Selden's List of Resources for Celestia

June 30, 2008 by both Macworld and PC Advisor (UK)

3.0 Selden's Contributions

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3.1: Notes.

If you have questions about any of this, please don't hesitate to contact me. Send e'mail to seb@lepp.cornell.edu. Alternatively, you can post a message (anonymously or otherwise) on Celestia's Web Forum or use its Private Message page. If you don't tell me that something's unclear, I can't improve it.

In addition to the notes here, I've been adding quite a bit of information to the English version of the Celestia WikiBook.

• A Preliminary Celestia Users's FAQ

• Definitions of some orbital parameters
  From "Apocenter" to "Time of Pericenter Passage"

• A (not so) Brief Introduction to Add-Ons (3rd edition)
  Enhancing Celestia

  Note:
  The Addon-Intro Web page is too long to be completely translated by BabelFish or Applied Translation. It is now available in shorter sections starting at http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/addon-intro-p0.html

• Modelling for Celestia
  Making beautiful bodies

• Creating and using .SSC files
  Solar System Catalogs define the locations of orbiting bodies.
  • An example of using the Beginning and Ending directives: the appearance of a moon changes with time.
    (requires Celestia v1.2.5pre6 or later)
    • begend.zip (32KB 6Nov2002; updated 22Jul04) archive containing example files
      • begin_end.txt -- Instructions (2KB)
      • moonmaps.ssc -- Example (2KB)
      • sevaral JPEG surface textures used to distinguish the changed objects

  • How to transform orbital elements into Celestia's SSC format
    for comets and asteroids. See also Definitions of some orbital parameters

  • Creating and using Surface Textures
    How to make objects look better.

  • A Brief How-To for Virtual Textures
    Two ways Virtual Textures can be defined: a simple and a more complete example.

  • How to make panoramas for Celestia
    placing panoramic images within Celestia
    (This feature requires Celestia v1.3.1 or later)

  • A Map Plane for Celestia
    placing a small high resolution map on a planetary surface

• STC parameters: v1.4.0 (or later)
  New STar Catalog parameters define the locations of orbiting stars.
• DSC parameters
  http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Celestia/DSC_File
  DSC Catalogs define OpenClusters, Nebulas and Galaxies.

• 3DS Billboards for Celestia (Celestia v1.3 or later) (OBSOLETE)
• CMOD Billboards for Celestia (Celestia v1.3.2 or later)
  (both include texture files)
  How to display a picture of an astronomical object.

• Removing Stars from Nebula images
  Here's one way to remove stars from images of red nebulas.

• some Celestia notes
  Some cryptically organized information I've obtained from various places, including the Web forum, Developer's mailing list and Celestia's source code.

• Testing Celestia's Colors

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3.2: Minor Planet Orbits.

3.2.1: Visited by spacecraft.
3.2.2: NEOs.
3.2.3: Trojans.
3.2.4: Others.


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3.3: Comet Orbits.

3.3.1: Comet Hale-Bopp.
3.3.2: Comet Hyakutake.
3.3.3: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
3.3.4: Comet 81P/Wild 2.
3.3.5: Comet 46P/Wirtanen.
3.3.6: Comet C/2000 V1 (NEAT).


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3.4: Spacecraft Orbits.

3.4.1: Cassini.
3.4.2: Ulysses.
3.4.3: Stardust.
3.4.4: INTEGRAL.
3.4.5: Rosetta.
3.4.6: Galileo.
3.4.7: GRACE-1 & GRACE-2.
3.4.8: NAVOCEANO MCSST.
3.4.9: Voyager 1.
3.4.10: Voyager 2.


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3.5: Catalogs of Objects.

(For Celestia v1.3 or later)
3.5.1: Open Clusters.
3.5.2: Globular Clusters, Galaxies and Galaxy Clusters.
3.5.3: Planetary Nebulæ.
3.5.4: ExtraSolar Planets.
3.5.5: Messier Catalogs.


