1. Teaching Astronomy
using Stellarium
A Short Introduction
Karl Simon A. Revelar
ksarevelar@uplb.edu.ph

2. Outline
 Some Random Slides of
Awesomeness
 What is Stellarium?
 Learning How to Use Stellarium and
its features

3. The Universe is Awesome
and Photogenic!

4. Andromeda Galaxy

5. Sombrero Galaxy

6. Pleiades Star Cluster

7. Saturn

8. Eye-of-God Nebula

9. Neptune

10. The Universe is Awesome
and Photogenic!

11. Truly Awesome

12. Until...

13. Lost Internet connection

14. Thank goodness

15. Free offline awesomeness

16. What is this offline
awesomeness?

17. Stellarium
O Offline planetarium
software;
O Simulates
movement of
planets, stars, and
even artificial
satellites;
O Also simulates
astronomical events

18. Stellarium
O Used by amateur
astronomers as
observation guide
O Used as a tool to
teach astronomy
O Also used in real
planetaria!

19. Screenshots

20. Screenshots

21. Screenshots

22. Learn How to Use Stellarium

23. But Wait

24. Download

25. Install

26. First Run

27. Status bar
Status bar

28. Main toolbar
Status bar

29. Sidebar
Status bar

30. Configure Location
Status bar

31. Left-click objects
Status bar

32. Right-click objects
Status bar

33. Finding objects
Status bar

34. Zooming
Status bar

35. Sombrero Galaxy
Status bar

36. Time Travel
Status bar

37. Constellations
Status bar

38. Solar Eclipse
Status bar

39. EXERCISE!
Determine the position of the sun during your birth.
(Clue: Key-in your birthdate
then locate the sun.)
If the sun is below the horizon, click on the ground icon on
the main toolbar to remove ground.

40. Wrong
Status bar

41. The time is now.
Status bar

42. Orion Nebula
Status bar

43. Ocular view
Status bar

44. Artificial satellites
Status bar

45. Remove Atmosphere

46. Watch a movie
Status bar

47. Observe at Night
Status bar

48. Azimuthal Grid
Status bar

49. Equatorial Grid
Status bar

50. ASTRONOMY EXERCISE
You and your team will travel to
Hokkaido and arrive there on April
17, 2012 to observe an
astronomical event on the
constellation Virgo. What is the best
time to observe Virgo?

51. Keyboard Shortcuts
Status bar
Key Function
Cursor keys Pan left, right, up, down
Page up/down Zoom in / out
Forward slash (/) Auto zoom-in
Space Center view on selected object
Backward slash () Auto zoom-out
Ctrl+F Find object on the sky
L Increase time speed
J Decrease time speed
F5 Date/Time Window

52. Learn about other cultures
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53. Aztec Constellation
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54. Change Landscape!
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55. Saturn
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56. Jupiter
Status bar

57. Pleiades
Status bar

58. The Universe is Truly
Awesome!

59. That’s all folks!