AlienSun version 3.5

AlienSun is a free 3-dimensional planetarium/space simulator. It allows you to view the universe from any point in it - any planet, moon, star, asteroid, or even a point in deep space. Here are just a few of AlienSun's many features:

Sky Atlas View

Celestial objects are placed in a grid, with labels and constellation lines. You can pan and zoom the view using your mouse or keyboard.

Planetarium View

Objects are shown in relation to the horizon. The display is updated in real time, and you can configure AlienSun to sound an alarm when an object rises or sets.

Sun Clock View

Shows the Earth or any other planet, moon, or asteroid in a cylindrical projection with daylit areas illuminated. You can go directly from the Sun Clock View to the Planetarium View by right-clicking on your desired latitude and longitude and selecting "Go".

Spaceflight

Allows you to simulate flying through space with simple keyboard commands.

Search

In Sky Atlas View and Planetarium View, you can search for any object by name. Shorthand and alternate names of stars are allowed. AlienSun will find the desired object, center it in the view, and highlight its label. You can then track it, watch it, or go to it.

Asteroids and Satellites

With the powerful Add dialog, you can load the orbital elements of any satellite, asteroid, or comet and view its position in space. You can even "go to" the newly added object and see the view from it.

Detailed Constellation Views

By turning on and off various features, you can view constellations close-up with Bayer-Flamsteed star designations.

Red Light Mode

AlienSun offers an unobtrusive Red Light Mode for use outside during observations. This mode works best in Fullscreen Mode, in which you can see all of the astronomical objects without the harsh glare of window borders.

White Background Mode

Ideal fro printing, this mode inverses the brightness component of point source lights while retaining their color. Planets and other discs are drawn in the usual way. You can even print directly from AlienSun. Need a star chart for tonight's observation? Turn on White Background Mode and send your chart to your printer.

Orientation in Space

You can orient your view to the ICRF, the local equator, the local orbit plane (e.g. ecliptic), or the galactic plane. Here is an example of galactic orientation showing the latitude and longitude of a representative star.

Orbit Tracks

AlienSun can display orbit tracks in 3D space, showing the trajectories that objects take in orbiting their center. This makes for awesome flyby sequences!

Clouds and Bump Maps

AlienSun offers cloud texture maps and bump maps for maximum realism.

Advanced Settings

You can customize how your screen looks and where in the world you are viewing the universe from.

Download

You can download AlienSun for free from here. It is a compressed (zipped) folder; simply uncompress it and double-click on AlienSun.exe to run it. Currently, we only offer AlienSun on the Windows platform.