Download the latest version of SkyORB 2020 Astronomy Lite for Mac for free. Read 24 user reviews and compare with similar apps on MacUpdate. Telescope or astronomy devices control. There are nearly as many different astronomical set-ups as astronomers. Lots of devices are required in a set-up, and many of each type exist. Many are not supported by free software. A hardware compatibility list is being done here. Acquisition software generally have to handle high-end cameras, DLSR. A free space simulation that lets you travel throughout the solar system, and explore over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy. The software has a number of catalogs of stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, etc. You can easily navigate and zoom in to the objects you like.
- Free Astronomy Software For Mac Os
- Astronomy Downloads Free
- Free Astronomy Software Windows 10
- Free Astronomy Software For Mac Computer
- Starry Night - Desktop planetarium; Astronomical Software For Linux. KStars; INDI; EKOS; StellarMate; Prices on all commercial software are subject to change without notice. Note that you should be able to run any of the Windows programs listed above on your Mac with OS-X and software like Parallels or VMware Fusion.
- Another free planetarium software is Celestia. It runs on Windows, Linux and Mac. This software not only shows you the sky from Earth, but also allows you to 'fly' to other locations and view the sky from there. Stellarium is a free GPL software program which renders realistic skies in real time with openGL.
ZWO ASI Official astronomy software,specialized in planetary imaging, DSO imaging, live stack and other useful imageing processing gadget. Support: WIN7 / WIN8 / WIN10: v1.2.1. Released 9/18/2020: x64 Download. Sep 10, 2020 Since Stellarium for Mac is a multiplatform and open-source app, there's a huge community supporting it. If stargazing is your passion, you'll definitely feel at home here. Best VPN Services for 2020.
Starry Night 8 - Professional Astronomy Telescope Control Software for Mac/PC. Subscribe below to be added to the Starry Night newsletter and notified of promotions. Everything what you will need for ASI camera control, imaging, guiding and processing at one place! Windows, MAC and Linux USB drivers, ASCOM drivers, latest firmware and camera control and processing software for all ZWO devices.
Redshift 7 Premium is a comprehensive guide to the heavens. A huge panorama of the Milky Way, photo-realistic horizons and a 3-D flight out of our galaxy are only a few ways in which Redshift turns astronomy into a breathtaking and inspiring experience. Countless unique features such as telescope and joystick control, over 100 multimedia tours, macro recorder to create your own tours, online access to the Digitized Sky Survey and Google Maps, high quality videos, animations and the extensive help make Redshift 7 Premium the indispensable guide to the night skies.
Features:
•Realistic 3-D model of our galaxy with 3-D flights
•More than 2.5 million stars, planets and Deep Sky objects
•Includes exoplanets an dwarf planets
•New Horizon Panoramas für Earth, Moon and Mars
•Direct access to star catalogs SIMBAD and SOHO
•Download of new discoveries and orbital data of satellites, comets and asteroids from the latest object databases on the Internet into the main Redshift database. Updates are provided at least twice a month.
•Comprehensive observation planner for your in-the-field observation
•Direct link to www.redshift-live.com for the exchange of guided tours and workspaces
Find out more…
| Product | Kind | Price | Demo | Author/Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartes du Ciel | free | yes | Bruce Skelly | |
| Celestia | free | yes | Chris Laurel | |
| Digital Universe | commercial | $100 | Syzygy Research & Technology | |
| Hipparchus | commercial | $50 | yes | sofTouch APpLications |
| MacAstronomica | shareware | $25 | yes | Easysoft Creations |
