Windows Applications
AstroSynthesis is not free, but is a 'must have' program.
The pre-production version had automatic route creation, filtered by galactic empires, handled spheres of influence, and even generated *.AVI movies walking through the map. It also allowed importing your own star databases.
If you use a Mac computer, you can file your tax return using any of the following TurboTax products: TurboTax online edition; TurboTax Live; TurboTax products for self-employment; You can also complete your tax return on your smartphone or tablet using the TurboTax mobile app. If you want to complete your return for a prior tax year, choose the tax year below to get started. The OS X boot arguments are useful for troubleshooting problems with system startup and how the system behaves when running. Topher Kessler Feb. 7, 2012 2:14 p.m.
The current version, version 2.0, is even better and adds tons of 'must-have' features. It handles about a hundred times as many stars, and includes various star searching functions. It import/export XML files, has sophisticated orbital mapping for solar systems, and transit time calculation. It has movable markers for starships, fleets, and other objects. It handles sub-sectors. Planets icons can be replaced by national flags. And it will accept third party plug-ins written in VBScript for solar system generation.
If you are serious about starmapping in general and interstellar empires in particular, you owe it to yourself to get this program. Recommended!
Project AstroFly is a 3D starmapping program that includes both the Hipparcos and Tycho catalogs. This is a most powerful program. View location can be set anywhere in space, stars can be filtered by several parametersm, stars can be located on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, and a wireframe outline of the galaxy can be superimposed on the map. (Thanks to David Gordon for suggesting this link.)
Celestia is a dynamite and scientifically accurate star program. It has about 200,000 stars (2.1 million with the add-on) and a full set of planets, including the extrasolar ones. It is freeware, for Mac, Windows, and Linux. (Thanks to Michael A. Piva for suggesting this link.)
ChView is a program developed by some fans of C.J. Cherryh's DOWNBELOW STATION novels, and is no longer under development. It displays the local stellar area, assign empires to groups of stars, draw trade routes, and whatnot. Download chview.exe and one of the star files.
Partiview For Mac, Windows, Linux and IRIX. Joseph Kulhavy had this to say about Partiview:
It's Full Of Stars!, by Claus Børnich, is an IBM program in PKZip format (about 1.6 meg). This exceedingly useful freeware program allows one to map local space, assign empires, races, and solar systems. It's a big file, but it is worth the download. And please give Mr. Børnich some feedback. It's little enough to pay for such a worthwhile program.
Starmap For Linux/Unix and Windows. Source code uses the wxWindows C++ cross-platform application framework.
Star Genis a freeware program that generates solar system using the Accrete algorithm. Freeware forMac, Windows, and Linux, and it even includes the source code! There is also anonline version.
SauronWeb 3D Star Map is a Windows application for rotating starmaps, and labeling system for interstellar empires and whatnot. Unfortuantely it seems to have become orphan software.
Star Generator is a program that generates star systems for RPG games.
Star 3 is a Windows program that reads in Gliese star data and outputs VRML files.
Accrete is a program that generates solar systems by mathematically simulating a collapsing nebula and the accretion of planets. I believe it was originally written in some version of C by Matthew Burdick, based on RANDstudy by Stephen Dole.
Here is the original archived source code from ftp://caliban.physics.utoronto.ca/pub/accrete.tar.z.
For those trusting souls out there who are [a] are not afraid of computer viruses and [b] do not have C compilers; here is the IBM executable version of the program (about 82K) and the Macintosh executable (about 64K, in BinHex 4 format).
Each time you run it, a file called 'NEW.SYS' is produced. This is a text file containing all the info about the newly created solar system. There seem to be a bug, as no file is created if 'Collision between two planetesimals!' happens.)
And here is a sample solar system generated by Accrete. In this output file, the heading 'Smallest molecular weight retained' refers to the planet's atmosphere. Look at this list of atmospheric gasses. The only gases one could find on a given planet will have molecular weights greater than the 'smallest weight retained'. For instance, if the smallest is 45, one could only find Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Sulfur dioxide, Sulfur trioxide, Krypton, and Xenon. As for which of these actually occur in the planet's atmosphere, that is for you to decide (translation: there is no conceivable way to calculate that). If the smallest is greater than 130, the planet is airless. Also note that Accrete generates the star's characteristics, like mass and luminosity. You will have to match the star to an existing star, if you are really nit-picky about these matters.
