Free star chart software?

[Guden Oden]

Where can I find something that lets me find the position of a particular star? I did some basic googling, didn't find NUTTIN.

It would be nice if it didn't just show it from the POV of earth, but also graphically its position in our galaxy/the universe from a 3rd person perspective, so to speak.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I think you might need Celestia. Don't forget to check out the "add-ons" section.

 

[hoom]

Yah Celestia rules

 

[Guden Oden]

Cool, thanks guys. I will definitely check it out. I suppose I could just go read the web page, but since I'm kind of playing WoW at the moment I'll ask you knowledgeable guys if it supports 3D acceleration and stuff for zooming and such?

Very grateful for the infos!

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Cool, thanks guys. I will definitely check it out. I suppose I could just go read the web page, but since I'm kind of playing WoW at the moment I'll ask you knowledgeable guys if it supports 3D acceleration and stuff for zooming and such?

Very grateful for the infos!

It's accelerated via OpenGL.

This is what it says on the webpage:

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. All movement in Celestia is seamless; the exponential zoom feature lets you explore space across a huge range of scales, from galaxy clusters down to spacecraft only a few meters across. A 'point-and-goto' interface makes it simple to navigate through the universe to the object you want to visit.
Celestia is expandable. Celestia comes with a large catalog of stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft. If that's not enough, you can download dozens of easy to install add-ons with more objects.

Trust me, it's what you're after. Here's the FAQ.

 

[hoom]

Its been a while since I tried Celestia but I don't seem to recall it actually having an 'Earth looking out' mode?

Probably the coolest thing I found was a pack that adds in something like 250,000 known galaxies so you can zoom waaaaay out & see all the big blanks that we can't see due to various closer obstructions.

 

[Zapata]

Hi Guden Oden, somewhat off topic but you might enjoy this sim.

ORBITER is a free flight simulator that goes beyond the confines of Earth's atmosphere. Launch the Space Shuttle from Kennedy Space Center to deploy a satellite, rendezvous with the International Space Station or take the futuristic Delta-glider for a tour through the solar system - the choice is yours.
But make no mistake - ORBITER is not a space shooter. The emphasis is firmly on realism, and the learning curve can be steep. Be prepared to invest some time and effort to brush up on your orbital mechanics background.

http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/orbit.html

Saludos Amigos
Zapata