Customer Reviews

Starry Night Backyard Special Edition 3.1

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are interested in astronomy in any form, be it naked eye viewing, with binoculars, or telescope, or just interested in the subject, you will want this product...If you have no idea about celestial motion, constellations, planets, or Messier objects, this program will teach you these and more. This is a very professional product with excellent documentation, simple installation and an update capability that leads you by the hand to ensure you always have the latest version. It's your very own planetarium in your computer and under your own almost infinite control to travel around the universe. Great Fun!

Starry Night offers an easy to use interface that can be used 'out of the box.' It looks great and runs great on a Radeon video card giving smooth realtime animation. The star and constellations are labeled, plus there are other navigation features that can be switched on/off. Different points of view show the movement of planets relative to each other and the star background, making it easy to find the planets and know what their position will be in the future. Also I recommend spending the extra $10 to get the book, it explains many of the basic concepts in an easy to read and understand format. Now if only it could just do something about those cloudy nights.

This is an excellent way to learn astronomy and stargzing. I purchased the "Starter" edition then upgraded to "Backyard" though this is not really necessary to get value out of the purchase. Both editions come with a book that is so similar it is redundant, but there was no choice when upgrading online at the manufacturer's site.

Starry Night has many features that will help any level of astronomy student. Backyard allows one to travel further back and forward in time to understand the motion of the Universe. It also has more stars (supposedly one million, but who's counting).

The book(s) is(are) well written and reference the software so one can actually see what is being described. I hope other scientific books follow a similar path. The software is easy to use and lots of fun. My kids and I have spent much time looking at the features and will likely do so for years to come.

This product is great. I just bought it yesterday, and within an hour, I was intrigued by it's capabilities. Definitely worth the money. I had trouble deciding on whether to get Starry Night backyard Special Edition, or Starry Night Pro. I chose Strarry Night backyard, and I agree with the other reviewers, it is very easy to use, right out of the package.
It shows you the stars as you would see them, right in your own backyard. You can zoom in and out, view the sky as time flies from morning till night, or day to day. You can go back in time, and into the future. You can change your location to view the stars from different planets.
I even viewed Earth from Mars !
The only problem I had, was that I wanted more.
Starry Night Backyard Special Edition is not at the level that I want to explore the night sky.
I need something a little more advanced, so I've just bought Starry Night Pro.
Now I can hook my telescope up to my computer, and use the Strary Night Pro program, to view the night sky from my telescope.

I agree with all that the previous reviewer has said, though I should add that 'Starry Night' is also enormous fun to use. Astronomical theory can be pretty mind-blowing at times, and this software helps to illustrate and animate what can otherwise be somewhat dry and erudite concepts. If you have any young would-be astronomers in your household, there are plenty of nifty featues that should catch their attention - the animated solar system is always a crowd-pleaser, as is the ability to take virtual rocket trips to far-flung stars.

This software seems really cool. The way it functions is smart.
But one thing I noticed is that it doesn't seem to have that many
names or nicknames for some objects just the messier number.

This is a great program for people interested in astronomy. It helps me find which star(s) I'm going to use to align with (by the way I have an etx 70 at and its great!) and also what celestial wonders I'm going to view. You can even go back to the 1200's and find objects that were up at that time. Also you can go up in time by how much time you desire so you can see what will be up that night. One note though, make sure you know your coordnates so you can punch them is and it will take you to where you are. Definatly purchase this and the etx 70 at if you are a begginer to amatuer astronomer.

The program gets high marks from those impressed by attractive front ends. Indeed, in this class of software, such things should not be belittled; that's why I rated it as highly as I did.

I became disappointed when I looked for an object in the NGC catalog and discovered it wasn't there. As far as I can tell, for DSO's, the program delivers only the Messier objects. If I hadn't had another program (The Sky), I should not have found The Eskimo Nebula.

My wife and I like to look at the stars so thought I would buy it. We are still learning the full capabillaties of this program,but I can tell you this it is well worth the money.

I have enjoyed this product since i put the game in my computer. I love it. I think everyone who likes space like me should try this game.