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Using Celestia in a Planetaraium

Posted: 26.11.2019, 10:03
by Sorcha_BCO1
Hi, So I'm trying to use Celestia for my 4m Planetarium Dome, but I've encountered an issue or two I can't figure out/find the answer to and I was hoping ye could help.

First of all, when I plug in my laptop into my fisheye projector, it projects straight up onto the roof of the dome. Because of the size of the dome, this is very uncomfortable to view (as you have to sit with your head directly back). Is there a way to get Celestia to focus on objects in the bottom half of the screen, so that it would be more comfortable to view in a Planetarium?

Secondly, is there a way to fisheye Celestia? Currently when I use it, its just a projection of the rectangular screen so straight lines like any grid, or the rings of Saturn look stretched. Is there any way to fisheye Celestia when using through the interface and through a script?

Thanks so much in advance!

Posted: 26.11.2019, 17:48
by selden
Sorcha_BCO1 wrote:Hi, So I'm trying to use Celestia for my 4m Planetarium Dome, but I've encountered an issue or two I can't figure out/find the answer to and I was hoping ye could help.

First of all, when I plug in my laptop into my fisheye projector, it projects straight up onto the roof of the dome. Because of the size of the dome, this is very uncomfortable to view (as you have to sit with your head directly back). Is there a way to get Celestia to focus on objects in the bottom half of the screen, so that it would be more comfortable to view in a Planetarium?

You might try splitting Celestia's view horizontally and using the lower half of the window. With Celestia v1.6.1, select the menu
"View" option "Split Horizontally" or type the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-R

Secondly, is there a way to fisheye Celestia? Currently when I use it, its just a projection of the rectangular screen so straight lines like any grid, or the rings of Saturn look stretched. Is there any way to fisheye Celestia when using through the interface and through a script?

Thanks so much in advance!

Unfortunately, I think Celestia's source code would have to be modified to provide fisheye projection. There's an ancient discussion suggesting that it might be available commercially. See the thread at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10074

Posted: 27.11.2019, 09:23
by Sorcha_BCO1
That's great, thanks for your help!