RPharazon
2011-10-30, 03:40 PM
Space Engine (http://en.spaceengine.org/)
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/6599/spaceenginegeneral.jpg
Space Engine (http://en.spaceengine.org/) is a free procedurally-generated universe simulator. In a nutshell, it means that you can view the universe and everything will be new and fancy and somewhat random. Think of it as a Celestia (http://shatters.net/celestia/) that goes beyond the Hipparcos objects.
Space Engine generates everything from asteroids, to comets, to planets and their moons, to stars, to star clusters, to galaxies, and beyond. Its procedural generation means that everything is newly generated - just for you. Everyone will have a different experience, even with the same stars. The solar system is included, as well as everything in the Hipparcos catalogue and more.
You can browse around the galaxy, seeing amazing sights and going down all the way to the ground level of planets or asteroids. Time simulation is also included, which means that you can watch celestial objects go around in their orbits, forwards or backwards.
The fun is in finding the amazing unique bits of the universe. Gas giants and desert planets are a dime a dozen, but finding planets that can sustain - or already have - life is a rare treat. And finding habitable planets with life that orbit around gas giants, that themselves orbit around binary star systems? Completely possible. I myself have already found a few.
Space Engine isn't absolutely realistic when it comes to the probability of planet frequencies. For example, I found a double-planet system where both planets sustained life, orbiting around a binary star system. Not statistically likely, but it does happen.
This thread is meant to introduce people to this free universe creator, and to hopefully become a place where people share their discoveries and findings, or generally interesting bits of the universe. The thread's introductory image is a warm terra planet about twice the size of the Earth, with 42atm of atmospheric pressure, orbiting around a yellow dwarf star. There are infinitely more treasures to find. Enjoy!
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/6599/spaceenginegeneral.jpg
Space Engine (http://en.spaceengine.org/) is a free procedurally-generated universe simulator. In a nutshell, it means that you can view the universe and everything will be new and fancy and somewhat random. Think of it as a Celestia (http://shatters.net/celestia/) that goes beyond the Hipparcos objects.
Space Engine generates everything from asteroids, to comets, to planets and their moons, to stars, to star clusters, to galaxies, and beyond. Its procedural generation means that everything is newly generated - just for you. Everyone will have a different experience, even with the same stars. The solar system is included, as well as everything in the Hipparcos catalogue and more.
You can browse around the galaxy, seeing amazing sights and going down all the way to the ground level of planets or asteroids. Time simulation is also included, which means that you can watch celestial objects go around in their orbits, forwards or backwards.
The fun is in finding the amazing unique bits of the universe. Gas giants and desert planets are a dime a dozen, but finding planets that can sustain - or already have - life is a rare treat. And finding habitable planets with life that orbit around gas giants, that themselves orbit around binary star systems? Completely possible. I myself have already found a few.
Space Engine isn't absolutely realistic when it comes to the probability of planet frequencies. For example, I found a double-planet system where both planets sustained life, orbiting around a binary star system. Not statistically likely, but it does happen.
This thread is meant to introduce people to this free universe creator, and to hopefully become a place where people share their discoveries and findings, or generally interesting bits of the universe. The thread's introductory image is a warm terra planet about twice the size of the Earth, with 42atm of atmospheric pressure, orbiting around a yellow dwarf star. There are infinitely more treasures to find. Enjoy!