KStars, an open-source and cross-platform Astronomy Software, has reached 2.7.0 release with speed improvements, better cross-platform support, and Android mobile/tablet support.
KStars provides an accurate graphical simulation of the night sky, from any location on Earth, at any date and time. The display includes up to 100 million stars, 13,000 deep-sky objects,all 8 planets, the Sun and Moon, and thousands of comets, asteroids, supernovae, and satellites. For students and teachers, it supports adjustable simulation speeds in order to view phenomena that happen over long timescales, the KStars Astrocalculator to predict conjunctions, and many common astronomical calculations.
KStars 2.7.0 features:
- much better experience on embedded devices such as Raspberry PI
- object internet lookup from online catalogs
- Ekos GUI improvements, especially on low-resolution displays.
- guide module rewritten to support multiple external guiders
- guide drift graphics written, minor improvements to alignment module, significant updates to Focus module.
- And much more, see the official announcement.
How to install KStars 2.7.0 in Ubuntu 16.04, 16.10:
1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
Type in your password when it asks (no visual feedback) and hit Enter.
2. After added the PPA, run commands in terminal to update the index and install the software:
sudo apt update sudo apt install indi-full kstars-bleeding
3. (Optional) To uninstall KStars, simply run apt command with remove option:
sudo apt remove indi-full kstars-bleeding && sudo apt autoremove
And the PPA can be removed via System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.
