Home Planet is free day night map for Earth that also lets you track satellite positions. You can view the planetary positions for other planets, distance, Altitude, Declination etc. Home Planet can animate its day night map of Earth and also lets you choose the direction and set the speed for it. Get more information about the Moon and it’s location according to the time you set in this free day night map software. It also has a virtual orrery and you can also get a view of the sky above a set location on earth with all the constellations at that location. Get the view of Earth from Satellite, Moon, Night view etc.
I was always curious to know the current position of the Moon, constellations, and other planetary bodies as I don’t own a good Telescope yet. Even if we have one, tracking constellations or planets could be a strenuous task if you don’t know where to look for them.
Home Planet eases the task for you by telling you the location of planetary bodies relative to your location. Lets look at some of the features of this cool Day Night Map for Earth.
Features of Home Planets
More about Sun and Moon
You can get information about Sun and Moon using this Day Night Map Software. It lets you view the age of Moon, Moon Phase, distance, predict the next Full Moon etc. With regards to Sun, it shows you the distance and subtends.
Planet’s Position
This free day night map can also display the positions for planets relative to the current chosen location of the observer. You can set the observer’s position from the Edit Menu. You can choose from the list of available locations or set the current position by specifying the longitude and latitude. Home Planet lets you view the Right ascension, Declination, Distance, Altitude, Azimuth relative of the location of the observer.
Object Catalogue
This tool within Home Planet lets you view the general information about the planet like the diameter, density, Escape velocity etc. Apart from the planets we know of, it can also get you the information about the Moon, comets, constellations, named stars, navigation stars, other deep sky objects, spacecrafts, radio sources and lot more.
Track Satellites
The Track Satellite tool with this Day Night Map shows the location, Altitude, Launch Year, Rev/day and lot more information about a specific satellite. You can choose from the long list of satellites available within Home Planet or you can import an External Satellite Database. You can also see if the satellite has a geostationary orbit (position remain fixed to a given location on Earth) or a Polar Satellite.
Various Views for Earth
Home Planet gets you the Aerial View of Earth from the Moon, from a specific satellite, from the Sun, the Observer’s Location or even the Night Side. You can also uncheck the “Show Day and night” to hide the places on the map where it is night-time according to observer’s time. This Day Night Map also lets you know about the longitude and latitude as well.
Count the Stars
As I always wondered where those constellations actually were on the sky, Home Planet makes it really simple for you to track them and tell you exactly which constellation is in the sky above you. You can choose to zoom in with Telescope tool, display the Equator and Poles, other Solar System Objects, display the star names and lot more. As some of the famous constellations are visible in the sky without a Telescope, you can easily use this tool to check which one is currently there in the sky above you and watch them.
Conclusion
Home Planet is a wonderful Day Night Map Software that lets you do more than just showing you the Day Night Map for Earth. You can track satellites, Constellations, view information and position of other planetary bodies etc. This could be used as a tool for learning more about planets, stars or constellations or to just watch the sky. This software was tested on Windows 7 too, and it works well. Try this out and explore the sky.
You should also read this informative article on Nasa Eyes, another software that lets you explore the Universe right from your computer screen.
