Presentation at the
Central Coast Astronomical Society monthly meeting, March 27, 2008, 7:30-8:15 PM, Science Forum 2402, Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA.
Starry Night(TM) from Imaginova Software (currently version 6.0) is a program that is bundled with many textbooks (usually as a previous version).
On the surface, Starry Night(TM) is a basic planetarium program that simulates viewing of the night sky, but is capable of much more than that--you can also bend time and space with it!
This is a simulated view of tonight's sky from San Luis Obispo, CA, using one of the pre-packaged local horizon panoramas, which can be viewed in any direction, and zoomed in or out. Starry Night(TM) can export a star chart, or even an interactive Quicktime VR file that preserves the three-dimensional aspect of viewing the celestial sphere from within.
You can also toggle star and constellation labels...
...as well as azimuth/altitude...
... and right ascension/declination grids.
Time can be run forwards or backwards at various rates, and a specific date and time can be selected.
Polaris is the current pole star, but what was the (nearest) pole star in 10,000 B.C.?
Alas, no true pole star in 10,000 B.C., but Vega is the closest brightest match.
After mastering the manipulation of the sky and time as with most other planetarium software, Starry Night(TM) also allows you to change your viewing position. This is made possible by generating an entire "sandbox" universe for you to move around in, and you can select (in the preferences) to render the trip from you old to your new location, which is often done at superluminal speeds.
Selecting Buenos Aires, Argentina will allow you to see southern hemisphere stars and constellations.
After flying there over the surface of the Earth at supersonic speeds, we find that in the Buenos Aires sky there is no obvious "South Star" analog to Polaris.
Next we can travel to Mare Serenatatis (Sea of Serenity) on the Moon. In this case since the Moon is above the local horizon, we do not have to travel through the interior of the Earth to get there.
Since we are on the near side of the Moon, due to its synchronous rotation, we can observe the Earth, which undergoes phases as it remains nearly stationary in its position high up in the sky, while the stars rise and set over a sidereal month.
Next let's travel to Nereid, an outer satellite of Neptune.
Nereid's rotation is not synchronous with Neptune, but is apparently in resonance. We can observe the stars rising in the east and setting in the west, as Neptune (orbited by Triton) rises in the west, stalls near the meridian, and the eventually sets in the west!
You are not just limited to traveling around the Solar System. The up/down "rocketship" controls allow you to fly up and away, to outside the Solar System...
...to outside the Milky Way...
...to beyond the mapped cubic volume of galaxy superclusters. It's like having your own
Powers of Ten machine!
Presentation at the Central Coast Astronomical Society monthly meeting, March 27, 2008, 7:30-8:15 PM, Science Forum 2402, Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA.
Starry Night(TM) from Imaginova Software (currently version 6.0) is a program that is bundled with many textbooks (usually as a previous version).
On the surface, Starry Night(TM) is a basic planetarium program that simulates viewing of the night sky, but is capable of much more than that--you can also bend time and space with it!
This is a simulated view of tonight's sky from San Luis Obispo, CA, using one of the pre-packaged local horizon panoramas, which can be viewed in any direction, and zoomed in or out. Starry Night(TM) can export a star chart, or even an interactive Quicktime VR file that preserves the three-dimensional aspect of viewing the celestial sphere from within.
You can also toggle star and constellation labels...
...as well as azimuth/altitude...
... and right ascension/declination grids.
Time can be run forwards or backwards at various rates, and a specific date and time can be selected.
Polaris is the current pole star, but what was the (nearest) pole star in 10,000 B.C.?
Alas, no true pole star in 10,000 B.C., but Vega is the closest brightest match.
After mastering the manipulation of the sky and time as with most other planetarium software, Starry Night(TM) also allows you to change your viewing position. This is made possible by generating an entire "sandbox" universe for you to move around in, and you can select (in the preferences) to render the trip from you old to your new location, which is often done at superluminal speeds.
Selecting Buenos Aires, Argentina will allow you to see southern hemisphere stars and constellations. 
After flying there over the surface of the Earth at supersonic speeds, we find that in the Buenos Aires sky there is no obvious "South Star" analog to Polaris.
Next we can travel to Mare Serenatatis (Sea of Serenity) on the Moon. In this case since the Moon is above the local horizon, we do not have to travel through the interior of the Earth to get there. 
Since we are on the near side of the Moon, due to its synchronous rotation, we can observe the Earth, which undergoes phases as it remains nearly stationary in its position high up in the sky, while the stars rise and set over a sidereal month.
Next let's travel to Nereid, an outer satellite of Neptune.
Nereid's rotation is not synchronous with Neptune, but is apparently in resonance. We can observe the stars rising in the east and setting in the west, as Neptune (orbited by Triton) rises in the west, stalls near the meridian, and the eventually sets in the west!
You are not just limited to traveling around the Solar System. The up/down "rocketship" controls allow you to fly up and away, to outside the Solar System...
...to outside the Milky Way...
...to beyond the mapped cubic volume of galaxy superclusters. It's like having your own Powers of Ten machine!
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