Astronomy software
 

As I move further away from Windows and deeper into the bliss of Linux, I find more and more things I want to accomplish with the blessing of the penguin. One of these which falls near the top of the list is in the realm of astronomy. So I ask: what do people use in Linux to aid their skywatching pursuits? (I was going to make this question more specific to the kind of software I would like to use, but I think I'll leave it open-ended to see what suggestions arise.) Thanks in advance...

I just downloaded kstars last week. So far, it looks pretty good. I used to have xephem a couple distros back.

What I really want to get running is STS-Orbit Plus . It's a satellite tracking program I really like, but it runs in DOS. I haven't played around enough with DOSemu to get it running in Linux... It needs a LOT of the base 640k memory, and I can't seem to get enough while in Linux.

Well, you got me looking at STS-Orbit again. I just downloaded the binaries for dosemu 1.0.2.1 and freedos, and set it up according to the quickstart guide. It's a lot easier than last time I tried... There's a freedos directory that is used as C: , so you can put anything into you want. It will run from the command-line, but the actual graphic display is all messed up. Run it as xdosemu, and it's perfect. I'm still going to work on getting it to run from a terminal... I have a P150 laptop I'll be putting Linux on and hopefully can use it without X out in the field.

Here's the motherload: a huge collection of physics/astronomy software for linux. If you follow the links you can also find a huge assortment of software in many scientific fields. Happy hunting...
http://SAL.KachinaTech.COM/Z/4/

I use xplns, very nice program:
http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/se...&system=&arch=

and celestia, ( with spectacular demo )
http://www.astroarts.co.jp/products/xplns/download.html

Both are easy to install rpm's

What a response! I honestly thought I would find links to one or two programs. Instead, I find a treasure trove. Many thanks to all!

if u r into nautical astronomy n navigation then check out http://www.celestialnavigation.net/ n the us millitary's http://pollux.nss.nima.mil/info/ . ..enjoy!!!!!!!

If you are running Debian and have your 3d configured I would definitely "apt-get celestia". Celestia is a 3d space simulator that is very customizable in the graphics department. Really popular with the kids too. Plus it's cross-platform so you can run it on those other OSes. Not exactly something you use to investigate gamma ray bursts or calculate the mass of dark matter in the universe, but it's nice eye-candy.