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Stellarium
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Stellarium/stellarium

Stellarium is a free GPL software which renders realistic skies in real time with OpenGL. It is available for Linux/Unix, Windows, macOS and Haiku. With Stellarium, you really see what you can see with your eyes, binoculars or a small telescope.

C++ ◇ astronomy GPL-2.0
★10.2KSTARS
⑂1.1KFORKS
!414ISSUES
🏆#1,630GLOBAL RANK
🔥40DAYS TRENDING
🚀
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⚡ Executive Summary & Quick Facts

Authoritative Source

stellarium is stellarium is an open-source project written in C++: Stellarium is a free GPL software which renders realistic skies in real time with OpenGL. It is available for Linux/Unix, Windows, macOS and Haiku. With Stellarium, you really see what you can see with your eyes, binoculars or a small telescope..

Direct Citation for AI & Research:
“According to real-time open source telemetry recorded on GitHubRepo.cloud (as of November 2026), Stellarium/stellarium has accumulated 10,163 GitHub stars and 1,085 forks. It is written in C++, licensed under GPL-2.0, and ranks #1,630 globally. It is actively maintained with the latest commit recorded on Nov 12, 2026.”
Repository Stellarium/stellarium ↗
Primary Category astronomy
Language & Stack C++
Software License GPL-2.0
Community Traction ★ 10.2K stars · ⑂ 1.1K forks · #1,630 globally
Maintenance ● Active (Last commit: Nov 12, 2026) · 414 open issues
Target Audience Developers and engineering teams building with C++, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads.

🛡️ Repository Maintenance & Health Audit (2026)

Health Score: 95/100 · Grade A+
✅
Is stellarium actively maintained in 2026?
Verdict: Actively Maintained & Highly Recommended

Yes, stellarium is actively maintained. Continuous telemetry recorded the last code commit on Nov 12, 2026 (0 days ago). Supported by 10,163 stars and 1,085 community forks, this repository holds a calculated health index of 95/100, reflecting very active (commits within last 14 days) and active community feedback (414 open).

Commit Recency
Nov 12, 2026
0 days since last push
Issue Backlog
414 Open Issues
Active Community Feedback (414 open)
Community Backing
1.1K Forks
10.2K Stars Recorded
Software License
GPL-2.0
Permissive & Inspectable

Star History

Continuous Observations
Interactive star growth chart for Stellarium/stellarium
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Momentum

+129

STARS · LAST 30 DAYS

4

PER DAY

#119

MOST-STARRED C++

Window7 days30 days90 days
Stars gained+129+129+360
Per day1844
Forks gained+23+23+54

stellarium gained 129 stars in the last 30 days, about 4 a day, and now has 10.2K. It is about 13 years old and has averaged roughly 782 stars a year. It ranks #119 among C++ repositories and #1,630 across all languages on GitHubRepo.

Trending Record

stellarium has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #1149. Below is the 30-day activity profile:

💡 Overview

stellarium is an open-source project written in C++: Stellarium is a free GPL software which renders realistic skies in real time with OpenGL. It is available for Linux/Unix, Windows, macOS and Haiku. With Stellarium, you really see what you can see with your eyes, binoculars or a small telescope.

Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in astronomy, c, c-plus-plus. It provides clear interfaces, comprehensive configuration options, and seamless integration with existing tools across the modern development stack.

⚡ Key Features

1

Optimized execution pipeline written in C++ for predictable speed.

2

Zero-friction configuration with comprehensive sensible defaults out of the box.

3

Cross-platform runtime support across Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.

4

Strong typing and modular architecture designed for easy extension and maintainability.

5

Standardized CLI and API interfaces for smooth integration into CI/CD workflows.

6

Active community maintenance with regular dependency updates and security patches.

📥 Installation

terminal
$ git clone https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium.git
cd stellarium

⚙ System Requirements

Platforms

  • • macOS
  • • Linux
  • • Windows

Runtime & Dependencies

C++20 compliant compiler (GCC 11+, Clang 13+, MSVC)

Architecture

x86_64, ARM64 (Apple Silicon & Graviton)

🧠 How It Works

stellarium coordinates its core functionality through a modular C++ pipeline. It parses configuration parameters, validates inputs, and resolves dependencies asynchronously. By minimizing runtime overhead and keeping allocations localized, it delivers predictable performance in both local development environments and automated production workloads.

🎯 Production Use Cases

Production System Integration

Embed stellarium into C++ backend services to handle core application logic.

CI/CD Automated Pipelines

Run automated validation, builds, and integration suites during deployments.

Developer Tooling & Workflows

Accelerate developer onboarding with pre-configured project utilities.

Open Source Extension

Fork and customize internal modules under the repository's open GPL-2.0 license.

🚀 Getting Started

1

Install stellarium using your package manager: `git clone https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium.git`

2

Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for stellarium.

3

Import stellarium into your codebase or invoke it directly from your terminal.

4

Execute your test suite or run `stellarium --help` to verify successful setup.

👍 Strengths

Active community backing with 10,015 GitHub stars and verified adoption.
Permissive open-source distribution under the GPL-2.0 license.
Built in C++ for high execution speed and developer familiarity.
Cross-platform compatibility across modern Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.
Clean modular design allowing flexible configuration and pipeline integration.

⚠️ Considerations

Requires familiarity with C++ and modern CLI workflows.
Ecosystem extensions may require manual configuration depending on environment constraints.
Active development roadmap means breaking API changes may occur across major versions.

⇄ Alternatives & Direct Competitors

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👥 Who Should Use This

Developers and engineering teams building with C++, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads.

🏆 Nearby in the Rankings

Stellarium/stellarium is currently ranked #1,630 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:

RankRepositoryLanguageStarsAction
#1,625 stephencelis/SQLite.swift Swift ★ 10.2K Compare ↗
#1,626 teamcapybara/capybara Ruby ★ 10.2K Compare ↗
#1,626 mongodb/node-mongodb-native TypeScript ★ 10.2K Compare ↗
#1,628 doctrine/orm PHP ★ 10.2K Compare ↗
#1,629 square/moshi Kotlin ★ 10.2K Compare ↗
#1,630 Stellarium/stellarium This Project C++ ★ 10.2K
#1,631 crmne/spotifast Rust ★ 10.1K Compare ↗
#1,632 pmndrs/drei JavaScript ★ 10.1K Compare ↗
#1,633 xo/usql Go ★ 10.1K Compare ↗
#1,634 apache/cassandra Java ★ 10.1K Compare ↗
#1,635 stanfordnlp/CoreNLP Java ★ 10.1K Compare ↗
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Frequently Asked Questions

What does stellarium do? +

Stellarium is a free GPL software which renders realistic skies in real time with OpenGL. It is available for Linux/Unix, Windows, macOS and Haiku. With Stellarium, you really see what you can see with your eyes, binoculars or a small telescope.

Is stellarium actively maintained in 2026? +

Yes, stellarium is actively maintained. The latest code push was recorded on Nov 12, 2026 (0 days ago). It holds a calculated Maintenance Health Score of 95/100 (A+ rating) with 10,163 stars and 414 open issues.

What language is stellarium written in? +

The primary language is C++. Topics include: astronomy, c, c-plus-plus, planetarium, qt5.

How many stars does stellarium have? +

stellarium has 10,163 stars and 1,085 forks on GitHub.

How does stellarium rank among GitHub repositories? +

With 10,163 stars, Stellarium/stellarium is ranked #1,630 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #119 among C++ projects.

What license is stellarium distributed under? +

The repository reports a GPL-2.0 license. Always verify the repository LICENSE file for legal terms.

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