Stellarium is a free and open-source planetarium, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 or any later version, available for Linux, Windows, and macOS. A port of Stellarium called Stellarium Mobile is available for Android and iOS. These have a limited functionality, lacking some features of the desktop version. All versions use OpenGL to render a realistic projection of the night sky in real time.
Stellarium was featured on SourceForge in May 2006 as Project of the Month.
In 2006, Stellarium 0.7.1 won a gold award in the Education category of the Les Trophées du Libre free software competition.
A modified version of Stellarium has been used by the MeerKAT project as a virtual sky display showing where the antennae of the radio telescope are pointed.
In December 2011, Stellarium was added as one of the "featured applications" in the Ubuntu Software Center.
From the Wikipedia article “Stellarium (software)”, CC BY-SA 4.0
What is Stellarium?
Stellarium by Stellarium team (developed by Alexander V. Wolf) is open-source Windows software in the science & maths category. It ranks 1st by popularity among science & maths in this catalogue. The first release dates back to 2001. It is written in C++ and C. Besides Windows, it is available for GNU/Linux, macOS and Unix-like operating system.
Installation and requirements
The publisher provides EXE (Inno Setup) installers for 64-bit and ARM64 Windows. Installation asks for administrator rights. A silent install is possible with the installer’s documented switches.
Updates and version history
The current version is 26.3, released on September 28, 2026. The version history goes back to April 26, 2021: 47 releases, all linked to the official files. That is about 8.5 releases a year. The last update is less than a month old.
Popularity and file types
The Chocolatey package has been downloaded 118,021 times. The source code on GitHub (Stellarium/stellarium) has 10,101 stars. Wikipedia has an article about it in 31 of our languages. On Windows it registers 1 file type, including .ssc. Similar programs include KiCad, Quarto and JASP.
Project description on GitHub: “Stellarium is a free GPL software which renders realistic skies in real time with OpenGL. It is available for Linux/Unix, Windows, macOS and Haiku. With Stellarium, you really see what you can see with your eyes, binoculars or a small telescope.”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Native ARM64 build for Windows on Arm
- Documented silent install
- Frequent updates (about 8.5 a year)
- Also runs on GNU/Linux, macOS and Unix-like operating system
- Large user base
- Mature project (since 2001)
Cons
- Installation needs administrator rights
In short: Stellarium is an open-source science & math tool for 64-bit and ARM64 PCs. It is actively maintained. Administrators can deploy it unattended.
Screenshots
Is Stellarium safe to download?
- The file is served by github.com, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
06D0444E02BCA3AD9703E08A641270576C1DF581088EB3E7549870887E039CD8· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link has not been checked yet
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Recent versions
All 47 versions ›47 versions over 5 years · about 8.5 a year
| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26.3Latest | September 28, 2026 | — | ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 26.2 | June 24, 2026 | — | ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 26.1 | April 5, 2026 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 25.4 | December 29, 2025 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 25.3 | September 29, 2025 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 25.2.0 | June 22, 2025 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 25.1.0 | March 23, 2025 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup)ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 24.4 | December 22, 2024 | — | ARM64 EXE (Inno Setup)64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id Stellarium.Stellarium -echoco install stellarium -yscoop install extras/stellariumstellarium-26.3-qt6-win64.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART /SP-Related guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Also for other systems
brew install --cask stellariumflatpak install flathub org.stellarium.StellariumInformation
- Publisher
- Stellarium team
- Developer
- Alexander V. Wolf and Fabien Chéreau
- Category
- Science & maths
- Licence
- GPL-2.0
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/Stellarium/stellarium
- Written in
- C++ and C
- Content rating
- 13+
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10
- Architecture
- 64-bit, ARM64
- Installer
- EXE (Inno Setup)
- Other platforms
- GNU/Linux, macOS, Unix-like operating system
- Version
- 26.3
- Released
- September 28, 2026
- First release
- 2001
- Added to the catalogue
- March 30, 2021
- Versions listed
- 47
- Updates / year
- 8.5
- Chocolatey downloads
- 118,021
- GitHub stars
- 10,101
- GitHub forks
- 1,078
- Website
- stellarium.org
- winget ID
- Stellarium.Stellarium
- Chocolatey package
- stellarium
- Scoop package
- extras/stellarium
File types it opens (1)
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
Alternatives to Stellarium
See all ›-
Open source126.7K ↓ -
Open source46K ↓ -
Open source12.2K ↓ -
Qalculate!5.13.2A highly versatile desktop calculator, with support for units, physical constants, uncertainty propagation, symbolic calculations, etc.Open source50.3K ↓ -
Open source24.6K ↓ - scilab2025.0.0Scilab is free and open source software for numerical computation providing a powerful computing environment for engineering and scientific applications.Open source28.6K ↓
-
Open source17.7K ↓ -
Avogadro1.2.0Avogadro is an advanced molecular editor designed for cross-platform use in computational chemistry, molecular modeling, bioinformatics, materials science, and related areas. It offers flexible rendering and a powerful plugin architecture.Open source5.5K ↓
Frequently asked questions
Is Stellarium free?
Yes. Stellarium is open-source software under the GPL-2.0 licence.
Is Stellarium safe to download?
The download comes from github.com, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install Stellarium with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Can Stellarium be installed silently?
Yes. The silent install page lists the exact command for each installer.
Does Stellarium run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
Yes, there is a native ARM64 installer.
Where can I download an older version of Stellarium?
The versions page lists all 47 versions with links to their official installer files, back to April 26, 2021.
Can I use Stellarium without administrator rights?
Yes, there is a per-user installer that does not need administrator rights.
What are alternatives to Stellarium?
KiCad, Quarto, JASP, Qalculate! and OpenChrom. The alternatives page compares them.