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3.6:  Selden's Graticules for Celestia

(and other measuring sticks)
• Selden's Graticules for Celestia
(and other measuring sticks)

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3.7: Selden's Gallery.(includes some textures)

• Gallery 1
  • Celestia Screenshots
    • Spokes of stars in StarsDB v2?
    • Ida seen from Dactyl
    • ISS Closeup
    • SL9-B with SL9-A and Jupiter
  • Venus
    • Venus Transits Jupiter in 1818
    • Venus Occults Mercury in 1737
  • Mars
    • Mars Transits Saturn in 9 BC
    • Mars Transits Jupiter in 1170
    • Mars as seen by Percival Lowell
    • RGB Mars as seen by Celestia
  • Saturn
    • Saturn's rings casting shadows
    • The Shadow of Iapetus in the Shadow of the Rings
    • Pan in Enke's Gap: ring bug
    • Pan in Enke's Gap: ring fixed
    • Saturn by Cassini
    • Saturn by Celestia

• Some of Gallery 1 using Cel:// URLs
  You need to have Celestia v1.3 or later installed in order to be able to do anything useful with this gallery.

• Gallery 2 Mars: Screenshots and surface texture maps.
  • Percival Lowell's Mars
  • Mars data maps from MOLA

• The Moon: Screenshots and surface texture maps.
  • Gallery 3: Lunar data maps from Prospector
  • Gallery 4: Lunar data maps from Clementine

• Some of Selden's models viewed using Celestia
  • Bonestell & von Braun
  • Gamma Ray Telescope
  • Hale Telescope.
  • Pell Station
  • Philmont in 3D.
  • Project Orion

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3.8: Deep Space Addons.

Redundant links to some of the Deep Space (Nebula) Addons hidden among these various pages.

3.9:  Frans Blok's Map of RGB Mars. (includes textures)


• Frans Blok's Map of RGB Mars. (includes textures)



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3.10: Some of Selden's Addons

• Bonestell & von Braun
• Gamma Ray Telescope
• Hale Telescope.
• Pell Station
• Philmont in 3D.
• Project Orion

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3.11: Scripts

• Pointing Hubble
  pointing_hubble.html

4.0 Astronomical Resources

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4.1:  Arithmetic

(Determining appropriate orbital parameters)

4.1.1: Instruction

• Title: Fundamentals of Astrodynamics
  Author: Bate, Roger R, Mueller, Donald D, and White, Jerry E.
  ISBN: 0-486-60061-0
  Publisher: Dover Publications, Inc.
  Comments: 455 ppg ~$15

• Introduction to Basics of Space Flight
  
  http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/products/pdfs/20070130_CHARM_Doody.pdf
• Basics of Space Flight (a JPL tutorial)
  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/index.html

• Astronomy 121 (Planets, Stars and Galaxies)
  at the University of Oregon, by Davison E. Soper
  http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/astr121.html
• Astronomy Workshop
  http://janus.astro.umd.edu/index.html
• Definitions of Keplerian orbital parameters (Epoch, Inclination, etc)
  http://www.znark.com/sat/elements.html
• Astronomical calculations
  (US Mirror: original site gone?)
  http://www.xylem.f2s.com/kepler/
  by Keith Burnett
• Kepler's Laws
  http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/kepler.html
  by Rod Nave, Georgia State Univ.
• By Paul Schlyter, Stockholm, Sweden
  • How to compute planetary positions
    http://stjarnhimlen.se/comp/ppcomp.html
  • Computing planetary positions - a tutorial with worked examples
    http://stjarnhimlen.se/comp/tutorial.html
• Positional Astronomy
  http://star-www.st-and.ac.uk/~fv/webnotes/index.html
  by Fiona Vincent
• Resources from Space, Lecture #8: Spacecraft Trajectories
  http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/~jfs/neep602.lecture8.trajectories.97/neep602.lecture8.trajectories.97.html
  (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
• Orbital Mechanics
  http://www.braeunig.us/space/orbmech.htm

4.1.2: Calculators.

See http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/cal_art.html for a description of the differences between Christian Gregorian and Julian calendar syatems and the Common and Astronomical calendar systems.

