Software Review of:
Planets and Stars: 
A Guide to the Universe 

If you have an interest in outer space and "what is out there," then this CD would be highly educational and a good buy. It could help even established students of space as well as those who are in an astronomy or an elementary or basic science class. It can help you understand some of the history behind our fascination with space and gives hints at where we might be headed in the future. The photographs and videos do not come from just here on Earth, no way, man!  There are photos from the Hubble Space telescope, the Moon rover unit and the Voyager space vehicle as well as some spectacular shots from the space shuttle itself.  There is also a "Stargazer" portion of the CD that allows one to view and select sky direction, hour and day. Then, the program displays what that sky would have looked like at that time. This program allows the user to choose full-screen video for the video clips if you have at least a 640 x 480 screen resolution available. Full-screen video may not work on older systems, such as a 486, but it does work on most of the newer Pentium-class computers. A minor problem was that the full-screen videos were somewhat choppy and some of them were more blurred than others. The video quality was not consistently poor but it was just not very consistent. 

There are several choices for you to make at the main menu. You can view the slide/video presentation, get related text or website information, select sites from maps or go to the User’s Guide for setup and use information. Once you select maps, for example, you can then go to a particular star, constellation or planet and gather more data about it. You can also go to Stargazer, which is a nice program to view the sky from different orientations, times and dates. 

You can browse through the program or search and choose which celestial sites you want to study and learn about. The program allows repeated play of the videos, printing of the text material or searches for more specific information. You can also view a variety of photographs of your choice and in some cases, you can choose to view them enlarged to full-screen size. There are some excellent photographs of planets, stars, the sun, the moon, nebulae, galaxies and so forth, on this CD. There is also related information on astrological signs but the author, tongue in cheek, points out that they "do not provide astrological support" nor is the program "accurate enough for celestial navigation." 

This program begins with an initial slide and video presentation that helps the user become familiar with the data on the CD. It also serves to help the user learn how to navigate the program efficiently. You can explore deep space, travel with the astronauts on the space shuttle, and such spectacular sights as the Orion Nebula or the Cartwheel Galaxy. 

There is an interactive "star" map, which displays outer space, the solar system, stars and planets highlighted on the map. All you have to do is to click on an area and you then choose to display all the sites in the area or you click on one to get more detailed, specific contextual information. These maps will guide you to which planets, stars or other heavenly bodies that you might want to view. There are maps of major constellations and planets, which can be "zoomed in" for a closer look and more detailed information. You may also search for related text and web sites interactively on the CD. 

The installation process was quite simple and straightforward. There were no problems or complications during installation. This CD-ROM program will work on most current systems that are still operating after the Y2K scare. 

The minimum requirements are for at least a 486 75MHZ or better CPU, 8MB of RAM with a Windows (3.1, 95 or 98) operating system, 256 color graphics display, a sound card and at least a double speed CD-ROM drive. Faster is better and more RAM in your system is better. This basic rule holds true for this program. 

The program is available by calling Analytical Software at (972) 303-4433. It may eventually be available online by contacting Analytical Software on their web site, but when I tried to do this, I got a "page under construction" error message. The list price for this program is undetermined, but is likely to be in the same $20.00 price range that the other Analytical Software program we reviewed sells for. I recommend it if you want to learn more about the Planets, the Stars or other space-related astronomical information.