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This is meant for those who have a previous interest in astronomy and for those who might be interested if they knew more. The core is a display which can show the stars visible anywhere on earth on any day between 1975 and 2000, at any time and looking in any particular direction. The display is very easy on the eye despite being in only two colours. The brightness of each star is represented by four sizes of dots and you are able to select each constellation using its International Astronomical Union abbreviation.

The facilities you are given to control the display allow you to use this program for learning too. The manual, simple but comprehensive, suggests you choose the "ANY" option which means it will search its memory for a visible constellation and display it for you to learn or guess.

One of the greatest uses for those already knowledgeable in the area will be to pretend they are in a different location and then sample its stellar offerings. The only criticism I have is that when you set up a data it can't tell you if it's cloudy!

D.C.