Ian Burrell made a Java applet version of Accrete, and has made the source code available. https://theperfect-free.mystrikingly.com/blog/brasileiro-simulator-mac-os. He also has versions of Accrete from other sources.
A Program for the Last Stages of Terrestrial Planet Formation
Here is a link to a starsystem generator program for IBM Windows. It is based on a new theory of planetary formation.
Here is the source code for World Builder, a program that helps designing planets to specifications. It is written in BASIC by Stephen Kimmel. IBM Windows users can run this program using QBASIC.EXE, if your version of Windows was thoughtful enough to include it.
Here is NearStar, an IBM program in PKZip format created by Wayne Young. It displays lots of nearby stars, and rotates them in real time. The user can select stars and the program will calculate the distance between them. The program was created as a play aid for the game 2300AD. Now includes the Pascal source code!
Mark Smith has used the Gliese data to make a remarkable program. Jump here to check it out! Now it includes a downloadable demo for IBM windows!
Max Lambertini has created a marvelous program for mapping and managing the stars within 100 light years! Warp Now can print out starmaps, chart routes between stars with user settable maximum distances, and generate solar systems using a system similar to the 2300AD RPG. This web site also has other goodies for system builders, check it out!
CircumSpace is an IBM shareware program that includes the closest 7780 stars, and allows one to move around like a software starship. It can be used to see what the sky looks like at other star systems. The file is in PKZip format (about 185K).
The PostScript Star Mapper by David Morgan-Mar produces 'flattened' 3-d starplots as well as oblique views.
Jim Vassilakos' Starmap is a 3-D starmap generator/viewer for IBM MS-DOS. This is quite a package, with lots of meat in it. It is intended for a SF novelist or a role playing game referee, but has something for everyone. It also includes archives of a prolonged discussion on the internet on the topic of alien races, stardrives, and planetary civilizations. The mapping program displays stars, and will allow the user to create and display the associated solar systems, make planetary maps, and attach detailed notes. This one's a keeper!
Thomas York's 3D Stars is a program for IBM MS-DOS, Windows 9.x or XP. This allows one to physically fly around a 3-d model of the local star group. You can also run the stars forwards and backwards in time plus or minus a million years or so, to see the effects of stellar proper motion. There is also a starmap maker program available. 1,400 stars in the unregistered version, and over 2,500 in the full version.
Flash! 3D Stars is now in version 1.1! Now the unregistered version has 2,500 stars, and the registered version has the Gliese catalogue added to that. New options include lens flare and configuration files.
Flash again! 3D Stars is now in version 1.2! (It's free, too). It has two star catalogs with 30,000 stars, and a pulsar catalog that demonstrates the galactic disk. It also has a 2-d chart maker.
StarStrider is a nifty shareware program ($38) for Win95 or later. This uses the Hipparcos data. Don't think that it's underpowered just because it's shareware, this program does it all! All the star names, real time 3-D rotation, it even does red-blue anaglyph images! Check this sucker out. It's well worth the shareware fee.
StereoStar is my own experimental program for IBM Windows. It allows one to load in a map based on the Gliese data and rotate it in 3-D. You can view it as 3-D with the cross-eyed or wide-eye method, or by using red-blue anaglyph glasses.
Celestia is a dynamite and scientifically accurate star program. It has about 200,000 stars (2.1 million with the add-on) and a full set of planets, including the extrasolar ones. It is freeware, for Mac, Windows, and Linux. (Thanks to Michael A. Piva for suggesting this link.)
Partiview For Mac, Windows, Linux and IRIX. See the review.
StarGen is a freeware program that generates solar system using the Accrete algorithm. Freeware for Mac, Windows, and Linux, and it even includes the source code!
Orion is a Macintosh shareware game that allows one to fly among the stars within 30 light years. It is a lot of fun, and educational too! When you run it, pull down the apple menu to select About Orion. This will give you access to the help file. The file is in HQX format (about 61K.) Thanks to Frank Henriquez for supplying a copy.
