Celestia is a free piece of space simulation software which allows you to seamlessly explore the solar system … the galaxy and BEYOND!! Celestia’s development has been ongoing since 2001 and it has become immense with data added from the latest space missions and terrestrial telescopes.

The Celestia software is open source and although it comes with a large catalogue of celestial objects built-in, you can download and install add-ons like Kuiper Belt Objects, comets and spacecraft (both real and fictional) to expand your understanding of the universe and to whiz around like Captain Kirk. And if your favourite asteroid isn’t on the list, then make it so and upload it for all to share.

The free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.Unlike most planetarium software, Celestia doesn’t confine you to the surface of the Earth. You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.

[Via the original Red Ferret article]

Tags: celestia, space+simulator, space+exploration+software, planetarium+software