Meridian is very useful to plan or verify the observations of planetary surfaces and of natural satellites for some planets.

Meridian is very user-friendly; the windows presenting planets are sizable. You can see the same object at different dates/hours, print the content of window, list the lunar phases for the current month and many other useful information.

Pursue this visit by displaying the Meridian interface: click on the Screen shot button OR use the Download button to get a version of this software.

Meridian simulates the position of planets in the sky and provides:
  • visual magnitude
  • apparent diameter
  • distance to Earth
  • illumination of the disk
  • inclination of the poles
  • central meridian
  • rise, transit and set
  • heliocentric position
  • geocentric position.

    For some planets, when appropriate:
  • phase (Moon, Venus, Mercury)
  • satellite position (Jupiter, Saturn)
  • Jupiter's satellite phenomenons
  • transit hours of the great red spot on Jupiter
  • seasons on Mars.