New user asking for help

[ChrisB.]

Hi. I don't know anything about modelling objects for Celestia or making textures and stuff. Are there good sites on the net where I can download objects which I just have to copy into my Celestia folder? I am e.g. looking for the two asteroid belts of our solar system (inner and outer). And are there files to add ring systems to Jupiter and Neptune? Better textures, nebulas and so on. I'd be very pleased if someone could help me. Thanks.

[selden]

Chris,

There are quite a few sites with objects for Celestia like what you're looking for. I've collected a list of some of them at http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/

I hope this helps a little.

[Don. Edwards]

Be fowarned that pluging in those atsteroid belts with bring Celestia to a crawl. If you do load the asteroid add on I would go through and # out the smaller less important bodies. I have played with making an asteroid belt for the HD 28185 system that I have been working on like forever and have found that if you limit the amount of asteroids to about 200 Celestia will chug along quite well. As for the ort cloud just beyond Pluto no has made that add on yet as far as I know. It would also need to be limited down to about a couple of hundred objects or Celestia will choke. The present and near future video cards just don't have the power and memory to render that many objects and run smoothly. Maybe someone can think of an alternitive way to render the ort cloud but at this time its its very makeup is under hot debate. At this point it would all be conjecture and as some users of Celestia feel that it needs to be as accurate as posible would prefer to leave out what we are not sure about. Sorry I can be more help.

[Sum0]

The Oort cloud is pretty useless in Celestia, since at 3 light-years out it disappears because of some strange bug/feature.