11 October 2007

This is a blog item that needs to be converted to the new Bliki format

Celestia

I've been checking out a cool application this evening called Celestia which is a space simulation. It allows you to navigate around the solar system or galaxy and beyond and has amazing surface rendering of the planets taken from satellite imagery and can overlay clouds and atmosphere - it can even show the lights of our cities as shown in the image to the right. By default it runs at the current time, but you can speed time up as much as you like and watch how the planets and moons move in their orbits and you can even make time go backwards. Information can be overlaid such as names, orbits and constellations. If you plan on having a go, read the documentation first, because knowing how to navigate with the mouse and keys makes a big difference to you Celestia experience ;-)

• Celestia website
• Screenshot gallery