Night Vision

Night Vision 5.4 is here!

Night Vision is a "planetarium" program that will display the heavens from any location on earth. Viewing options allow the user to control which sky objects to display, which font to use, and manipulation of various star parameters. Time may be set to run at multiple speeds, including backwards. Star charts may be printed.

A view of Night Vision
(Use the mouse to manipulate the view. Dragging will re-position as desired. The mouse wheel zooms in or out.)

Night Vision is written in 100% pure Java, allowing it to run on all major desktop systems. (Includes PCs, Macs, Linux, ...)

Version 5.4 adds:

• Installable packages with embedded Java software so that Java is no longer required to be pre-installed. Just download and run.
• Some accuracy enhancements - an updated leap year table and aberration correction.
• Solar System code ported to the Rust programming language providing executables that are native to the host system, available here.

Version 5.3 adds:

• Extended lower end of date range to 10 BC (previously 1000 AD).
• Option to include/exclude Pluto as a planet.
• Squashed bug that affected horizon shading in RA-Dec mode for years far from 2000.
• Updated Java constructs within the program to remove deprecation as Java evolves. Minimum Java version 8 is now required.

Version 5.2 added:

• Option to save Solar System window preferences for viewing of scrollbars and time controls.
• Corrected code that required Java 1.7 so that it runs on Java 1.5.
• Windows NV installer changed to InstallBuilder for uniformity amongst installers.

Version 5.1 added:

• Time controls added to the Solar System window
• Number of star names has been increased and reflects the latest standardized names used by the International Astronomical Union (IAU)

Version 5.0 added:

• Star database expanded to 11th magnitude - over a million stars
• Enhanced Find for stars includes additional designations (e.g. RR Lyr, P Cyg, d Cen, ...)
• Map added to Set Location window

Solar system window

(Note: The Solar System window has been released as a stand-alone program that doesn't require Java. See here.)

Requirements

Night Vision is written in Java and requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) which is embedded in some of the Night Vision installation packages (below). It can also run with a JRE already (pre-installed) on your computer (Java 8 or later), in which case an installation package without Java can be selected. (If needed, Java software can be downloaded here.)

Translating Night Vision

Night Vision has been designed to be readily translatable into other languages. See the online help for information.

A Russian translation of (a previous version of) this program appears here.

How to get Night Vision

Note: The following installable packages are hosted on the SourceForge software platform. Clicking on the links will transition to their website and begin an automatic download.

Note: Microsoft SmartScreen Defender, used in their browser, verifies only one version, and in this case that is the first one listed below. The second version (without the embedded Java code) has the same program code, but to install it you will have to maneuver around their roadblocks (... keep ... show more ... Keep anyway ... Open file). (For most users the first one may be preferred anyway as it includes the Java it needs.) Alternately the 5.3 release is available below, and has gone through the verification process.

Windows:
NV 5.4 with Java embedded (66MB)
NV 5.4 w/o Java embedded (25MB)

Linux:
NV 5.4 with Java embedded (67MB)
NV 5.4 w/o Java embedded (25MB) (There appears to be an issue with the program launcher and OpenJDK 23. Use the above link instead.)
NV 5.4 <32 bit> w/o Java embedded (23MB)

Mac OS:
NV 5.4 with Java embedded (67MB) (After install look for Night Vision in Applications folder as installer cannot start NV when finishing.)
NV 5.4 w/o Java embedded (26MB)

Users of other operating systems, and those who prefer manual installation, can click here (18MB). (Download to a clean directory, unzip, and double-click on the nvj.jar file, or use a web browser to follow the directions in nvj.html).

Source code is available here (18MB).

The 5.3 release is available below, and has gone through the verification process. The installable packages require Java (8 or later) pre-installed.

Windows:
NV 5.3 (22.8MB)

Linux:
NV 5.3 (23.4MB)
NV 5.3 <32 bit> (22.2MB)

Mac OS:
NV 5.3 (21.8MB)

Users of other operating systems, and those who prefer manual installation, can click here (18.2MB). (Download to a clean directory, unzip, and double-click on the nvj.jar file, or use a web browser to follow the directions in nvj.html).

5.3 Source code is available here (18.2MB).

Giampiero Spezzano has created a larger deepsky catalog here. (Over 13,000 objects.) Place in the installation directory (Mac and Linux - e.g. /home/<user>/NightVision/) or the "Night Vision" folder in the user's documents folder (Windows). (Also available here, but this copy may not be as fresh.)

Installable packages are created with InstallBuilder, a crossplatform installer builder.

Miscellaneous

Although Night Vision is targeted for astronomy enthusiasts, it is certainly useful for other interests, e.g. astrology and religious purposes. In May 2010 ASTROLOGYWIZARD featured this page for their

with the following kind words:

"It is straightforward, informative, intuitive, fully customisable and generally a joy to use."

You may Email me at:

Please prefix your Email subject line with [NV], as in

  Subject: [NV] Like your program!

This page last updated March 17, 2025