Celestia è un software freeware che permette l'esplorazione dell'universo a noi conosciuto in lungo e in largo...puoi viaggiare attraverso il sistema solare, visitare più di 100000 stelle e superare le galassie!!!

E' disponibile per tutti i sistemi operativi, viene aggiornato costantemente ed è molto semplice da usare.

Il sistema di navigazione è semplice e il database è sempre aggiornato.

Puoi trovarlo qui.

Un prodotto che non può mancare alla tua freewareteca.

gefunden von Martin auf dem Agenturrechner

A Cold Reception (Galanoth's Quest)

I have to say, this release was a huge disappointment for me. One new monster was introduced: Killy Willies. While this is nice and all, it's the ONLY monster in the entire quest. It gets really tedious fighting around 15 Killy Willies in that quest and nothing else. The minigame at the end was nice, but not enough to redeem having just one type of monster. I hope Galanoth's next quests are better than this one, or I'll be mojorly disappointed in the chain. Score: 6.0/10

The Hard Way (Lady Celestia Dragon Quest)

This quest also disappointed me, as it was even shorter than I expected and pales in comparison to the previous quest in this chain. You start off with a minigame in which your dragon practices flying. It was okay, although a bit too easy. Then you fight an Earth and Fire elemental, and that's the end of the quest. WAY too short. Havng to walk around and fight monsters before the boss after the minigame would've helped this quest greatly. But as it stands, I think this is one of the shortest quests out there. Score: 6.5/10

Overall Score: 5.5. It may seem a bit harsh to take off a half point, but non-DAs got nearly nothing at all, and I try to think of them, too :).

Stellarium is a cool little toy that shows a rendition of the sky from any set of coordinates.  You can see stars, planets, constellations (with or without artistic drawings of what they represent), galaxies, nebulae, alien spacecraft, black holes, and Nemesis.  (Okay, not really those last three.)  You can zoom in and out of space and also run time simulations in which the sun, moon, and stars flash by at dizzying speeds, a la The Time Machine.  In addition, Stellarium can be customized with one's own deep space objects and whatnot, although I've never used this feature.

Stellarium would likely be of interest to amateur astronomers, kids who are into space (i.e., all of them), astrologers, and science teachers.  Would-be interstellar navigators should also enjoy playing with it, although they might find Celestia more useful.  (I'll talk about Celestia some other time.)  It's also a very cool program for showing to people who think Linux is nothing but a command line interface and the vi editor.

Stellarium is available for Linux, OS X, and Windows.

"Bring the power of the Hubble Space Telescope to your computer screen, browsing the universe for astronomical phenomena in striking detail. Hubble images in full resolution are now available through Microsoft Research's free WorldWide Telescope (WWT) software. Pan across the constellations to find objects of interest and zoom in for close-ups, or zoom out for context. Hear professional Hubble astronomers explain the stories, science and significance of the objects in guided tours, or make your own tours to share with the public. WorldWide Telescope includes not only Hubble images, but a rich collection of visuals from both ground and space telescopes in visible light, infrared, x-ray, radio and other wavelengths. The universe in its full glory is yours to explore. "

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/

This software is like a planetarium on your computer but the level of detail way exceeds anything I've ever seen at a museum as it uses the Hubble space telescope. Users can develop their own tours of celestial objects or view those created by other with quick downloads, including audio. This program is a must look at for teachers of astronomy and those of us who dream of the stars.

JB

Imagem publicada pela NASA como Domínio Público

Hoje em dia é muito mais fácil observar os locais mais remotos do Universo, sem que para isso precisemos de adquirir um dispendioso telescópio. Há cada vez mais programas de software que nos permitem observar, com muito detalhe, os pedacinhos que quisermos do nosso céu. Neste artigo vamos dar-vos a conhecer quatro das mais interessantes soluções para observar o Universo com o nosso computador.

:: Google Earth/Sky View

A Google já tinha lançado o Google Earth, um programa que nos permite observar o nosso planeta como se estivéssemos num satélite, quando decidiu melhorá-lo introduzindo a opção Sky View. Esta opção permite-nos observar o céu como se possuíssemos um telescópio. As imagens vizualisadas são da NASA e, escusado será dizer, têm excelente qualidade; podemos até aplicar filtros de infravermelho e microondas! Com esta ferramenta é-nos possível observar, com grande detalhe, galáxias, nebulosas e todos os planetas do nossos Sistema Solar. Este programa tem duas grandes vantagens: a primeira é a simplicidade de utilização; a segunda é o facto de podermos utilizá-lo de dois modos: instalando o software no nosso computador ou simplesmente visitando o site na Internet. Recomenda-se vivamente a primeira opção, mas a segunda opção é muito boa quando estamos num computador onde não podemos instalar programas.