| MacStronomy | commercial | $60 | yes | Etlon Software |
| MPj Equinox | shareware | $29 | yes | MicroProjects |
| Night Vision | free | yes | Brian Simpson | |
| SkyORB | free | yes | realtech VR | |
| Sky Sentinel Planetarium | commercial | $50 | yes | Procyon |
| Stargazer’s Delight | shareware | $29 | yes | Ruedi Schmid |
| Starry Night | commercial | $34 – 149 | yes | Sienna Software |
| Stellarium | free | yes | Fabien Chereau | |
| TheSkyX | commercial | $99 | no | Software Bisque |
| Voyager | commercial | $150-200 | no | Carina Software |
| Where is M13? | free | yes | Think Astronomy | |
| Xephem | free | source | Elwood Charles Downey |
| Product | Kind | Price | Demo | Author/Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adastra Freestar | free | yes | Coeli Software Products | |
| Alien Sun | commercial | $50 | yes | EKN Enterprises |
| AlphaCentaure | freeware | yes | Francois Nguyen | |
| AstroMB | commercial | $50 | yes | MBCAA |
| AstroViewer | shareware | $12 | yes | Dirk Matussek |
| Astronomica | shareware | $25 | yes | Piotr Czerski |
| Atlas du Ciel | shareware | $50 | yes | Mario Groleau |
| Coeli – Stella 2000 | shareware | $49 | yes | Coeli Software Products |
| Coelix | commercial | $28 | no | ngc7000.com |
| Cartes du Ciel | free | yes | Patrick Chevalley | |
| Celestia | free | yes | Chris Laurel | |
| Celestial Maps | free | yes | Ovidiu Vaduvescu | |
| CoolSky | shareware | $25 | yes | Piotr Czerski |
| CyberSky | shareware | $28 | yes | Stephen Michael Schimpf |
| C2A | freeware | yes | Philippe Deverchere | |
| Dance of the Planets | commercial | $95 – 145 | no | ARC Science Simulations |
| Deepsky Astronomy Software | shareware | $25 – 43 | yes | Steven S. Tuma |
| Deep-Sky Planner | commercial | $72-$81 | no | Knightware |
| Deep Space | commercial | $79 | yes | David Chandler |
| Desktop Universe | commercial | $199 | yes | Main Sequence Software |
| Distant Suns | commercial | $35 | yes | Mike Smithwick |
| Earth Centered Universe | shareware | $55 | yes | Nova Astronomics |
| EasySky | commercial | $45 | yes | Matthias Busch |
| Electric Astrolabe | free | yes | James E. Morrison | |
| Epoch 2000sk | commercial | $149 – 179 | no | Meade |
| Expert Astronomer | commercial | $12 | no | MediaMart; Expert Software |
| GrayStel | commercial | £75 | no | GrayStel Software |
| Guide | commercial | $89 | no | Project Pluto |
| HNSky | free | yes | Han_Kleijn | |
| Home Planet | free | yes | John Walker | |
| HyperSky | commercial | $50 | yes | Willmann-Bell |
| Kagayaki | shareware | $40-120 | yes | Seeds Box |
| MegaStar | commercial | $129 | yes | E.L.B. Software |
| MIRAPLA | free | yes | MSB | |
| MoonCalc | free | yes | Monzur Ahmed | |
| MyStars! | shareware | $17 | yes | Relative Data Products |
| Night Vision | free | yes | Brian Simpson | |
| NGCView | commercial | $50 | yes | Rainman Software |
| Nuit | free | yes | René Meader | |
| OpenUniverse | free | yes | Raœl Alonso | |
| PC-Sky | commercial | $39 | no | CapellaSoft |
| Perseus | commercial | $190 | yes | ELitalia |
| Planetarium Gold | commercial | $20 | no | JC Research |
| PlanetWatch | shareware | $20 | yes | Galen Raben |
| PRiSM | comercial | $150 | no | Axilone Multimedia |
| Power Age Sky Simulator | shareware | $35 | yes | George Dragandjikov |
| Redshift | commercial | $60 | no | Maris Multimedia |
| RIA3D Live Solar System | commercial | $30 | yes | interact3d.com |
| Sky3D | shareware | $35 | yes | Corvus Software |
| SkyChart III | commercial | $50 | yes | Southern Stars |
| Sky Atlas | commercial | $20 | yes | Piotr Bednarczuk |
| Skyglobe | shareware | ? | ? | KlassM Software |
| SkyMap | commercial | $55 – 89 | yes | Chris Marriott |
| SkyPlot | shareware | $10 | yes | Gerry Santoro |
| SkyTools | commercial | $99 | no | CapellaSoft |
| Solar Kingdom | commercial | $49 | yes | Silverfrost |
| SPICA | free | yes | Guillaume Richard | |
| STAR Atlas:PRO | commercial | $66 | no | Paul Mayo |
| StarCalc | free | yes | Alexander E. Zavalishin | |
| StarChartGL | free | yes | James Fitzjohn | |
| Stargaze | free | yes | Ray Middleton | |
| Starry | free | yes | ||
| Starry Night | commercial | $34 – 149 | yes | Sienna Software |
| StarScape | commercial | $70 | no | Zephyr Services |
| StarStrider | shareware | $38 | yes | FMJ-Software |
| Stella 2000 | shareware | $49 | yes | Swimming Elk Software |
| Stellaris | shareware | $20 | yes | Nick Heyworth |
| Stellarium | free | yes | Fabien Chereau | |
| TheSky | commercial | $129 – 249 | no | Software Bisque |
| Touring The Universe Through Binoculars Atlas | free | yes | Phil Harrington | |
| Virtual Sky | shareware | $28 | yes | Astronomiesoftware Dings |
| Where is M13? | free | yes | Think Astronomy | |
| WinStars | free | yes | Franck Richard |
| Product | Kind | Price | Demo | Author/Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celestia | free | yes | Chris Laurel | |
| Cartes du Ciel | free | yes | Patrick Chevalley | |
| OpenUniverse | free | yes | Raœl Alonso | |
| KStars | free | yes | Jason Harris | |
| Night Vision | free | yes | Brian Simpson | |
| Skymap | free | yes | Doug Mink | |
| Stellarium | free | yes | Fabien Chereau | |
| Where is M13? | free | yes | Think Astronomy | |
| Xephem | free | source | Elwood Charles Downey | |
| Xplns | free | yes | Osamu Ajiki | |
| Xsky | free | yes | Terry R. Friedrichsen |
| Product | Platform | Kind | Price | Demo | Author/Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astromist | Palm, WinCE | Commercial | $16 | yes | Cyrille Thieullet |
| Astronomy for the Palm OS | Palm | Shareware | $10 | yes | Hans Anger |
| AstroHTML | WinCE | commercial | ? | ? | SanSoft |
| Astro Info | Palm | free | Peter Enzerink | ||
| Google Sky Map | Android | free | |||
| HPlanetarium | HP | free | Khanh-Dang Nguyen Thu-Lam | ||
| Personal Sky Chart | Zaurus | commercial | $30 | yes | Clear Sky Institute |
| Planetarium for PalmPilot | Palm | Shareware | $24 | yes | Andreas Hofer |
| Planisphere | Palm | Shareware | $10 | yes | Ivan Baciga |
| PleiadAtlas | Palm | Shareware | $10 | yes | Brian Tung |
| Pocket Deepsky 2000 | WinCE | commercial | $20 | no | Steven S. Tuma |
| Pocket StarCalc | WinCE | commercial | $30 | yes | RELEX Design Studio |
| Pocket Stars | WinCE | commercial | $15 | yes | Nomad Electronics |
| Pocket Universe | WinCE | commercial | $30 | yes | Sticky Software |
| Solun | Psion | free | David Rushall | ||
| SkyVoyager | iPhone | commercial | $15 | no | Carina Software |
| Star Map | iPhone | commercial | $12 | no | Frédéric Descamps |
| Star Pilot | Palm | commercial | $30 | yes | Chris DiPierro |
| StarTrak | Psion | free | Steve Jones | ||
| TheSky | WinCE | commercial | $49 | no | Software Bisque |
| VITO AstroNavigator | PocketPC | commercial | $25 | yes | Eugene Pikalov |
| 2sky | Palm | commercial | $30 | yes | Kevin S. Polk |
| Product | Kind | Price | Demo | Author/Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Night Vision | Night Vision | free | yes | Brian Simpson |
| SkyGate | commercial | $59 | yes | AstroGrafx |
| The COSMOS | commercial | $49 | no | MENSYS |
Note: prices are in US dollars exclusive of shipping/handling charges and rounded to the nearest dollar (and probably out of date).
Astronomy Apps For Mac
Java
- Java star chart program by Akkana Peck
- Planet Finder, a Java applet
- The Planets Explorer, our solar system in Java3D
Astronomy Macewan
Sky Survey
The ultimate planetarium is the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, a set of images covering the entire sky taken with professional telescopes. The printed version is extremely expensive but it has now been digitized and is available in 10x compressed form on the Web from STScI and NASA and in 100x compressed form on 10 CDROMs from ASP. The CDROM version can be accessed from TheSky and several others; the online version can be accessed from Starry Night and a few others.
Free Astronomy Software For Mac
Web-based Planetariums
- WikiSky aka Sky-Map.org
- Heavens Above, concentrates on satellites
- SkyView Cafe, very nice!
- Your Sky, an online planetarium from John Walker
- StarMap from Mt. Wilson
- Skymaps.com, Free, high quality sky maps each month in PDF format
- MyStarsLive, an online version of MyStars
- Horizons, an ephemeris generator from JPL (best accuracy)
- Solar System Simulator from JPL
Other Computer Software
- source code for many astronomical algorithms
- Astronomical Computer Software, a list at AstroNet
- Dan Bruton’s astro software list
- software from Sky Publishing
- Zephrys Services, reseller of astro software for Windows
- AstroGrav Astronomy Software, gravity simulation software for Mac and Windows
- AstroTips, a list of free astro software
- Orrery for RiscOS
- Visual Ephemeris for Uranian Moons by Dennis W. Tracy
- Silicon Spaceships, programs for accessing NASA image data
- Newton’s Aquarium, learn about gravity
- PicoSky, a planetarium program for some cell phones.
- PP3, produces printed charts
Data
- Comet orbital elements for many of the above programs
- ECU User Object Files by Michael Cook
- Solscape, real time solar images & data, very nice; OS X
Misc
- MICA, high-precision astronomical data in tabular form
- ICE, an earlier, free version of MICA
- MAXCLOCK, time info (Windows only)
- 3D Starchart for BeOS
- Meridian, a planetarium program specializing in planets
- Astronomical Software & Documentation Service from STScI
- Scientific Astronomer, a Mathematica application
- Approximate astronomical positions, source code
- another list of PalmOS astronomy software
- Emerald Chronometer for the iPhone
- Emerald Observatory for the iPad
You don't really need a computer and software at the telescope to shoot astrophotos. When you first start out it is much easier to skip the computer. You can focus with Live View, and then take test exposures to determine the correct exposure and framing of the object you want to shoot.
I shot without a computer at the telescope for 20 years back in the days of film before digital cameras. I didn't even have a Go To mount, I just used setting circles and star charts.
Once you get a little more advanced, using a laptop at the scope can make pointing and camera control a little bit easier and also allow more advanced techniques such autoguiding, and dithering. Dithering is changing the scope pointing a small amount between exposures to help deal with noise and hot pixels in the images. The price to be paid for this, however, is additional complexity, powering a laptop computer at the scope at a dark-sky remote observing location, dealing with USB connection issues, and cable routing.
Camera control software will allow almost complete control of the camera while you sit at the laptop computer. You can use software metrics to help you focus as well as program in a series of long exposures and pauses between them. You'll also be able to see your images at a larger size on your computer screen compared to the LCD on the back of the camera.
Planetarium programs will allow you to control and point your Go To mount. Simply click on an object in your planetarium program and tell the mount to point the scope at it.
Once you have shot your images, you will need to process them to make them look their best. Usually we shoot multiple images and align and stack them to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in the images. Then additional contrast and color corrections are also applied to make them look their best.
- Camera Control
- BackYardEOS ($ Free / $35 / $50) Highly recommended
- AstroPhotography Tool ($ Free / $20) Highly recommended
- Mount Control
- Cartes du Ciel ($ Free) Highly recommended
- Image Processing
- Deep SkyStacker ($ Free) - Stacking and Aligning
- Photoshop Creative Cloud ($10/month subscription) - Processing
- Images Plus ($200) - Stacking, Aligning, Processing
Add:
- NINA
- Sequence Generator Pro
- Sequator
- Starry Landscape Stacker
- Starry Sky Stacker
- Astro Pixel Processor
- Lynkeos
- SiriL
- PixInsight
- SharpCap SharpCap is an easy-to-use and powerful astronomy camera capture tool. It can be used with dedicated astronomy cameras, webcams and USB frame grabbers. A wide range of features makes SharpCap suitable for many types of astro-imaging including Planetary, Lunar, Solar, Deep Sky and EAA (Electronically Assisted Astronomy).
The line is becoming blurred between DSLR and Mirrorless digital cameras such as those by Sony, Nikon and Canon, and CMOS sensors used in dedicated astronomical cameras such as those by ZWO and QHY.
