KStars

The program provides a graphical simulation of the night sky, rendering planets, up to one hundred million stars, ten thousand deep‑sky objects, comets and asteroids. Users can adjust the simulation rate and access various internet resources for additional information, imagery and data. A complete astrophotography workflow is included, along with tools that predict conjunctions, plot planetary position changes over time and perform related calculations.

The software is geared toward students, educators, amateur astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts, offering features that support both learning and practical observation. An observation planner helps users schedule and organize viewing sessions, while the extensive object catalog and real‑time data integration aid in research and hobbyist activities.

It runs on macOS as a stable, free desktop planetarium, and is part of the KDE ecosystem, allowing users to benefit from its broad feature set without cost.