:: WorldWide Telescope

O WorldWide Telescope é o mais recente programa do género e é desenvolvido pela Microsoft. É semelhante ao Google Earth/Sky View - podemos observar o céu como com um telescópio -, mas tem muitas opções avançadas. Em primeiro lugar o WorldWide Telescope utiliza imagens de vários telescópios em vários pontos do mundo e permite-nos escolher qual o telescópio que vamos utilizar. Podemos até, recorrendo a ferramentas adicionais, observar o céu em tempo real, através de ligações directas a telescópios escolhidos para o efeito. Uma das opções mais interessantes deste programa é a de nos levar por visitas guiadas com narração. A maior parte das visitas são em Inglês, mas o programa permite-nos criar e narrar as nossas próprias visitas, que ficam depois disponíveis a todos os que as quiserem utilizar. Tal como o Google Earth, este programa vive muito de uma actividade comunitária, em que as pessoas trabalham em conjunto para criarem excelentes bibliotecas de imagens, visitas guiadas, informação detalhada de objectos celestes, etc. É um programa fascinante, muito completo e actualizado a um ritmo constante, mas só está disponível para Windows. Nos dias que correm, em que cada vez mais pessoas utilizam sistemas operativos diferentes, esta é uma grande lacuna. Todos os outros programas desta lista estão disponíveis para todos os sistemas operativos (Windows, MacOS e Linux).

:: Celestia

Celestia é um software de código-aberto que permite observar e modelar em 3D muitos pontos do nosso Universo. Ao contrário dos anteriores, o Celestia não depende de fotografias bidimensionais tiradas por outros telescópios, mas sim de simulação tridimensional, o que nos permite viajar para outros pontos do Universo e observar tudo a partir daí. Por exemplo, podemos viajar para outra estrela e tentar, a partir dessa estrela, observar o nosso próprio sistema solar. Podemos também programar viagens virtuais pelo nosso sistema solar. Imaginam-se dentro de uma nave espacial a viajar até Júpiter? Pois com o Celestia podem fazê-lo e até gravar a vossa viagem e divulgar o vídeo pelos vossos colegas. É um programa fascinante, mas exige um bom computador para se tirar todo o partido das suas funcionalidades.

:: Stellarium

Stellarium é outro planetário virtual, tal como o Google Earth/Sky View e o WorldWide Telescope. No entanto, esta é mais uma ferramenta de estudo que de entretenimento; visualmente menos apelativa, mas cientificamente mais correcta e precisa. É um programa para quem quer estudar o Universo (as órbitas dos planetas, o brilho das estrelas, etc) e menos para quem quer, apenas, maravilhar-se com imagens de objectos celestes. Tal como o Celestia, o Stellarium não utiliza imagens reais de telescópios. Recorre a um motor 3D para desenhar os objectos observados; mas ao contrário do Celestia, no Stellarium não podemos abandonar a Terra. Uma das grandes funcionalidades deste programa é a possibilidade de o ligar a um projector especial para recriar um planetário em qualquer lugar, ideal para escolas que não podem comprar os sistemas caríssimos que habitualmente são utilizados nestas situações.

:: Qual se recomenda?

Todos! :) Para já, podem visitar imediatamente o Google Sky, uma vez que não exige que se instale nada. Depois, com mais paciência, instalem os quatro programas. O Google Earth/Sky View e o WorldWide Telescope são muito semelhantes e oferecem-vos imagens lindíssimas do cosmos; o Celestia permite-vos viajar pelo Universo como numa nave espacial; o Stellarium permite-vos estudar o movimento e evolução de vários corpos celestes. O melhor mesmo é instalar e explorar os quatro. São ferramentas formidáveis, tanto em casa como na sala de aula.

Links:

• Google Sky (directamente pela internet)
• Google Earth (página de Download)
• Celestia (página de Download)
• WorldWide Telescope (página de Download)
• Stellarium

I suggested he should try to get Earth from Betelgeuse.

