Good gravy it is hard to review these astronomy programs! First off, I am no professional astronomer - heck, I'm not even an amateur astronomer. Second, these programs tend to be loaded with features... it's my impression that astronmers are a demanding bunch. Well, as far as I can tell, The Digital Universe shouldn't disappoint.

First of all, you should know that the program is actually 2 programs - you also get "3D stars", shich is basically a universal touring program. Choose up to about 600, 000 stars to view, then slap on you 3D glasses (included) and start touring!

It's a lot of fun touring around the universe, although I found the keyboard commands a little bit challenging to learn. But once you get the hang of it, you'll probably want to make QuickTime movies of your trips, which the program is fully capable of.

Let's jump back to main program. The first thing you'll notice when you fire up The Digital Universe is that it takes over your whole desktop. Some people don't mind this... I'm not crazy about programs taking over the desktop unless it is a chosen option. The other thing that bothered me as a beginner was the "bubble help" was very slow - you have to wait a couple of seconds for explanations for what a button does.

But you can't complain about the display (the image above does not do it justice)! You can choose to have constellations outlined and have all sorts of star data displayed. Moving around the sky can be done by entering coordinates or navigating with arrow buttons. This is OK, but I really like the simple maneuverability of just being able to click and drag my way around the mouse, like you can in the Starry Night software. Even so, the display is impressive, and clicking on any object reveals the real power of The Digital Universe... it amazing encyclopedia of celestial information.

This program leaves absolutely no stone unturned when it comes to providing information! As you can see from the window above, you'll have all the technical astronomical data you'll need if you buy this program. It has literally thousands of pages! I really like the picture sections - the author of this program has taken a lot of time to meticulously explain every image;

Many of the images are very cool;

And there are not just pictures... plenty of QuickTime movies are thrown in as well.

As you can see by the window above, the encyclopedia also has an introduction to astronomy for dummies, uh... I mean beginners like me. I found it very informative and helpful.

As for all the other features of the Digital Universe, you can check out the complete list here. The really neat things that stick out to me are;

• being able to view the sky you are scanning with SETI@home
• the software can save scenes for later analysis
• printable star charts
• generate sky views 100, 000 years into the past or future

Last but not least, all of this is offered at a very affordable price. If you are in the market for a great astronomy program, you really should take a close look at The Digital Universe before you buy!

If you are interested in a good astonomy program, I would recommend checking out Digital Universe. The following email relates a pretty incredible story of the use of Digital Universe to help discover the oldest known recorded solar eclispe:

"Using The Digital Universe astronomy simulation software created by Syzygy Research & Technology, Irish archeoastronomer Paul Griffin has dated and announced the confirmation of the world's oldest known solar eclipse recorded in stone. Images of the event were carved at the Loughcrew Cairn L Megalithic Monument a short distance from Dublin, Ireland, and the software was able to determine that the eclipse occurred on November 30, 3340 BC - 500 years older than eclipse observations made by ancient Chinese astronomers.

Different petroglyphs at the site have been identified with the various stages of the eclipse as it would have been observed. One image shows the relative positions of the Sun and Moon at sunrise on the day of the eclipse. Another indicates the moment of mid eclipse, and a third the appearance of the event when the Sun and Moon set that evening. The eclipse was not yet over when the Sun set, a fact of particular significance considering that the Neolithic people would have been unsure that the Sun would again rise the next day. Deposited charred bones from approximately 48 individuals under a stone basin inside the monument attest to a possible human sacrifice to save their "sky God" (the Sun) from dying as it descended to the "underworld" at the horizon. After the event, a pillar was then erected at the location at which the Sun's rays would have first shone in the site the next morning.

The multitude of descriptive petroglyphs and alignments in the site correspond precisely with the circumstances of the event as modeled by the computer software, providing conclusive evidence that the event depicted was the solar eclipse of November 30, 3340 BC."

Want more info on this discovery? Check out the Oldest Solar Eclipse website.