There's better telescope linking too in the telescope control window - and some rather elegant horizon photo-realistic horizon panoramas. This is for Windows users only, but Mac users get their own unique feature with a "telescope handbox simulator" that allows you to move your linked telescope to any position. Pictures taken through your telescope and processed with MaxIM DL can then be integrated into Starry Night to form part of the visual support in the program. There's also a useful addition if you have the MaxIm DL imaging software. This is a mosaic of around 20,000 images taken with a 6 megapixel camera, and does give a stunning representation of the star field. Perhaps the most impressive visual aspect is its full colour photograph of the entire night sky, to a limiting magnitude of 14-15. The special features you get by going for Pro Plus rather than Pro are themselves very attractive. Like the Pro edition, Pro Plus also has an Ephemeris generator, providing location data for any object over a specific time span, and 180 degree, full sky charts. Oh and there's a neat astronomical dictionary, plus a "fly around" spaceship feature like Deep Space Explorer. there's the excellent Sky Calendar that details all the upcoming notable events you will be able to see, and around 100 superb interactive explorations (30 more than Enthusiast). The stunning planetarium has much more information than the even the Pro version - showing an incredible 55 million stars (500+ million online) and a million galaxies. There's SkyTheater, a DVD of mini-features covering around 2/3 of the excellent Atlas of the Sky DVD, and there's Starry Night itself. There's a 192 page book (the Starry Night Companion) which isn't great, but you can't complain as it's effectively free. It's much more than a planetarium, though as we'll come back to, it's still a great way to find out what's what in the night sky. The Pro and this, the Pro Plus editions, are for amateurs for whom it's a serious hobby that takes up a fair amount of their spare time. The "Pro" heading here is a little exaggerated - Starry Night: Enthusiast is for amateurs with telescopes who do astronomy regularly, but not too heavily. For many, astronomy is more than just a matter of popping out and taking a peek at the stars - it's a serious hobby, and the Starry Night range is simply the best software we've seen to support that legion of amateur astronomers.
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