The PostScript Star Mapper by David Morgan-Mar produces 'flattened' 3-d starplots as well as oblique views.
Dr. John Cramer's has a Macintosh Hypercard stack that contains information about Sol's Neighbors.
Celestia is a dynamite and scientifically accurate star program. It has about 200,000 stars (2.1 million with the add-on) and a full set of planets, including the extrasolar ones. It is freeware, for Mac, Windows, and Linux. (Thanks to Michael A. Piva for suggesting this link.)
KStars is a desktop planetarium for KDE. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), Version 2.
StarPlot: A 3-Dimensional Star Chart Viewer. For Unix, freeware, source code available under the GNU General Public License.
Partiview For Mac, Windows, Linux and IRIX. See the review.
Starmap For Linux/Unix and Windows. Source code uses the wxWindows C++ cross-platform application framework.
GNU SpaceChart For the GNU/Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris 8. Gnome environment.
Star Gen is a freeware program that generates solar system using the Accrete algorithm. Freeware for Mac, Windows, and Linux, and it even includes the source code!
The PostScript Star Mapper by David Morgan-Mar produces 'flattened' 3-d starplots as well as oblique views.
StarMap is an online Java application which can manipulate a 3-D starmap. It includes details about how the application and dataset were created.
Here is a quick-and-dirty Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that will calculate X,Y,Z co-ordinates for you.
The Galactic Gazetteer is a JavaScript application that allows rotating starmaps in real time.
Hyades is an online map of the Hyades star cluster (requires downloading a plug-in).
Here is the SGC Galactic Tri-Coordinate Calculator for the SGC Galactic Coordinate System by James Shuster. Send an email per instructions for the Excel spreadsheet.
The Virtual Universe v1.0 is a nice VRML demonstration of the stars within 50 light years by Don Ware.
Keith Wetzel has a nice set of web pages with indexed data for interstellar trading routes. Click here to give it a try!
Darren Garber has VRMLs of the 64 closest stars, and another of bright stars within 100 light years of the sun. Plus tons of other neat stuff.
Ed Hobb's Star View is a Java applet that allows you to navigate around the closest 272 stars to the sun. Works really smooth, too!
Nelson Cunnington has a made a very professionally done starmap. It shows the stars within 25 light years in gorgeous color! Nelson is a professional, but impoverished, graphic designer and so will not draw maps to order for nothing, so please don't ask. He is, however, gloriously egomaniacal, so please feel free to email him praise for his map.
Here are some maps I made. SF Authors please note: feel free to use this map when designing the universe your novels exits in. If you do, it would be nice to mention me in the credits, but I do not insist upon it.
This sample starmap has the 46 nearest sunlike stars. Lines are draw between stars closer than a certain distance (but I forgot what that distance is). By the way, take a look in the upper left hand corner. There is a nice trio of stars that are very close to each other, but far from anybody else (DM-12°2449, DM-23°8646, and DM-31°6229). They would make a nice little pocket star empire.
This newer sample starmap is in honor of this web page's 5000th hit. It is all the Gliese 2.0 stars within 7 parsecs, in galactic co-ordinates, with lines draw between all pairs of stars closer than one parsec. The map was generated by the data in the file nearmap.doc, mentioned below.
This anaglyphic starmap has all the Gliese 3.0 stars within 5 parsecs, in equitoral co-ordinates, with lines draw between all pairs of stars closer than 2 parsecs. You will need red-blue anaglyphic glasses, which are available here. If you are interested in how this map was made, check this website's section See A Show In Ster-ee-oh.
Here is the IBM and Macintosh source code for a program written by Brad Jones which will read in the Version 3 Gliese data, accept user input for various filter criteria and outputs a text file with the results. It will also allow you to set the origin to something other than the sun, and has three different levels of verbosity for the output. Very nicely done. It is written in C. It is based on my cheezy little program below, but don't hold that against it.
