RedShift 4 is a two CD-ROM set and you have a choice of three types of install depending on how you want to use the program and how much free hard disk space you have, these range from a minimum of 80Mb up to 420Mb with a recommended install of 260Mb. The more you install on your hard disk the less data will be required from the CD-ROM's with the maximum install only requiring the second CD to view the lectures.

Installation was very easy on all the three platforms the reviewer tested the program on, from Windows 95, Windows NT4 and Windows 2000. With plain instructions you will soon be up and running.

As soon as installation is complete you are asked if you want to run the program. I am a firm believer in first impressions, and right from the start I was very impressed.

You are first greeted with an animated and narrated introduction that shows you how to get started and displays some of the features of RedShift 4.

Your first task is to set your place on the Earth from where you want to views the sky from, this will normally be your home.

RedShift 4 uses many catalogs for its data base of stars and objects including Hipparcos, Hubble Guide Star and Tycho-2. This allows over 18 million stars to be plotted as well as a great many other objects, stars can go down to 20th magnitude.

The Sky Diary is another very good feature. This displays very quickly a month at a time, lunar phases the various planetary conjunctions etc. But takes it further by giving details about the events and gives descriptions with diagrams.

RedShift 4 also contains the Penguin Dictionary of Astronomy with over 425 photographs. This is a very good resource with plenty of diagrams to explain the text.

Of course the program will also plot the night sky as well :) There are plenty of options to change, so you alter the way you want the chart to look to suit. I have one criticism of the charting part of RedShift 4 in that you can't save a chart to an image, this is a serious omission and one I hope will be rectified in a future version or possibly a patch. You can of course print your charts which is does well.

In all I would rate the program highly and would not hesitate recommending RedShift 4 to anyone, and at only £19.99 it represents very good value for money.

Michael Oates , F.R.A.S.

Maintained by Michael Oates. Email
Page modified 19 January, 2005

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