Planetarium software is application software that allows a user to simulate the celestial sphere at any time of day, especially at night, on a computer. Such applications can be as rudimentary as displaying a star chart or sky map for a specific time and location, or as complex as rendering photorealistic views of the sky.
While some planetarium software is meant to be used exclusively on a personal computer, some applications can be used to interface with and control telescopes or planetarium projectors. Optional features may include inserting the orbital elements of comets and other newly discovered bodies for display.
| Name | Latest release | License | Operating system | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Linux | macOS | Android | iOS | ||||
| C2A | May 1, 2021 | Proprietary | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Cartes du Ciel | November 24, 2019 | GPLv2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| Celestia | April 20, 2023 | GPLv2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Digital Universe Atlas | October 2019 | Illinois Open Source License | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| HNSKY | July 8, 2023 | GNU General Public License v3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| KStars | August 1, 2023 | GPLv2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Stellarium | July 2, 2023 | GPLv2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial (limited) | Partial (limited)} | |
| Nightshade | 2022 | GPLv3 (Nightshade Legacy) | Nightshade Public License (Nightshade NG) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| SkyExplorer | 2021 | Proprietary | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Sky Map | December 21, 2021 | Apache License, Version 2.0 | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
| SpaceEngine | July 4, 2023 | Proprietary | Yes | Yes (Proton)[1] Native build Planned |
Planned | No | No | |
| XEphem | September 14, 2021 | MIT License | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| WorldWide Telescope | February 15, 2022 | MIT License | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Redshift | - | Proprietary | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| SkySafari | - | Proprietary | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Starry Night | - | Proprietary | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | |
| Sky Guide | August 18, 2021 | Proprietary | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| TheSky | - | Proprietary | - | - | - | - | - | |
| WinStars | April 3, 2023 | Proprietary | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Google Sky | - | Proprietary | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Digistar | - | Proprietary | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Shira Player (software) | November 22, 2020 | GPLv2 | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Shira Universe (software) | February 13, 2021 | MIT License | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| PlanetariumVR (virtual reality) | August 9, 2021 | Proprietary | Yes | No | No | No | No | |