Stellarium is one of the most useful tools for modern astronomers. It can allow you to see the night sky at any point in time for any location on earth, or see stars that we can see during the day. Stellarium can be used to plan observations or to find information on targets in real-time.
There are two versions of Stellarium, a Browser and a download version, this tutorial covers the downloaded version. The Browser version has fewer features but can be more convenient, but the layout should be very similar.
The downloads for all systems can be found on this website. http://stellarium.org/
After downloading, open Stellarium. When it opens you should see the sky as it is in the present, In the bottom left corner of the screen there are two pull-out menus that allow the user to change different aspects of the simulation.
Stellarium Tools
Location Window (Hotkey: F6)
On the left side of the screen, there is a compass rose symbol, this is the location window. This will allow you to enter any location in the world (or other planets) and give you an accurate model of the night sky. There are multiple ways to set location, you could use longitude and latitude on earth or use their search bar to find a city on earth. If you are doing an observation you should set the location for the place you are doing the observing.
Date/Time Window (Hotkey: F5)
The date/time window is underneath the location window and is shown as a clock symbol. When you open this it will give you the current date and time set in the simulation. You can use the arrows to change month, day, year, hour, ect. You can also set the Julian date and time instead of the normal month/time setting this can be useful instead of having to do a conversion on the time.
Search Window (Hotkey: F3)
This symbol is the search tool, this can be very useful if you cant find a target. You can search multiple different databases for information on your target. For example if you were to search “moon” it would go to the moon in the simulation and give you a page of information about the moon. Note, Not all of the information given is useful for your observation, on the right is an example of what stellarium can show. RA/Dec (on date) is very important when planning an observation, this is the astronomical coordinate system to map stars. These might change per day so it is important you have location and time set properly or the given information wouldn’t match what would be observed.
If i were to plan an observation, i also like to look at rise and transit times. Transit describes the time when the object crosses the meridian (Imaginary line from north to south) this is usually when your target is highest in the sky which is best for observing. Rise time is when the object crosses the horizon so this is the earliest time you could observe but not the best time necessarily. The lower to the horizon your target is the more atmosphere the light has to travel through so it would be best to observe when the target is at the transit point.
Viewing Options Window (Hotkey: F4)
The Sky and Viewing Options is the fun part of stellarium this window allows you to overlay information on the simulation. You could add constellation shapes over the sky, or add the equatorial lines. In the landscape menu you can set different horizons or turn it off all together. There is also a star lore menu where you can set the constellations of different cultures, western is the standard set astronomers use.
Additional Hotkeys
- F1: Help Window
- F2: Configuration Window (More settings, Downloads for additional star catalogs)
- Time
- “L”: Time Forward
- “J”: Time Backwards
- “K”: Stop Time
- “8”: Present Time
- Constellations
- “B”: Boundaries
- “V”: Names
- “C”: Sticks
- landscape and grids
- “A”: Atmosphere
- “G”: Ground
- “Z”: Alt/Az Coordinates
- “E”: Equatorial Coordinates
- “. “: Equator
- “,”: Ecliptic
- “;”: Meridian