I recently got Celestia and it is incredible! That review in Sky & Telescope did no justice to the program. While I enjoy the program immensely, I noticed a few odd omissions and apparent quirks.
For instance, at least three very nearby and famous stars seem to be missing. I refer to Proxima Centauri, Wolf 359, and Sirius B. Perhaps I am doing something wrong, but I can't seem to find them in the star browser. Kind of a disappointment. I would have liked to used Celestia to check out Wolf 359, the most famous red dwarf star of all (extra credit if you can recall why it is so well known).
Also, a number of great astronomical sights are missing, such as M42 (the Orion nebula), the Double Cluster in Perseus, and a number of others. The sky seems a bit odd without those showpieces.
Is it my imagination or is Celestia unable to select galaxies for use with the "Go to" command? The only way I found I could leave the galaxy is to point myself in the direction of the other galaxy and really pump up the speed manually.
So, if anyone out there can either explain what I am doing wrong or if there is a way to add these things to the program, let me know.
Here are a few ideas for features that might be included in future versions:
* Sound effects. I think it would be great if there was some sort of "warp drive" sound effect for FTL zooms, especially if coupled with a "dropping out of warp" sound effect. That "atmospheric" sound file in the add-on section, to be perfectly honest, stinks.
* Skins? Quite a few programs these days allow the user to add "skins" to customize the appearance of the program, such as Windows Media Player. It would be nice if someone could come up with a "Starfleet" skin for Celestia.
Some Questions about This Great Program
Demented,
You might want to do some searches through the Celestia Forum for past discussions of the features you mention.
However, briefly:
Celestia currently comes with only the Hipparcos catalog of stars.
As a result it has no information about any stars that were too dim for the Hipparcos satellite to measure. It does not have any information about Proxima, Wolf 359 and other dim stars like them, nor for variables.
However, unlike v1.2.4, Celestia v1.2.5 prerelease 7 (the final version is not yet available) does include a way to add any stars you want in a textual database. (v1.2.4 does not.)
Celestia does not yet implement extended objects like nebulae.
v1.2.5 pre7 also implements goto for galaxies and globular clusters. (v1.2.4 does not.)
At the moment, Celestia's developers are placing more emphasis on accuracy (and getting 1.2.5 to work correctly under Linux) than on features like sounds and skins.
I hope this clarifies things a little.
You might want to do some searches through the Celestia Forum for past discussions of the features you mention.
However, briefly:
Celestia currently comes with only the Hipparcos catalog of stars.
As a result it has no information about any stars that were too dim for the Hipparcos satellite to measure. It does not have any information about Proxima, Wolf 359 and other dim stars like them, nor for variables.
However, unlike v1.2.4, Celestia v1.2.5 prerelease 7 (the final version is not yet available) does include a way to add any stars you want in a textual database. (v1.2.4 does not.)
Celestia does not yet implement extended objects like nebulae.
v1.2.5 pre7 also implements goto for galaxies and globular clusters. (v1.2.4 does not.)
At the moment, Celestia's developers are placing more emphasis on accuracy (and getting 1.2.5 to work correctly under Linux) than on features like sounds and skins.
I hope this clarifies things a little.
Selden
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Don. Edwards
- Posts: 1510
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Demented Astronomer,
Ah Proxima is right were it should be and has been there for sometime. Under the star browser Its right there as the second star in the list. Right under it is Rigel Kentaurus A & B a.k.a Alpha & Beta Centuri. Proxima was even in the basic star database that came with Celestia. Be sure you have the star browser set for the nearest stars within 100LY.
Ah Proxima is right were it should be and has been there for sometime. Under the star browser Its right there as the second star in the list. Right under it is Rigel Kentaurus A & B a.k.a Alpha & Beta Centuri. Proxima was even in the basic star database that came with Celestia. Be sure you have the star browser set for the nearest stars within 100LY.
I am officially a retired member.
I might answer a PM or a post if its relevant to something.
Ah, never say never!!
Past texture releases, Hmm let me think about it
Thanks for your understanding.
I might answer a PM or a post if its relevant to something.
Ah, never say never!!
Past texture releases, Hmm let me think about it
Thanks for your understanding.
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FaLLeN_SOuL
- Posts: 38
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- Age: 39
- With us: 22 years 1 month
- Location: Germany
For nebulae, pulsars, and the extended Tycho 2 star database, visit Rassilon's page - http://63.224.48.65/~rassilon/.
