If you are a fan of Stellarium, then you will love the Universe Sandbox. It is the brainchild of Dan Dixon. And it allows you to play around with the universe. It is interactive and highly addictive.
The best way to understand it is to see it. Here is a video of it in action:
Here is a nine image collage, courtesy of the Universe Sandbox website (click on it for full image):
Here are some features:
- Full featured n-body gravity simulator.
- Simulate a moon orbiting a planet, four galaxies colliding together, or an unlimited number of scenarios.
- Uses real units for measurement: kilograms, meters, seconds.
- Includes 30+ systems, both real and fictional.
- Includes the 8 planets, 3 minor planets, 160+ moons, and hundreds of asteroids.
- Easy to edit system files let you create an unlimited number of scenarios.
- Complete Introduction and Tutorial built in.
- Full control of time.
- Speed it up, slow it down, stop it, start it.
- Full control of gravity.
- Increase it, turn it off, triple it, make it negative.
- Multiple Color Modes
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- Realistic color or Bright Color modes
- View color by velocity or acceleration to help visualize the relative motions of moons and planets.
- 3D mode for red & cyan glasses (anaglyph stereoscopic mode)
- Two collision modes
- Bounce: A fun fictional mode where bodies bounce off of each other like big rubber balls.
- Combine: A more realistic mode where bodies combine into a single body when they collide.
- Rings systems
- Rings are simulated as hundreds of particles and are effected by gravity.
- Check out the ring systems of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune.
- Generate rings around bodies with a single click.
- Galaxy Collisions
- Watch galaxies rip each other apart.
- Full sky panoramic view of the Milky Way
- Features Axel Mellinger’s amazing photography of the Milky Way.
- Easy to use interface that’s fully controllable with the mouse.
- Lots of keyboard shortcuts.
- Working Wiimote support.
- Capture high resolution screenshots
- Combines multiple screen captures into a super high Rees image; 50+ megapixel shots are possible.
- Easy Updates
- Automatically checks for updates so you’ll always have the latest version.
You can download a 60 minute demo. After that, you will have to buy it to unlock it. The cost is whatever you think it’s worth. Dan Dixon has obviously spent a lot of time on this, so remember that when you are setting your price.
this just looks like loads of fun.
I love Stellarium and use it all the time when I pull the telescope out. This looks like it would be fun for cloudy nights.