[td]Orbiter is a simulator that gives you an idea what space flight really feels like - today and in the not so distant future.[/td]

[td]Free[/td]

[td]Windows[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Solar System Scope[/td]

[td]Mobile, PC, website[/td]

[td]Orrery, star map[/td]

[td]3D simulation of the Solar System and night sky - real time virtual orrery and observatory. Shift time, view how planets are lit as seen from Earth, read about all major planets and moons and more.[/td]

[td]Free, $1,99 or $12,09 depending on version[/td]

[td]Android (free)

iOS (paid)

Windows, Mac (paid)

website (free)[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]SpaceEngine[/td]

[td]PC[/td]

[td]Catalogue, full universe simulation[/td]

[td]A free space simulation program that lets you explore the universe in three dimensions, from planet Earth to the most distant galaxies. Areas of the known universe are represented using actual astronomical data, while regions uncharted by astronomy are generated procedurally. Millions of galaxies, trillions of stars, countless planets - all available for exploration. You can land any planet, moon or asteroid and watch alien landscapes and celestial phenomena. You can even pilot starships and atmospheric shuttles.[/td]

[td]Free (donations welcome)[/td]

[td]Windows[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Star Chart[/td]

[td]Mobile[/td]

[td]Catalogue, star map[/td]

[td]Using GPS technology, an accurate 3D Universe, and most of your smart phone's high tech functionality, Star Chart calculates – in real time - the current location of every star and planet visible from earth and shows you where they are. The free version is already pretty good, though the paid versions (Star Chart Unlimited, DLC included) provide great additional content.[/td]

[td]Free, €2,99 or $23,99 depending on version[/td]

[td]Android (free/paid)

iOS (free/paid)[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Stellarium[/td]

[td]PC[/td]

[td]Orrery, star map[/td]

[td]Useful for stargazing. Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.[/td]

[td]Free[/td]

[td]Windows, Mac, Linux[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Universe Sandbox²[/td]

[td]PC[/td]

[td]N-body phyics simulation[/td]

[td]God game meets simulation. Universe Sandbox² is the second edition of an n-body phyics space simulator. You can build systems, wreak havoc by introducing planets or altering properties or just leave the simulation running to see what happens. Things are mostly modelled on a system basis and then simulated according to the laws of physics.[/td]

[td]$24,99[/td]

[td]Requires Steam:

Windows, Mac, Linux[/td]

[/tr]

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[/table]

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Edited August 3, 2015 by Camacha

[Camacha]

Reserved.

[Mitchz95]

Awesome! The Solar System Scope needs to be updated, though.

[Camacha]

Awesome! The Solar System Scope needs to be updated, though.

Thanks for your input I updated the entry to reflect the supported PC OSes (and reformatted a couple of others for less clutter), but I am unsure that is what you meant. Could you elaborate?

Edited August 1, 2015 by Camacha

[Mitchz95]

Thanks for your input I updated the entry to reflect the supported PC OSes (and reformatted a couple of others for less clutter), but I am unsure that is what you meant. Could you elaborate?

I mean that the site itself hasn't been updated with all the new data from Dawn and New Horizons. Nothing wrong with the link.

[Thomassino]

I use Latest Space News in my android phone. It's a great app in my opinion. It does... well display latest space news

[SuperFastJellyfish]

Stellarium has a mobile app, as well. It's not free, but it's the best mobile sky viewer I've used since Star Walk when I had an iphone years ago.

Edited August 1, 2015 by SuperFastJellyfish
speeling

[The Yellow Dart]

Great idea for a post!

Suggestions: You could add NASA's Eyes app/program to the list. It's the program that we used to "watch" the New Horizons flyby and it also lets you follow other spacecraft and missions and explore planets and the solar system.

http://eyes.nasa.gov

And another good one is plain old Google Earth, which lets you also look at the stars and Mars and the Moon if I remember correctly (not at my computer right now).

I feel like there are more I have found before but can't remember right now. I'll have to think about it.

Edited August 3, 2015 by The Yellow Dart

[K^2]

Some potential additions.

[table=width: 1000]

[tr]

[td]Name and website:[/td]

[td]Platform:[/td]

[td]Description:[/td]

[td][/td]

[td]Price:[/td]

[td]Available on: _____________________[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Google Sky Map[/td]

[td]Android[/td]

[td]Orrery, sky map[/td]

[td]Uses GPS, compass, and accelerometers of your phone to show a sky chart of the portion of the sky you point your phone at. A quick way to locate or identify celestial objects on the go.[/td]

[td]Free[/td]

[td]Android[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Your Sky[/td]

[td]Web[/td]

[td]Orrery, sky map[/td]

[td]Another sky map. This one has an advantage of runing from web interface and producing images as output. It also has a huge array of options for displaying information you are interested in, as well as a virtual telescope function.[/td]

[td]Free[/td]

[td]Web[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Horizons[/td]

[td]Web[/td]

[td]Orrery[/td]

[td]This is a web interface to JPL's Horizons, which is basically NASA's orrery. Tracks huge number of Solar System objects and provides their locations in a number of formats.[/td]

[td]Free[/td]

[td]Web[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

[The Yellow Dart]

http://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html

This is a website but it is a great way to learn just how much space there is in space. Not an app or program though so maybe it doesn't belong here.

[LordFerret]

Might as well throw in the CDS (Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / Strasbourg astronomical Data Center). It's the portal to Simbad, VizieR, and Aladin ... serious tools just like the NASA/JPL Horizons site. If you're a Celestia user, you'll find the access to Hipparcos and Tycho catalogs (among others) quite valuable.

And along with the NASA/JPL Horizons site, there is the NSSDCA portal (NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive).