Pocket Stars PC

Whether you are navigating across the Pacific, visualizing planetary orbits from your backyard or simply looking for a handy reference guide to the heavens, Pocket Stars is a simple tool that offers flexible and fast visualization of the solar system and beyond.

Based on data from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the US Naval Observatory, the program provides extremely accurate positional information for solar system bodies, stars, and Messier and Caldwell objects.

Targeting astronomers, celestial navigators, and the casual observer, the utility comes with numerous tools for visualization, identification, animation, and computation of position based on celestial observations using a sextant. Reduction from sextant altitude to observed altitude for any of the 9110 stars, nine planets, and sun and moon is quick and easy.

Overall, the program lets you visualize the heavens from two different vantages. First is a traditional star chart view drawn from an observer's location anywhere on the surface of the earth. This vantage is called "2D Star Chart". The other vantage - "3D Orrery" - enables you zoom through the solar system, approaching the sun from any angle. Lastly, the app comes with a lunar phases system that displays the position of the Earth, sun and moon in a neat animation.