Stars, constellations, nebulas, galaxies, comets, planets, and satellites are just part of what you can visit with Celestia. You can also trace the orbit around a celestial body or follow it through space. Also, just like in a documentary about the universe, Celestia lets you create and run scripts in order to follow a preset path through space. Celestia is a free real-time space simulation that lets you experience our universe in three dimensions. Unlike most planetarium software, Celestia doesn't confine you to the surface of the Earth.
Celestia's Controls
Celestia Download Mac App
Using and navigating inside Celestia is not difficult per se but due to the extensive ways the user can move around it takes some time to get used to it. Navigation is done using a combination of keyboard and mouse commands. These commands are listed in the getting started guide of the official website.
Another way to navigate is to load and execute a script. What's interesting with scripts is that the user can share them with others or load them in a presentation session. In Celestia Motherlode, many community-created scripts are available for free download.
Celestia Software
Video and image capture
Another feature is the ability to capture images and videos, which is perfect for creators of scientific and technological content. To take a screenshot go to File => Capture Image.
For video capture go to File => Capture Movie then you will be instructed to configure video settings, after that the frame will appear on the software display then the user needs to click F11 start/pause the video recording and F12 to stop recording.
Celestia scripting
One of the best features of Celestia is the ability to program tours around the cosmos using a scripting language, scripts can be loaded to the software from File => Open script. To learn how to write scripts you can go through the guide on the offical website.
Celestia Features
- Free and open-source space exploration software.
- Realistic 3D models.
- Great controls using the Keyboard and Mouse.
- Add-ons to add features or new objects, you can check the list of add-ons from the official website.
- Display information about the objects on the display.
- Image and video capture ability.
- Scripting capabilities.
- A large set of 3D models for a variety of celestial objects.
- A lot of customizations.
- A tool to calculate eclipse and eclipse time.
Download the space exploration software, Celestia
Celestia is available on different operating systems such as Linux, Mac OS, AmigaOS 4 and Windows. To get the latest version of Celestia 1.6.1 for Windows with a direct and fast download button via Downzen click on the download button on this page.
To get the Celestia for other operating systems visit the download page on the official website.
Celestia gives access to hundreds of celestial bodies flung in the farthest corners of the universe. The navigation panel takes you to these places in a quick and easy way – so sit back, relax, and calmly check out the cosmos during your trip.
Stars, constellations, nebulas, galaxies, comets, planets, and satellites are just part of what you can visit with Celestia. You can also trace the orbit around a celestial body or follow it through space.
Also, just like in a documentary about the universe, Celestia lets you create and run scripts in order to follow a preset path through space. Every place you visit will be explained by an identifying label.
Notes
For Mac OS X 10.2 or higher