• Platform:   Windows XP / 98 / Me / NT / 2000
• Media: CD-ROM
• Item Quantity: 1

As a nod to the wealth of information inside, Red Shift 5 usefully starts with a video tutorial, stepping you through some of the program's main features. It's time well spent, and you'll not only learn how to move through the known universe using your mouse, but also how to travel through time to view the stars, planets and galaxies from any point on Earth (or indeed in the Solar System) from 4173 BC to 9999 AD. In this way, for example, you can have Red Shift 5 display a detailed animation of what the Earth looks like as seen from the Cassini-Huygens space craft, currently en route to Saturn and Titan. It's all rather extraordinary.

It's up to date too. The new version incorporates objects discovered in 2003, and you can integrate fresh data as it's collated via your Internet connection using the Live Update feature. Beginners will enjoy the six guided tours (including a Solar eclipse and sunrise on Mercury), which explain basic Red Shift 5 concepts, while those already familiar with the program can explore the updated databases--particularly the newly added Hubble Star Catalogue 2. Add to that multiple windows that let you watch phenomena from different viewpoints, the "sky diary" that plots upcoming events (you can record these and play them back later), a huge image database, and filters that let you define the types of objects Red Shift 5 displays and for once, the publisher's description "the ultimate Planetarium software" isn't hyperbole.

Red Shift 5 isn't just about sitting in front of your PC, however. The purpose of being able to map where stellar objects will be next week or next year is that you'll know when they'll be most visible in the sky. By all means use the program on its own as a way of understanding how the universe works, but it's best accompanied by a real telescope pointing at the night sky. Red Shift 5 is simply a sensational product. --Rob Beattie

Manufacturer's Description
Imagine a new RedShift 5 experience, created with state-of-the-art technology and expanded functions to extend your view into space. Would you like to ride on a comet? Gaze at Jupiter as you orbit on one of its moons? Examine Mars' surface in detail? What about taking in the view of Earth from Venus? Maybe you long to see beyond our galaxy into deep space.  RedShift 5 contains everything that both the amateur and experienced astronomy enthusiast needs to explore the heavens.

Easy to use, powerful software to turn your desktop into the ultimate planetarium. Astronomical Record Breakers and Photo Gallery with spectacular images that take into account the latest discoveries.