Freeware EXPLORED
Pete Lawrence is an expert astro imager and a presenter on The Sky at Night
Computers and astronomy have always been well matched partners. While the huge amount of data available in astronomy today and repetitive calculations would be taxing for humans to manipulate manually, they present no such difficulty for modern computers.
That’s why there is a great selection of astronomy software, covering everything from trivial tasks like calculating the positions of Jupiter’s four main moons, up to taxing simulations of the whole Universe. Amateur astronomers have a rich library of applications to choose from - some are commercial, costing anything from a few to several hundred pounds, but many options are free.
In this article we will look at a few of these ‘freeware’ applications, many of which have been around for a while. The test of time has seen these pieces of software refined to a point where, once used, they can become an integral part of the observing experience. Although our list is not exhaustive, we hope it will help you discover some of the incredible free astronomical programs out there.
