Earth Celestia
Skies
Saturn

Celestia is a great multi-platform 3D astronomy program that allows the user to tour the solar system and universe.   I encourage everyone to install it, play with it, and see what can be done with it.  The user can write scripts for custom demos; and I put one together (posted at the bottom of this page) that tours the solar system.  It looks impressive on a PC with good graphics capability. 
I have installed Celestia in Suse 9.1 Personal, Red Hat 9, and Windows 98 SE; and it works great.  The main site is: http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

I'm working on my gallery.

The Suse 9.1 rpm is available through Yast.
The Red Hat rpm is available at: http://freshrpms.net/
It needs gtkglarea which I got with apt but is also on the 2nd Red Hat 9 CD.

 Here's the script for the mini tour of the solar system.  Just copy and paste into a text editor, save it as SolSysMiniTour.cel, click on it, and Celestia should run it:

# Start of Script --------------------------------------------------------------------
{
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # SolSysMiniTour.cel  Version 1.0.0  Last updated on 12/22/2004
 # Solar System Mini Tour: A brief tour of the solar system script
 # By: L2Cache
 # License: free for non-commercial use
 # ------------------------------------
 # Inspired by the demo, other scipts, and the script guide
 # Designed as a brief introduction to the solar system for students, etc.
 # It visits the Sun, our Moon, and the nine planets.
 # Tested with Celestia 1.3.0 - 1.3.2 on 640x480 and 800x600 displays
 # Tested on Windows 98SE, Red Hat Linux 9.0, Suse 9.1 Personal, KDE
 # The Sun spots will not show in lowres mode.
 # In Celestia 1.3.1 up, make sure orbits for moons and planets are activated
 # So that the script can show them. In Windows, on the menu bar, go to Render,
 # View Options, Orbits/Lables and check Orbits for Moons and Planets.
 # Leave other Orbits unchecked.
 # To clear the extra text on the screen, press the v key a couple of times.
 # Set full screen mode to hide the title bar.
 # Turn off your screensaver or up it's delay so the show won't be interrupted.
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 cancel { }
 wait {duration 2.0 }
 timerate { rate 1 }
 labels { clear "stars|galaxies|moons|planets|spacecraft" } 
 labels { clear "asteroids|constellations" } 
 renderflags { clear "galaxies|stars|planets|orbits|comettails|boundaries|markers" }
 renderflags { clear "eclipseshadows|pointstars|constellations" }
 set { name "FOV" value 21 }
 renderflags { set "cloudmaps|nightmaps|ringshadows|atmospheres" }

 set { name "StarDistanceLimit" value 3 }
 select { object "Sol" }
 renderflags { set "stars|planets|orbits" }
 labels { set "stars|planets" }
 gotolonglat {time 2 distance 3350 up [0 1 0] longitude 0 latitude 90 } 
 print { text "Solar System Tour - Press ESC to end.
 Now showing planet orbits around the sun
 If the orbits don't show in Celestia 1.3.1 up, go to
 Render, View Options, Orbits/Lables and check Orbits
 for Moons and Planets. Leave other Orbits unchecked." row -6}
 wait { duration 17.0 }
 gotolonglat {time 2 distance 7600 up [0 1 0] longitude 0 latitude 90 }
 wait { duration 9.0 }
 print { text "To clear the extra text on the screen, press the v key
 once or twice. To hide the menu bar, set full screen mode." row -3 }
 gotolonglat {time 2 distance 17000 up [0 1 0] longitude 0 latitude 90 }
 wait { duration 7.0 }
 gotolonglat {time 2 distance 33000 up [0 1 0] longitude 0 latitude 90 }
 wait { duration 5.0 }
 gotolonglat {time 2 distance 55000 up [0 1 0] longitude 0 latitude 90 }
 wait { duration 4.0 }
 gotolonglat {time 2 distance 75000 up [0 1 0] longitude 0 latitude 90 }
 wait { duration 5.0 }
 print { text " " row -2 }

 renderflags { clear "orbits|stars|planets" }
 labels { clear "stars|planets" }
 set { name "FOV" value 170 }
 select { object "Milky Way" }
 gotolonglat {time 2 up [0 1 0] longitude 0 latitude 0 }
 wait {duration 2.0 }
 set { name "AmbientLightLevel"       value 1.0 }
 renderflags { set "galaxies" }
 print { text "Our Galaxy, the Milky Way . . .
 If you can't see it, increase the monitor's brightness a little." row -3 }
 set { name "FOV" value 140 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 135 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 130 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 125 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 120 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 115 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 110 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 100 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 95 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 90 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 85 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 80 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 75 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 70 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 65 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 60 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 55 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 50 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 45 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 40 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 35 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 30 }
 wait { duration 0.1 }
 set { name "FOV" value 27 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 18 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 renderflags { set "stars|planets" }
 set { name "AmbientLightLevel"       value 0.1 }
 set { name "StarDistanceLimit" value 1000000 }
 print { text "Starting Solar System Tour . . ." row -2 }
 wait { duration 3.0 }
 labels { set "stars" }
 select { object "Sol" }
 set { name "FOV" value 26 }
 wait { duration 0.08 }
 set { name "FOV" value 25 }
 wait { duration 0.08 }
 set { name "FOV" value 24 }
 wait { duration 0.08 }
 set { name "FOV" value 23 }
 wait { duration 0.08 }
 set { name "FOV" value 22 }
 wait { duration 0.08 }
 set { name "FOV" value 21 }
 goto { time 10 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 10.0 }
 print { text "Let's start at the Sun with it's spots. . ." row -2 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 labels { clear "stars" }
 labels { set "planets" }
 print { text "Now on to Mercury . . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Sol/Mercury" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "Then Venus . . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Sol/Venus" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "And now, our Earth . . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Sol/Earth" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 20 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "Let's see the Moon . . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Sol/Earth/Moon" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "Show orbits and on to Mars . . ." row -2 }
 renderflags { set "orbits" }
 labels { set "moons" }
 select { object "Mars" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 renderflags { set "orbits" }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "And Jupiter . . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Jupiter" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "Then Saturn and it's rings. . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Saturn" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "Now Uranus . . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Uranus" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "And Neptune . . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Neptune" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "At last, Pluto . . ." row -2 }
 select { object "Pluto" }
 goto { time 15 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 15.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 15 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }

 print { text "And we head back home to Earth." row -2 }
 select { object "Sol/Earth" }
 goto { time 25 distance 10 }
 wait { duration 25.0 }
 orbit { axis [ 0 1 0 ] rate 30 duration 20 }
 wait { duration 2.0 }
 renderflags { clear "orbits" }
 labels { clear "planets|moons" }
 print { text "The End." row -2 }
 wait { duration 3.0 }
}
# End of script ----------------------------------------------------
 


Gallery Top This site is under construction Feedback get this gear!

This site constructed with Netscape Communicator 4.5 Composer and last updated Dec 22, 2004