KStars
The facts below are what the maker publishes about KStars, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.
Plans and prices
From KStars's own pricing page, checked 8 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| KStars | Free | Free astronomy software |
The facts
Each one read from KStars's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Astrophotography
- The Ekos suite provides an astrophotography workflow with polar alignment, focusing, auto-guiding and image capture.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Automation
- KStars supports scriptable actions using D-Bus.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Catalogs
- Users can add custom object catalogs; the site lists extra star catalogs reaching magnitude 16 and a default NGC/IC catalog of about 10,000 objects.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Downloads
- The KStars download page offers Windows, macOS and Linux downloads and a source tarball.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Equipment integration
- KStars uses INDI to support astronomical equipment including telescope mounts, focusers, filter wheels, and CCD and CMOS cameras.checked 8 Oct 2026
- FITS files
- KStars includes a FITS Viewer for viewing FITS data files.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Latest listed version
- The download page lists version 3.8.5, released on 3 October 2026.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Notable limitations
- The site describes star-hopper routing as experimental and incomplete, and says observation logging needs more polish to be fully usable.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Observation logs
- KStars supports the OAL XML schema for observation logs, which the site says makes logs compatible with many software and log-sharing websites.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Privacy
- KDE's software privacy policy says KDE software generally does not transmit information from users' devices except as a result of explicit user action, with some exceptions described in the policy.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- KStars is desktop planetarium software for students, educators, amateur astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Sky simulation
- It graphically simulates the sky, including planets, up to 100 million stars, 10,000 deep-sky objects, comets and asteroids.checked 8 Oct 2026
The company
- Maker
- KStars is made by KDE; KDE e.V. is the registered non-profit representing the KDE Project in legal and financial matters.checked 8 Oct 2026
Money
- Observation planning
- Its observation planner orders objects for an observing session and can download DSS images for offline comparison.checked 8 Oct 2026
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