There are many different types of software that may help you astrophotography:
- Camera Control
- Software-Assisted Focusing
- Image Acquisition Automation
- Plate Solving
- Image Calibration, Aligning and Stacking
- Image Correction and Enhancement
- Autoguiding Software
- Photo Utilities
- Photoshop Filters and Actions
- Articles on Image Processing of Astrophotos
- Planetarium Programs and Atlases
DSLR Camera Control
With camera control software, you can use your computer to control all of the functions and settings of your camera, such as setting the ISO, opening the shutter, and shooting multiple frames for stacking.
With the current generation of Canon EOS DSLR cameras software by the camera manufacturer will control all functions of the camera. This is accomplished through a single USB-2 Cable and includes control of the bulb setting for exposures longer than 30 seconds. This software also allows viewing of the Live-view real-time image on the computer and focusing.
With previous camera generations of Canon DSLRs and Nikon DSLR cameras, the camera manufacturer's software could control all camera functions except one critical one for astrophotography: the ability to shoot exposures longer than 30 seconds with the bulb setting. This major drawback necessitated the use of third-party software to control the camera and access bulb exposures longer than 30 seconds through the use of a serial to bulb port cable. For old cameras, two cables were necessary for astrophotography: one USB cable to control camera functions and one serial to bulb port cable for long exposures.
Software-Assisted Focusing
Free Astronomy Software For Mac Os
The latest generation cameras allow focusing through the camera manufacturer's software. This can be done by manual focusing and visual inspection of the Live-view image on the computer, or by autofocus if the camera is shooting through an autofocus lens.
For previous generation cameras without Live-View, an image had to be downloaded to the computer and then visually examined for focus accuracy. Programs will download an image and then examine a star and give a readout of the star's diameter or brightness. This metric-assisted focusing is objective and did not rely on any visual interpretation to determine focus.
Through a process of manual trial and error, accurate focus could be achieved through software-assisted focusing.
The latest DSLR camera manufacturer's software can make focusing very easy with Live-view, and some, like BackYardEOS, BackYardNIKON and AstroPhotography Tool use metric-assisted focusing for astrophotography.
If you have a mototized focuser, you can use software-assisted focusing to autofocus your telescope.
Image Acquisition Automation
Serious deep-sky astrophotography requires shooting many short exposures. This can be done manually, but it is very tedious. For example, faint deep-sky objects may require several hours worth of 5 minute exposures that are later stacked or combined in subsequent image processing.
Software such as Images Plus or MaxDSLR can automate this process. You simply specify in the software that you want the camera to shoot, say, 25 exposures of 5 minutes each at ISO 1600 with a pause of 10 seconds between frames (to give the system time to download each image).
The latest software provided by Nikon and Canon also provides the functionality for this type of automated image acquisition with the latest generation of DSLR cameras.
Plate Solving
There are several free pieces of software that will take an image (a short exposure) and 'plate solve' it for you. That means it examines patterns of stars in the image to determine the exact center of the field of view of your camera and scope. Once this is determined, the software can send these coordinates to your mount so the mount knows exactly where it is pointing to improve accuracy of GoTo's.
Plate solving is also useful if you shoot the same object over several nights. You can then solve an image from the first night, and store it. Then the > time out, you can just use that solve to frame your object for that night.
Image Calibration, Aligning and Stacking
Advanced astronomical imaging requires the 'calibration' of the raw original images. Calibration means removing unwanted fixed signals (such as thermal current and bias), and correction for signal modifications (such as vignetting) so that the raw image accurately represents the intensity of light incident on the sensor during the exposure. We will discuss these topics in detail in future sections, but right now lets just talk briefly about the software required for image calibration.
Both Canon and Nikon usually include image processing software with their cameras, but this software is for processing normal daytime images. You can not use it for image calibration, aligning, or stacking at all.
To calibrate your original raw astronomical images, you will require some type of special astronomical image processing software, such as Images Plus, MaxDSLR, AIP (Astronomical Image Processing), AstroArt, IRIS, Deep Sky Stacker or Regim.
'Stacking' means combining many individual short exposures into a master image by any of several mathematical processes such as averaging, or addition. The term originates in the days of film astrophotography where images were literally stacked on top of one another to improve contrast and color.
You will also need to align your images so that the stars in them line up perfectly.
