Cartes du Ciel ("CDC" and "SkyChart") is a free and open source planetarium program for Linux, macOS, and Windows.[2] With the change to version 3, Linux has been added as a target platform, licensing has changed from freeware to GPLv2 and the project moved to a new website.
CDC includes the ability to control computerized GoTo telescope mounts, is ASCOM and INDI compliant, and supports the USNO's UCAC catalogs and ESA Gaia data,[citation needed] along with numerous other catalogs and utilities.[3]
The "red bulb" feature is useful when using software outside on a laptop on a dark night.[4]
According to the programmer, Patrick Chevalley, it was released as freeware because "I’d rather see amateurs spend their money for a new eyepiece than for astronomy software".[5]
Chevalley has also created a lunar atlas program, Virtual Moon Atlas, which is also free and open source software.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Sky Chart / Cartes du Ciel". SourceForge.net, /0-beta/2024-12-09. 9 December 2024.
- ^ Parkerson 2019.
- ^ Thompson & Thompson 2005, pp. 360–361.
- ^ Clark 2015, pp. 11–12.
- ^ "The Silicon Sky Part I: Planetariums for PCs - Uncle Rod". Cloudy Nights. Retrieved Aug 7, 2021.
- ^ "Virtual Moon Atlas". sourceforge.net. 2 May 2023.
- Thompson, Robert Bruce; Thompson, Barbara Fritchman (2005). Astronomy Hacks. O'Reilly. ISBN 9780596100605. OCLC 64594529.
- Clark, Jane (2015). Viewing and Imaging the Solar System : A Guide for Amateur Astronomers. Patrick Moore's practical astronomy series. Springer. ISBN 9781461451792. OCLC 1120670814.
- Parkerson, Stuart (28 October 2019). "Cartes du Ciel Version 4.2 Planetarium Software". Astronomy Technology Today. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
External links