Touring the galaxy with Celestia
STAR JOURNEY
Space, the final frontier, is a bit too expensive for a short vacation. If a trip to the moon is beyond your budget, why not try Celestia, a free program that brings the galaxy to the comfort of your home.
Hover above the ISS space station watching the earth slowly rotate below you. Be an eye witness as the Cassini probe passes the rings of Sat urn. Visit the outer limits of the galaxy, or pay a visit to Klingon territory (Figure 1). Celestia will take you there! Touring Tool Chris Laurel developed Celestia [1] in 2001 to traverse and explore the galaxy in 3D. In the years that followed, count less volunteers on the Internet have helped to enhance Celestia. Now, Celes tia is one of those rare examples of a program that is not only valuable from an educational point of view, but is entertaining at the same time. Celestia really is fun, and it just keeps on grow ing. The standard package comes with a huge collection of space objects, and you can add additional probes, remote solar systems, and alien space ships, simply by downloading add-ons off the web. Among other things, the complete space fleet from 2001 -- A Space Odyssey is available as a download. Advanced users can design their own planets and fictional solar systems. You can use Celestia for classroom work or work out routes through the galaxy that you can then replay in demo mode.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.