2500 comets and asteroids and Jupiter's moons have been added. Solar system bodies can leave a trail as they move across the sky. Sky rendering time has been cut in half, and startup time is also greatly reduced. New tools: Altitude vs. Time Plotter, Lightcurve plotter for variable stars, "What's Up Tonight" window (summarizes visible objects), and expanded Detailed Information Window. DCOP functions make it possible to script complex behaviors.
KStars is now officially part of the KDE project. The AstroInfo articles are now incorporated into the program, and are available in the Handbook. The display now includes a coordinate grid overlay, and the Milky Way contour is now filled. Star names include both the common name ("Betelgeuse") and the genetive form ("alpha Orionis"). Rise/Set times are displayed in the right-click popup menu. Many customization and usability enhancements have been made, as well as bugfixes, and performance boosts.
Addition of Pluto (KStars includes all planets in addition to the Sun and Moon), displaying stars with accurate colors, Messier objects are shown as inline images, a Milky Way contour line, links to over 300 excellent images of the night sky on the Internet, and many other improvements to the interface and performance.