"I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
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Topic authorDemented Astronomer
Oops and Thanks
First of all, I admit I made an error concerning Proxima Centauri. It was there all along. But the omission of the other two historic objects did seem odd. After all, Sirius B was the first white dwarf discovered (it was detected by astrometric means years before it was sighted).
A little trivia now: Wolf 359 is well know for two reasons. Astronomically, it was for about 25 years after its discovery in 1918 considered to have the dimmest absolute magnitude for a star. But, most people today know it from its cameo in the "Best of Both Worlds" episode of ST:TNG where it was the setting for a battle where 39 Starfleet vessels attempted in vain to stop a single Borg cube.
As for looking through the forum, this is a *large* forum. While that's good because it means that the forum is being used and that Celestia has lots of fans, it also means that it takes a long time to wade through it.
The comments I made about sounds and skins were only opinions. I have no problem with people wanting to improve the accuracy of this great program. It was just that I was so awed by the smooth operation and ease of use of this space simulator, I was thinking of ways to enhance Celestia's already great appearance. I have tried its spiritual ancestor "Dance of the Planets" and it was not as user-friendly.
Keep up the great work.
A little trivia now: Wolf 359 is well know for two reasons. Astronomically, it was for about 25 years after its discovery in 1918 considered to have the dimmest absolute magnitude for a star. But, most people today know it from its cameo in the "Best of Both Worlds" episode of ST:TNG where it was the setting for a battle where 39 Starfleet vessels attempted in vain to stop a single Borg cube.
As for looking through the forum, this is a *large* forum. While that's good because it means that the forum is being used and that Celestia has lots of fans, it also means that it takes a long time to wade through it.
The comments I made about sounds and skins were only opinions. I have no problem with people wanting to improve the accuracy of this great program. It was just that I was so awed by the smooth operation and ease of use of this space simulator, I was thinking of ways to enhance Celestia's already great appearance. I have tried its spiritual ancestor "Dance of the Planets" and it was not as user-friendly.
Keep up the great work.
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Topic authorDemented Astronomer
One More Thing...
Just want to say thanks for all the informative responses to my post.
I am very impressed by the technical skill of many of Celestia's users. Creating textures, whole planetary systems, and such. Incredible.
As I said earlier, keep up the great work!
I am very impressed by the technical skill of many of Celestia's users. Creating textures, whole planetary systems, and such. Incredible.
As I said earlier, keep up the great work!
Sirius B is available as an add-on somewhere, but i'm afraid I don't know where..
"I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
One thing to bear in mind is that Celestia does not (yet) directly support star systems with multiple primaries. It does not know how to generate orbits around a mutual center of mass, nor can it illuminate an object from more than a single light source.
Such things can be simulated, however. One can create an ssc file with objects orbiting an invisible object and one can define "emissive" objects which appear to emit light, although they don't actually illuminate anything other than themselves.
An SSC file for Sirius B is in the thread
http://63.224.48.65/forum/viewtopic.php?t=376
Such things can be simulated, however. One can create an ssc file with objects orbiting an invisible object and one can define "emissive" objects which appear to emit light, although they don't actually illuminate anything other than themselves.
An SSC file for Sirius B is in the thread
http://63.224.48.65/forum/viewtopic.php?t=376
Last edited by selden on 06.01.2003, 20:12, edited 1 time in total.
Selden
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Borg Collective
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brunetto_64
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- Location: Toronto
Hi to everybody, I wanted to answer to Demented Astronomer.
The coordinates of the star Wolf 359 (also called GJ 406) you can find her on a file that you can find at: http://www.astronexus.com
This file calls HYG.csv (transform it in. xls!!!) (Hipparcus;Yale; Gliese) and it is a mix of the three stellar catalogs of the nearby star in the ray of 75 ly.
The stellar coordinates of Wolf 359 are:
RA : 10.9405
DEC :7.053054
Distance: 7.798 ly
Visual magnitude :13.45
Absolute magnitude :16.56
Star type : M6
See you later
Bruno
The coordinates of the star Wolf 359 (also called GJ 406) you can find her on a file that you can find at: http://www.astronexus.com
This file calls HYG.csv (transform it in. xls!!!) (Hipparcus;Yale; Gliese) and it is a mix of the three stellar catalogs of the nearby star in the ray of 75 ly.
The stellar coordinates of Wolf 359 are:
RA : 10.9405
DEC :7.053054
Distance: 7.798 ly
Visual magnitude :13.45
Absolute magnitude :16.56
Star type : M6
See you later
Bruno