For those trusting souls out there who [a] are not afraid of computer viruses, and [b] do not have a C compiler; here is the IBM executable (about 55K) and the Macintosh executable version of the program (about 46K), in a BinHex4 file(. You will also need the Gliese near star catalog version 3.0 (about 219K). The catalog is in PKZip format, and needs PKUnzip or equivalent to expand it. Make sure that the catalog file is named GLIESE3.DAT and is in the same directory as the program.
When you run the program, it will give you a menu allowing one to set various filter criteria. Or you can set the criteria with command line options: (IBM version only)
ArgumentFunctionDefault-nTurns on non-interactive mode-ref X Y ZSets the reference point to (X, Y, Z)(0, 0, 0)-mindist XChanges minimum distance to X0-maxdist XChanges maximum distance to X5-minlum XChanges minimum luminosity to X0-maxlum XChanges maximum luminosity to X200-nobinTurns off binariesBinaries on-longTurns on long outputShort output-xlongTurns on extra-long outputShort output-o FILESets the output filename to FILE'gliese3.out'X, Y, and Z are numbers; FILE is a filename.
Human habitable planets are currently believed to occur around stars with luminiosities between 0.4 and 2.0.
Here is a sample output file (about 28K) 'filtered' so to only list stars that within five parsecs, listed in '-xlong' verbose mode.
Here is the entire Gliese 3.0 catalog in '-xlong' verbose mode. (about 224K) It is in PKZip format.
Here is the source code for a quick-and-dirty little program which will read in the Version 2 Gliese data, accept user input for various criteria used to filter out certain stars (say, if you only wanted stars likely to have human habitable planets), and outputs a text file with the results. It is written in IBM Turbo Pascal 5.0. So sue me. ;)
For those trusting souls out there who [a] are not afraid of computer viruses, [b] do not have Pascal compilers, and [c] do have IBM computers; here is the IBM executable version of the program (about 17K). You will also need the Gliese near star catalog version 2.0 (about 96K). The catalog is in PKZip format, and needs PKUnzip to expand it. After unpacking, rename GLIESE2.DAT to GLIESE.DAT. Macintosh version will be created Real Soon Now.
The program only reads in the Gliese 2.0 catalog, not the 3.0. I'm working on it.
Here is a sample output file 'filtered' so to only list stars that are not binaries, and with luminosities between 0.4 and 2.0. This represents a good guess at the kinds of stars that might harbor human habitable planets.
Here is a sample output file of the entire Gliese 2.0 catalog.
Here is a sample output file of all the Gliese 2.0 stars closer than 7.0 parsecs (about 22.8 light years).
Here is a sample output file of most of the stars that have actual names (i.e., 'Spica' instead of 'Kappa Fornacis'). Please note that unlike the other sample output files, all the co-ordinates are in Light Years instead of Parsecs. Also note that as a general rule, 'named' stars are huge, blazing hot, and short-lived suckers who are very unlikely to have human habitable planets.
Most of the human habitable suns are so relatively dim that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. Therefore, they were not named by poetic ancient arabs, but instead by pedantic scientists who, more often than not, just gave them boring catalog numbers. That is why you'll find so many stars in these lists with drab names like DM-24°263 and LTT 10070. (Notable exceptions: Barnard's Star and Van Maanan's Star). Please note that bright stars are useful as names for stellar 'sectors'. In Issac Asimov's PEBBLE IN THE SKY, Earth was in the 'Sirius sector'.
Mark Smith's 3-D Starmapping▶◀Star CataloguesMark Smith's 3-D Starmapping▶macOS Big Sur elevates the most advanced desktop operating system in the world to a new level of power and beauty. Experience Mac to the fullest with a refined new design. Enjoy the biggest Safari update ever. Discover new features for Maps and Messages. Get even more transparency around your privacy.
Chances are, your Mac can run macOS Big Sur
The following models are supported:
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To see which model you have, click the Apple icon in your menu bar and choose About This Mac.
Make sure you're ready to upgrade.
Before you upgrade, we recommend that you back up your Mac. If your Mac is running OS X Mavericks 10.9 or later, you can upgrade directly to macOS Big Sur. You'll need the following:
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Upgrading is free and easy
Upgrading from macOS Catalina 10.15 or Mojave 10.14?
