Nightshade® Simulation Software

Nightshade is simulation and visualization software for teaching and exploring astronomy, Earth science, and related topics.
Our emphasis is on usability, realism, feature stability, and performance. Nightshade is largely backward compatible with scripts for Stellarium 0.8.2 and earlier using the StratoScript™ language developed and maintained by Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc.
Digitalis leads development of Nightshade, which is run under an open model where anyone can submit a bug report, feature request, code changes, and otherwise get involved. Most source code is openly available and our development roadmap is public. Our project site is: http://www.NightshadeSoftware.org.
Nightshade NG (Next Generation)
Digitarium systems ship with Nightshade NG. Check out some feature highlights.
- Nightshade NG was a complete rewrite from the ground up which threw out the limitations inherited from earlier projects in favor of advanced features supported by cutting-edge simulation techniques.
- Commercially licensed editions for dome use are exclusive to Digitarium hardware:
- Nightshade NG Professional
- Nightshade NG Basic
Nightshade NG Basic is a budget version with more limited features. For example, travel is limited to within our solar system and 3D model support is very limited.
Nightshade NG is a free upgrade for Digitarium users with at least Operating Platform 5 (OP5).


Nightshade is a registered trademark and StratoScript is a trademark of Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc.
We are extremely satisfied with the performance of the Digitarium Epsilon projector... We especially enjoy the alignment-free operation of the single projection system, plenty adequate brightness for our 30-foot dome, and excellent image quality...— Alan Gould & Toshi Komatsu, Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, CA