Whatever software you use for image calibration will almost certainly also do aligning and image stacking. It is possible to align and stack images in Photoshop, but for more than a couple of frames, the process is extremely tedious and not as accurate as with a dedicated astronomical image processing program.
Image Correction and Enhancement
Once your images are calibrated, aligned and stacked, you will want to correct for things such as color balance, and increase the contrast to make faint details more visible. You will probably also want to apply some type of noise reduction, and you may want to apply more sophisticated enhancement techniques.
These processes can be done in the previously mentioned astronomical image processing programs such as Images Plus, MaxDSLR, AIP (Astronomical Image Processing), AstroArt, and IRIS.
However, at this stage of image processing, many astrophotographers prefer to switch to a general image processing program such as Photoshop.
Autoguiding Software
For long-exposure deep-sky astrophotography, guiding during the exposure can be very useful in producing higher quality images. By manually or automatically following a star by making corrections in right ascension and declination higher tracking accuracy is obtained.
Autoguiding involves using a separate CCD or Webcam to monitor a stars position and then send corrections to the telescope's mounting to guide or follow the star with high accuracy to compensate for inaccuracies in the mount's tracking.
SBIG used to make the ST-4 and ST-V which were stand alone autoguiders which did not require a computer. These units have been discontinued but can be found used on Astromart.
CCD cameras and webcams can be also be used as autoguiders, but software, such as GuideDog and PHD, is required to run on a computer that interfaces between the autoguider and mount.
Photo Utilities
Astronomy Downloads Free
These programs perform useful functions like allowing you to open FITS format files, perform noise reduction, and create thumbnails for indexing and archiving.
Photoshop Filters and Actions
These filters and actions work inside of Photoshop and perform specialty functions for astronomy, such as gradient and noise reduction.
Articles on Image Processing of Astrophotos
Articles in book and video format teach you how to do astrophotography, and use programs such as Images Plus for image calibration and Photoshop for image correction and enhancement.
Planetarium Programs and Atlases
Planetarium programs and atlases let you find out what is up in the sky, and plan your observing and astrophotography session.
Astronomical Software For the PC
DSLR Camera Control
- IRIS $Free - DSLR control, image acquisition automation
- PalmDSLR $Free - DSLR control with a Palm computer
- APT (Astro Photography Tool) - Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation
- BackyardEOS Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, drift alignment assist
- BackyardNIKON Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, drift alignment assist
- Nebulosity Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, image calibration, image processing
- Images Plus Camera Control DSLR control, focusing, image acquisition automation
- AstroArt DSLR and CCD control and image processing
- Maxim DL DSLR control and image processing
Software-Assisted Focusing
- Focus Max $Free - Focusing software that automates focusing if you have a motorized focuser that works with Maxim DL or CCD Soft
- APT (Astro Photography Tool) - Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation
- BackyardEOS Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, drift alignment assist
- Nebulosity Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, image calibration, image processing
- Images Plus Camera Control DSLR control, focusing, image acquisition automation
- AstroArt DSLR and CCD control and image processing
- Maxim DSLR DSLR control and image processing
Image Acquisition Automation
- DSLR Shutter $Free - image acquisition automation
- APT (Astro Photography Tool) - Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation
- BackyardEOS - Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, drift alignment assist
- Nebulosity - Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, image calibration, image processing
- Images Plus Camera Control - DSLR control, focusing, image acquisition automation
- AstroArt - DSLR and CCD control and image processing
- Maxim DSLR - DSLR control and image processing
Plate Solving
Image Calibration, Aligning and Stacking
- Deep Sky Stacker $Free - Image calibration, alignment, stacking
- Regim $Free - Image calibration, alignment, stacking
- IRIS $Free - DSLR control, image acquisition automation
- RegiStax $Free - for stacking planetary images shot with webcams
