Starry Night Pro 5.7.2 will thrill the avid amateur astronomer with its stunning realism. There is also something for the hardcore astronomers as an observation aid. It generates customized observation planners for every night of the year. You can look at the night sky on your computer from any place and time without the blight of light pollution interfering with stargazing. You will see the stars exactly as they appear in your town in the night sky. You can click and grab a star, dragging the heavens back and forth wherever you desire, or type the name of a celestial body and zoom to it. There are also guided tours to learn your way around the Solar System and beyond. This program is simply sensational with a spectacular interface giving you the feeling of looking at the real night sky. It includes a catalog of more than 55 million stars and a million galaxies.

If you're invited to a stargazing party, you can set the night-observation mode that colors your display a deep red so as not to offend your friends and insure getting invited back. How cool is that?!

How I wish I'd had Starry Night High School (or Starry Night Middle School) back when I was teaching astronomy to high school students. The school had a wonderful classroom planetarium but no curriculum. I was in charge of developing it. My students would have marveled at Starry Night High School software, as its computerized celestial view would have been a source of wonderment and a great supplement to the classroom planetarium.

Starry Night High School comes with a complete Teacher's Guide replete with Lesson Plans, CDs, Assessments, and everything the teacher and students would need to delve into the mysteries of our universe. Students will be motivated to learn more about the universe while having fun.

The Lesson Plans are impressive in their careful architecture to promote the students' interaction with the program. The computer exercises help to reinforce key concepts. Students manipulate time and location to view numerous perspectives of the universe.

The Teacher's Guide also includes a section on what to look for when buying a telescope. I would make sure the telescope was capable of working with Starry Night to instantly center the eyepiece on whatever object you select.

The credentials of the developers are impressive. They succeeded in developing interesting, provocative, and challenging lessons addressing most student learning styles and abilities. It is the most "realistic astronomy software" and worthy of the prestigious Best Interface award and numerous other awards.

A stunning program you will love!