Codepad – The ClassHelper.org™ Blog

Parents and teachers looking for a fun new way to reinforce basic astronomy concepts need look no further than Celestia. This free planetarium software package allows students to explore the universe in three dimensions, freeing them from the monotony of standard science texts. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux (the screenshots shown here were captured under Ubuntu Linux), Celestia is open source software designed to please any astronomy buff.

Update (March 26, 2009): I’ve posted a Celestia video that shows what this application can do.

Here’s Celestia’s default view, shown upon application startup:

Celestia - Start View - Earth

Navigating through the galaxy is easily accomplished using a combination of keyboard arrow keys and mouse motions. Learning the various keyboard shortcuts to accomplish common tasks can take a few minutes, but it’s time well spent. In no time at all, users can visit any of thousands of celestial destinations. Here’s a shot of Deimos, one of Mars’ moons, with the dipper constellations visible in the background:

Deimos and Dippers

Celestia includes a huge astronomical catalog, giving uses the ability to browse thousands of individual stars, star clusters, planets, and more. Our last image is Celestia’s rendering of the Hyades star cluster:

Hyades Star Cluster

If you use a mainstream Linux distribution like Ubuntu or Mandriva, Celestia is easily installed from your operating system’s software repositories. For Windows and Mac users, or Linux users who prefer to install manually, an appropriate installer can be downloaded from Celestia’s download page. Enjoy!