- Nebulosity - Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, image calibration, image processing
- AIP (Astronomical Image Processing) - Image calibration, correction, enhancement
- Images Plus - Image calibration, correction, enhancement
- AstroArt - DSLR and CCD control and image processing
- PixInsight - Image calibration, correction, enhancement
- Maxim DSLR - DSLR control and image processing
Image Correction and Enhancement
- IRIS $Free
- GIMPshop $Free
Autoguiding Software
- GuideDog $Free
- PHD (Push Here Dummy) $Free
- Metaguide $Free
- Guidemaster $Free
Photo Utilities
- Dark Library $Free - Sort Dark frames by EXIF temperature data
- EXIF Reader $Free - Reads EXIF data, such as shutter speed, ISO, aperture, date and time of photo that is stored in the image file. Also a thumbnail and image viewer
- FITS Liberator $Free - FITS file format image handling software
- Noiseware Community Edition $Free - Noise Reduction software
- Background Subtraction Toolkit $Free - Remove gradients and vignetting
- IrfanView $Free - Image viewer
- Picassa $Free - Thumbnail and Image Viewer and database
- ThumbsPlus $90 - Thumbnail viewer and database
- StarTrails - $Free - Stack individual frames to creat a star-trail image
- StarStax $Free - Stack individual frames to creat a star-trail image
- StarMax $Free - Stack individual frames to creat a star-trail image
Photoshop Filters and Actions
- Astronomy Tools - Noel Carboni's Photoshop actions for various astrophoto techniques
- Annie's Astro Actions - Astrophotography specific Photoshop actions
- Noise Ninja - Noise Reduction filter
- GradientXTerminator - Removes vignetting and gradients
Articles on Image Processing of Astrophotos
- PixInsight Articles $Free
- A Guide to Film Astrophotography $25 (Download version)
- A Guide to Astrophotography with Digital SLR Cameras $40 (Book on book)
- IP4AP Warren Keller
- EZ-CCD-DVD - Tony Hallas Video Articles on DVD
Planetarium Programs and Atlases
- Stellarium $Free
- Cartes du Ciel $Free
- Virtual Moon Atlas $Free
Astronomical Software For the Mac
DSLR Camera Control and Focusing
- DSLR Shutter $Free - image acquisition automation
- Nebulosity - Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, image calibration, image processing
- iAstrophoto $Free - Digital camera focus and control software for Canon astrophotography using Macintosh OS X
- Astro IIDC - primarily for planetary imaging
Astronomical Image Processing Programs
- Keith's Image Stacker - For stacking planetary images
- Lykenos $Free - Planetary image stacking and processing
- Astrostack - Image stacking and processing
- Nebulosity - Camera control, focus, image acquisition automation, image calibration, image processing
General Image Processing Programs
- GIMPshop $Free
Photo Utilities
- FITS Liberator $Free - FITS file format image handling software
- iPhoto Bundled with New Macs, or available as part of iLife ) - image viewer, database, and image editing
- StarStax $Free - Stack individual frames for a star trail image
Photoshop Filters and Actions
- Astronomy Tools - Noel Carboni's Photoshop actions for various astrophoto techniques
- Annie's Astro Actions - Astrophotography specific Photoshop actions
- Noise Ninja $80 Noise Reduction filter
Articles on Image Processing of Astrophotos
- A Guide to Film Astrophotography $25 (download)
- A Guide to Astrophotography with Digital SLR Cameras $40 (Book on book)
Planetarium Programs, Atlases, Etc.
- Stellarium $Free - Desktop planetarium and space simulation
- Celestia $Free - Desktop planetarium and space simulation
- AstroPlanner - Planning, logging, telescope control
- Equinox6 - Desktop planetarium, telescope, webcam and focuser control
- AstroImage Browser - Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) front end, astrophotography planning, and ability to overlay your own images on DSS images for comparison
- The SkyX - Desktop Planetarium
- Starry Night - Desktop planetarium
Astronomical Software For Linux
Free Astronomy Software Windows 10
Prices on all commercial software are subject to change without notice.
Note that you should be able to run any of the Windows programs listed above on your Mac with OS-X and software like Parallels or VMware Fusion.
Midnightkite also has a nice collection of links to lots of other astronomical related software for a variety of operating systems.
Free Astronomy Software For Mac Computer
Software That I Use
- Planning
- Weather Evaluation
- Polar Aligning
- Plate Solving and Target Acquisition
- AstroPhotography Tool with
- Astrometric STAcking Program (ASTAP) and
- AstroPhotography Tool with
- Software-Assisted Focusing
- Camera Control
- BackYardEOS or
- Autoguiding Software
- Image Acquisition Automation
- BackYardEOS or
- Image Calibration, Aligning and Stacking
- Image Correction and Enhancement
- Photoshop Filters and Actions