Go to Software Update in System Preferences to find macOS Big Sur. Click Upgrade Now and follow the onscreen instructions.
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If you're running any release from macOS 10.13 to 10.9, you can upgrade to macOS Big Sur from the App Store. If you're running Mountain Lion 10.8, you will need to upgrade to El Capitan 10.11 first.
If you don't have broadband access, you can upgrade your Mac at any Apple Store.
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- Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
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For details about your Mac model, click the Apple icon at the top left of your screen and choose About This Mac. These Mac models are compatible with macOS Big Sur:
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Siri
Requires a broadband internet connection and microphone (built-in or external).
Hey Siri
Supported by the following Mac models:
- MacBook Pro (2018 or later)
- MacBook Air (2018 or later)
- iMac Pro (2017 or later)
Dictation, Voice Control, and Voice Memos
Requires a microphone (built-in or external).
Spotlight Suggestions
Requires a broadband internet connection.
Gestures
Requires a Multi-Touch trackpad, Force Touch trackpad, Magic Trackpad, or Magic Mouse.
Force Touch gestures require a Force Touch trackpad.
VoiceOver gestures require a Multi-Touch trackpad, Force Touch trackpad, or Magic Trackpad.
Photo Booth
Requires a FaceTime or iSight camera (built-in or external) or USB video class (UVC) camera.
FaceTime
Audio calls require a microphone (built-in or external) and broadband internet connection.
Video calls require a built-in FaceTime camera, an iSight camera (built-in or external), or a USB video class (UVC) camera; and broadband internet connection.
Apple TV
High dynamic range (HDR) video playback is supported by the following Mac models:
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- Mac Pro (2019) with Pro Display XDR
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Sidecar
Supported by the following Mac models:
- MacBook (2016 or later)
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- Mac mini (2018 or later)
- iMac (late 2015 or later)
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- 12.9-inch iPad Pro
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- iPad (6th generation or later)
- iPad mini (5th generation)
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Continuity Camera
Requires an iPhone or iPad that supports iOS 12 or later.
Continuity Sketch and Continuity Markup
Requires an iPhone with iOS 13 or later or an iPad with iPadOS 13 or later.
Handoff
Requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector or with USB-C and iOS 8 or later.
Instant Hotspot
Requires an iPhone or iPad with cellular connectivity, a Lightning connector or USB-C, and iOS 8.1 or later. Requires Personal Hotspot service through your carrier. Shooty ship mac os.
Universal Clipboard
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Auto Unlock
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Approve with Apple Watch
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Apple Pay on the Web
Requires a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with Touch ID, an iPhone 6 or later with iOS 10 or later, or an Apple Watch with watchOS 3 or later.
Phone Calling
Requires an iPhone with iOS 8 or later and an activated carrier plan.
SMS
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Home
Requires an iPhone with iOS 12 or later and a configured Home app.
AirDrop
AirDrop to iOS and iPadOS devices requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector or with USB-C and iOS 7 or later.
AirPlay
AirPlay Mirroring requires an Apple TV (2nd generation or later).
AirPlay for web video requires an Apple TV (2nd generation or later).
Peer-to-peer AirPlay requires a Mac (2012 or later) and an Apple TV (3rd generation rev A, model A1469 or later) with Apple TV software 7.0 or later.
Turbo Argument Mac Os 11
Time Machine
Requires an external storage device (sold separately).
Maps electric vehicle routing
Requires an iPhone with iOS 14 and a compatible electric vehicle.
Maps license plate restrictions
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Boot Camp
Turbo Argument Mac Os 11
Allows Boot Camp installations of Windows 10 on supported Mac models. https://herecup535.weebly.com/arkanium-mac-os.html.
Exchange Support
Requires Microsoft Office 365, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2013, or Exchange Server 2010. Installing the latest Service Packs is recommended.
Windows Migration
Mac Os Versions
Supports OS X 10.7 or later and Windows 7 or later.
App Store
Available only to persons age 13 or older in the U.S. and many other countries and regions.
Photos
The improved Retouch tool is supported on the following Mac models:
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