Now I might've done something silly, but we can't select Earth from Betelgeuse - but I selected 'Sol' for him and here's the image in 700x202 size as I see the banner (if size is different you just tell me, wokay?)

Notice, you doubters of the answer, that the apparent magnitude of THE EARTH'S SUN from BETELGEUSE is... ten point forty two. (Well ten point four two to be pedantically honest).

Here is the image for Harish (ask permission if anyone else wants to use - celestia for copyright, me for artistic license and THF for first-claim) 

PS: THF - Here's a better selection of images (mostly Creative commons or free-for-fair-use)

And, I've found (ok, so finding in this day and age is a tad bit overrated) a couple of really good open source sky mapping programs:

1. Stellarium: This is a planetarium software which means you'll have a pretty much earth bound perspective of the night sky. Excluding additional plugins or data files, there's a massive catalogue of over 600,000 stars and a pretty huge number of nebulae as well. The visualization is extremely cool with near realistic depictions of atmospheric conditions and light. For a given point on earth, you can choose how fast time passes, thereby being able to view the night sky in time lapse. I spent close to 4 hours last night trying to figure out the stuff I could do with this brilliant piece of software.

2. Celestia: While Stellarium is the equivalent of gazing at the night sky, Celestia is akin to travelling through space; delivering images of what stars, planets and galaxies would look like up close. The basic program consists of a catalogue of 120,000 stars from the Hipparcos Catalogue. Using key board or mouse controls you can basically travel through the universe (limited by available data) at speeds ranging from 0.001m/s to light years/s. Celestia is a very power and bandwidth hungry software, so I would suggest Stellarium to get a hang of things initially.

Frankly, there's nothing that puts things into perspective like marveling at the sheer magnitude of the universe and nothing...nothing comes close to the realization that we're a generation lucky enough to be alive during a time like this; a time when everything seems possible.

Links:

• Stellarium User Guide
• What Made Me Cry: Microsoft's WWT [From Scoble's Blog]
• Stellarium screenshot from here

Celestia uses the Hipparcos catalog of 120,000 stars (a product of the European Space Agency) and the VSOP87 theory of planetary orbits. The program does not use any stars more than 16,000 light years form the Sun. About 15 gb of extensions are available and it is highly customizable. For a nice overview of the wealth of the program, see this link in Wikipedia.

I noticed the new version was out though I haven't downloaded it yet. I still have 1.4.1 on my PC. It struck me though that I should mention this program. It is absolutely awesome software if you are interested in astronomy. It does take up a bit of disk space, especially with extensions. You can even output your travels to an avi file. It is a great way to kill some time, see some beautiful pictures and maybe even learn something along the way.

A view of Earth from far out in space.	A closeup of the space shuttle Discovery in orbit over Florida.
Mars's tiny moon Phobos.	1989 flyby of Neptune by Voyager 2.
Saturn and its rings.	Jupiter and its large moon Europa.
Extra solar planet Rho Cancri e.	Orbits of main belt asteroids (in brown) major planet orbits (in blue).

Galima keliauti po visą Saulės sistemą, iki kiekvienos iš daugiau nei 100,000 žvaigždžių ir net už galaktikos ribų. Lengvai suprantamas valdymas: užtenka pažymėti pelės kursoriumi norimą žvaigždę, atsiras jos aprašymas, spaudžiame "Go" ir kelionė prasideda. Celestia sudaro didelis žvaigždžių, galaktikų, planetų, mėnulių, asteroidų, kometų, erdvėlaivių katalogas. Jei ir to neužtenka galima papildomai parsisiųsti priedų su daugiau objektų.

Reikalavimai: Mac OS 10.2 ir naujesnės

Iš kur parsisiųsti: http://www.shatters.net/celestia/ (nemokama) P.S. taip pat tinka Windows ir Linux ;)

So what's special about the Geminids?  Phaethon is a source of denser meteors than are found in most other meteor showers.  This results in meteor paths that can be jagged and more meteors that break apart and split.  According to Space.com, the Geminids have a history of slow, bright meteors and faint meteors, but few medium-brightness ones.  The moon will be a faint crescent and peak times will see 60-120 meteors per hour.

