What free software is there for observing the sky (sky map software)

Question

I used until now only stellarium.org and I'm curious if there is any other software that is better than stellarium. By better, I mean:

• doesn't have high system requirements
• requires very little power from the battery when running(as the normal setup would be going somewhere outside with the telescope and a laptop.. this may be hard to estimate, but maybe there is here someone who tried out more than one program and has seen a clear difference)
• easy to use
• has extra features (extra star catalogues, telescope control, etc)

A big plus would be if that software is free for personal use!

Answer 1

Sky Chart / Cartes du Ciel has versions for different platforms.

KStars is a Linux application, but it can also run as a part of KDE on Windows. Otherwise, you can find it in the package repositories of your Linux distribution.

XEphem works on Unix-like systems, including Linux and Mac OS X.

Answer 2

See this question: Are there websites or programmes that permit a simulation of the night sky in the past and the future on an ordinary computer?

My favorite is Microsoft Worldwide Telescope (FREE), although it is probably on the high end of system requirements and battery drain. It is highly customizable though so there may be settings that can be tweaked to make it more power-efficient.

Answer 3

I have Google Sky in my Android phone, works fine.

Answer 4

Celestia, perhaps.

You could also try Google Sky.