Celestia

kalikali
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Do you guys know Celestia ? It's a freeware astronomy 3D simulator working in OS X. The official web page is



http://www.shatters.net/celestia/



I've found it two weeks ago, and I'm so impressed, it literally stopped my work in LaTeX !



There is a community working on Celestia to bring more ressources, plug-ins and addons. It's unbelievable how much stuff you can download for this program.



Geez, I can't believe it's free ! If you don't know what it's all about, go to the above web site and download the software, it's totally free. It has many bugs, but it's working very well anyway. Tell me what you think.



I'm in love !

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Oh yea. I downloaded that a while ago. It is pretty cool if you like astronomy stuff. Some of the keys take a little getting-to-know. Now if only more things outside out solar system were added...



    This kind of software can only get better. 8)
  • Reply 2 of 8
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Yeah, I tried that a year or two ago. The controls were a pain in the ass, though. It could be vastly improved if someone would make a real GUI for it.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    kalikali Posts: 634member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    Yeah, I tried that a year or two ago. The controls were a pain in the ass, though. It could be vastly improved if someone would make a real GUI for it.



    Then you didn't tried the most recent version 1.3.1. It should be much improved. Try it.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    I just downloaded the most recent version.



    The controls are just as cryptic as before. It's still entirely keyboard driven with the exception that you can now select each commands from the menu bar (which doesn't help much if you want to navigate a lot).



    Would it kill the developers to slap in some actual GUI controls? A simple panel of buttons would make this application far less intimidating and would bring down the learning curve immensely.



    Eh. \
  • Reply 5 of 8
    kalikali Posts: 634member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    I just downloaded the most recent version.



    Would it kill the developers to slap in some actual GUI controls? A simple panel of buttons would make this application far less intimidating and would bring down the learning curve immensely.



    Eh. \



    I don't agree with the panel of buttons idea. It must keep the window clean and simple. I personally found that it's better to have a single letter keystroke than the command-key way, for this particular program. And use the console, by bringing it down with the return key.



    An example : you want to go to the moon. You type Return, and the console appears at the bottom of the window. Then type the name of the object and do a return. The object is then selected. Then type G (for Go), and Celestia bring you to the moon. It's clean and simple.



    There are so many objects in Celestia, it won't be a good idea to have them all shown in a menu or a browser ! The console is very well done and very usefull. For example, if you want to go on the planet Mordor (fictive), near the star HIP 600234, then you just type HIP 600 in the console and the console will show you all names beginning with HIP 600. Using the Tab key, you select the one you want (HIP 600234) and make a return. The console complete the name. Add a / and the console will show you all objects around HIP 600234. Using the Tab key, you select your object and make a return. You'll have HIP 600234/Mordor selected. Then type G. Zooo, you're there ! I find this way very efficient, especially when you want to visit objects in a catalog of several millions of stars, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, brown dwarfs, black holes, nebulas and galaxies !
  • Reply 6 of 8
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Well, that may work great for you, but I still stand by my request for a real GUI. Following your logic, we'd all still be using edit and vi for all our word processing, lynx for browsing the internet, and pine and elm for reading e-mail.



    Just my 2 cents.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kali

    I don't agree with the panel of buttons idea. It must keep the window clean and simple. I personally found that it's better to have a single letter keystroke than the command-key way, for this particular program. And use the console, by bringing it down with the return key.



    An example : you want to go to the moon. You type Return, and the console appears at the bottom of the window. Then type the name of the object and do a return. The object is then selected. Then type G (for Go), and Celestia bring you to the moon. It's clean and simple.



    There are so many objects in Celestia, it won't be a good idea to have them all shown in a menu or a browser ! The console is very well done and very usefull. For example, if you want to go on the planet Mordor (fictive), near the star HIP 600234, then you just type HIP 600 in the console and the console will show you all names beginning with HIP 600. Using the Tab key, you select the one you want (HIP 600234) and make a return. The console complete the name. Add a / and the console will show you all objects around HIP 600234. Using the Tab key, you select your object and make a return. You'll have HIP 600234/Mordor selected. Then type G. Zooo, you're there ! I find this way very efficient, especially when you want to visit objects in a catalog of several millions of stars, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, brown dwarfs, black holes, nebulas and galaxies !



    Funny, I seem to recall *me* taking this stance when you wanted a panel for everything under the sun in LaTeX...
  • Reply 8 of 8
    kalikali Posts: 634member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    Funny, I seem to recall *me* taking this stance when you wanted a panel for everything under the sun in LaTeX...



    Well, maybe that was an influence of my recent LaTeX experience :P



    Of course, I agree about the Mac GUI for every software on the Mac, except in the special case of Celestia, because I find its way really efficient. I agree that some of its keys are hard to remember, like U to show the galaxies. I guess it's U for Universe. The G letter is reserved for Go. Maybe there's a better choice of letters, I don't know. Celestia isn't a word processor. So why add the command key for the special menu options, while it's faster to use a simple key without the command key ? It's often like this in many advanced 3D modelers (MacroModel, for example). I surely don't want to see any floating palette in a 3D graphical astronomy program. I much prefer a single, clean, window without any buttons on its side. Like I said, it's not a word processor.



    What is bothering me in Celestia are its numerous bugs. Currently, it's just a kind of alpha version, a work in progress.
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