For more on the discussion of whether Phaethon is a burnt out comet or an asteroid, check out Astroprof's page on the topic.  If you happened to download Celestia when I talked about it before, you can also download an add-on that includes a few thousand near-Earth objects.  Phaethon is included in that pack (it doesn't come with Celestia by default, or at least I couldn't find it).  That site (the Celestia Motherlode) has a number of very awesome additions to Celestia, so I recommend checking it out.

When I got my first computer, I had hopes of writing a program that would plot the positions of the stars as they were in space (3-D) versus how they appeared in the Earth's sky (2-D). I achieved a little bit of success getting the vectors worked out from the distance, right ascension, declination and so on. I had no easy way of visualizing it though. Doing 3-D plots in BASIC back in 1990 wasn't the easiest thing in the world. So that project died.

Then like a ghost, Celestia came to me last night. Wrapped up in her open source glory, I dared not even dream that she could perform what I had so long abandoned all hope of. But she did my friend, she did. (My wife won't like this imagery :))

Anyhow, Celestia is a totally kickass program for the Mac, PC and Linux that lets you navigate space. You can go into orbit around Phobos and watch the sun rise over the horizon of Mars. You can latch onto the back of the International Space Station and watch the Earth fly by beneath you. You can jump into hyperspace and visit Betelgeuse or Antares. You can watch the Milky Way grow small beneath you as you rocket many megaparsecs to galaxy NGC-4732.

One of my early motivations for wanting to be able to make a program that can do this is to be able to really visualize what a constellation looks like. We look up in the sky and see the Big Dipper, but those stars are really, really, really far apart. From the view of anywhere but Earth, they don't form a constellation at all. They aren't even barely neighbors. Celestia lets you see just how jacked up constellations are in real space. I love it.

You can also record movies of your random flights through space and write (and run) scripts that take you on tours of celestial objects. You can watch Saturn from the perspective of the Cassini probe (in real time). Seriously, does it get any cooler?

Es posible ver millones de estrellas en una representacion 3d del espacio donde seremos curiosos cosmonautas. Podemos buscar estrellas por su nombre y una vez encontradas viajar desde nuestra posicion hasta ellas como si viajaramos en el Halcon Milenario. O sincronizar con la orbita de un planeta y ver como gira en el espacio. Ademas disponemos de una gran cantidad de informacion interesante de cada estrella, planeta, luna o cometa. Es una aplicacion interesantisima que deberiais probar. Para instalar buscarla en Aplicaciones/Añadir o quitar aplicaciones/Educacion o desde el terminal con apt-get o aptitude, tambien puede instalarse desde la barra de direcciones de Firefox con apt://

Algunas imagenes:

Before reading the above Celestia forum thread, I was also not aware of the Orbiter simulator. It apparently does model gravity, is closed source freeware, but has an API.

El primero que podemos encontrar es Celestia Space Emulator, que permite explorar objetos del universo.

Otra aplicación de astronomía que podemos encontrar es KStars. También permite ver objetos del universo pero incorpora información sobre constelaciones. El interfaz es el de un planisferio. Aunque está diseño para KDE, también funciona en Gnome.

Por último, que no menos importante, está Stellarium, que personalmente es el que más me gusta. Este te permite colocarte en cualquier punto de la tierra y "observar" el cielo.

Instrument: Bushnell 12x50

Jupiter: bright disc, no cloud bands. Right bino tube seems to have slight astigmatism; right eye has no astigmatism in left tube.

Ganymede: distinct dot ~2d right of Jupiter's disc. According to S&T's online utility for identifying Jupiter's moons, the dot must be Ganymede.

Antares: yellowish-orange color that sparkles under magnification. Very nice.

M4 not visible, presumably due to sky glow and low-ap binos.

The "Antares pentagon" fills 80%-90% of bino's FOV.

Vesta: approx. same mag. as nearby HIP80793, distinctly dimmer than phi-chi-psi ophiuchus.

Celestia data for Vesta was incorrect. To display Vesta's correct position, Celestia's database must be updated. In the file Celestia/data/asteroids.scc, in the section for Vesta, the orbital parameters should be:

These values were copied from wikipedia's entry on Vesta. Some values lacked precision of metric values, so where more precision was desired the values were computed by dividing Vesta metric data by Earth metric data.

Used house fan to repel mosquitos. Need two fans as mosquitos bit leeward side (get it?) inside shirt.

for the REAL SITE! ]]>