Ruedi Schmid has announced the release of Stargazer’s Delight 6.0, an astronomical desktop planetarium for the Mac. An evaluation copy of the new version can be downloaded online.
The new version of Stargazer’s Design features “countless small improvements and enhancements,” as well as full support for Mac OS X and the Aqua interface. Stargazer’s Delight 6.0 requires Mac OS 8.1 or higher.
Stargazer’s Delight is billed as a fully featured desktop planetarium and sky simulator. It provides views of the sky for any date and any location on Earth. You can see all stars up to magnitude 10 — more than 260,000 total. Also tracked are the Sun, the Moon, the planets, bright asteroids and hundreds of deep-sky objects including galaxies, clusters and nebulas.
Stargazer’s Delight also plots constellations and their boundaries, sports detailed info on each star, shows the phases of the moon and the apparent brightness of the planets. The software features animated graphics that illustrate the length of the day and the night. You can animate the sky and watch planetary motion, too. Animated tutorials are also included on selected astronomical topics, according to the developer.
Available in English and German, Stargazer’s Delight 6.0 costs US$29 to register for a single license.