Cartes du Ciel ("CDC" and "SkyChart") is a free and open source planetarium program for Linux, macOS, and Windows.[1] With the change to version 3, Linux has been added as a target platform, licensing has changed from freeware to GPLv2 and the project moved to a new website.

Cartes du Ciel
Developer(s)Patrick Chevalley
Stable release
4.2.1 / 24 November 2019; 4 years ago (2019-11-24)
Preview release
4.3 beta-4358 / April 26, 2021 (2021-04-26)
Written inObject Pascal
Operating systemCross-platform (Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux)
Typeplanetarium Educational software
LicenseGPLv2
WebsiteCartes du Ciel homepage

CDC includes the ability to control computerized GoTo telescope mounts, is ASCOM and INDI compliant, and supports the USNO's UCAC catalogs and ESA Gaia data,[citation needed] along with numerous other catalogs and utilities.[2]

The "red bulb" feature is useful when using software outside on a laptop on a dark night.[3]

According to the programmer, Patrick Chevalley, it was released as freeware because "I’d rather see amateurs spend their money for a new eyepiece than for astronomy software".[4]

Chevalley has also created a lunar atlas program, Virtual Moon Atlas, which is also free and open source software.[5]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Parkerson 2019.
  2. ^ Thompson & Thompson 2005, pp. 360–361.
  3. ^ Clark 2015, pp. 11–12.
  4. ^ "The Silicon Sky Part I: Planetariums for PCs - Uncle Rod". Cloudy Nights. Retrieved Aug 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "Virtual Moon Atlas". sourceforge.net. 2 May 2023.

External links edit