Use either of these two calculators for dates in Celestia:

• Julian Day Converter (Calendarhome.com; uses Astronomical calendar: has year 0)
  http://www.calendarhome.com/converter/
• The Julian Date Project (includes year 0)
  http://jday.sourceforge.net/index.php

  The following have no year 0 and thus don't understand the Astronomical calendar, which is used by Celestia:

• Julian Day calculator (JavaScript) (UTexas: only after 1582 when Gregorian calendar changed)
  http://quasar.as.utexas.edu/BillInfo/JulianDateCalc.html
• Julian Day Converter (USNO; uses Gregorian calendar: no year 0)
  http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html

• NASA Object Position Finder, Coordinate Converter, and Separation Calculator
  http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/Tools/convcoord/convcoord.pl

• Java calculators at the Chandra X-ray Center
  • Dates (Calendar, Julian, Modified Julian, and Day of Year for years > 0)
    http://cxc.harvard.edu/toolkit/dates.jsp
  • Precess (Celestial Coordinate Conversion and Precession)
    http://cxc.harvard.edu/toolkit/precess.jsp
    • Precess help
      http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/ahelp/precess.html
    • Precess instructions
      http://ledas-cxc.star.le.ac.uk/udocs/docs/PG/html/node76.html

• Simple Hohmann Transfer Orbit Calculator
  http://home.att.net/~ntdoug/smplhmn.html
  by ntdoug

• Cassini Saturn encounters (Ephemerides for ring crossings and satellite flybys)
  • http://ringside.arc.nasa.gov/tools/ephem2_satc.html
  • http://ringside.arc.nasa.gov/tools/tracker2_satc.html

• JPL's HORIZONS System (Ephemerides and orbital elements for more than 100,000 objects)
  http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?horizons
  Use its telnet intreface for the most flexibility.
  or the e'mail interface and this template message: horizons-template.txt when asking for many xyz samples.
• Mars Society: Trajectories to Mars
  http://meridiani2.usc.edu/trajcalc.html
  (requires MSIE: doesn't work with Firefox)
• Links to Orbital Mechanics and other Space Flight Calculators
  (some links are broken)
  http://www.toancausoft.com.vn/utc/hsg/refcalculators4.html#AERO-ORBIT

4.1.3: Tables.

• Conversion of Absolute Magnitude to Diameter (of minor planets)
  http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/Sizes.html
• Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Elements
  http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sat_elem.html
• Spectral Classes, mass relationships, etc.
  http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/education/senior/astrophysics/spectral_class.html

4.1.4: Libraries.

• IAU initiative: "...authoritative set of constants, algorithms and procedures that implement standard models used in fundamental astronomy."
  SOFA Libraries Issue 2009-02-01 (Fortran & C versions)
  http://www.iau-sofa.rl.ac.uk/2009_0201.html
  Standards Of Fundamental Astronomy
  http://www.iau-sofa.rl.ac.uk/
• Starlink Project
  http://star-www.rl.ac.uk/
  http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/software/starlink/index.html
• Java Astrodynamics Toolkit (JAT)
  http://jat.sourceforge.net/

4.1.5: Programs.

• StarSplatter -- creates images from astrophysical particle simulation data
  http://www.psc.edu/Packages/StarSplatter_Home/
• http://www.jaqar.com/ Orbit calculators
  • Swing-By Calculator
    http://www.jaqar.com/swingby.html
• ORSA: Orbit Reconstruction, Simulation and Analysis
  http://orsa.sourceforge.net/index.html
• NASA General Mission Analysis Tool
  http://gmat.gsfc.nasa.gov/
• ETA Space Trajectory Analysis
  http://sta.estec.esa.int/Space_Trajectory_Analysis/Home.html
• The Open-Source, Extensible Spacecraft Simulation And Modeling Environment
  Open-SESSAME
  http://spacecraft.sourceforge.net/
• Digital Spaces:
  collaborative design engineering and training platform
  http://www.digitalspaces.net/
• NASA COSMIC Collection
  http://www.openchannelfoundation.org/cosmic/

• Spacecraft Trajectory creator for Celestia (by Toti)
  http://www.shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=46659&

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4.2:  Solar System Information

• Planetary Fact Sheets
  http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html
• Nine Planets.Org
  (Bill Arnett) at U.of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and the
  Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
  • NinePlanets: Asteroids

• CfA Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences Division
  http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/ssp/
  of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
  • Lists and Plots: Minor Planets
  • Unusual Minor Planets

• Population and Size Distribution of Small Jovian Trojan Asteroids, Jewitt & Trujillo (PDF)

• JPL
  • JPL's HORIZONS System (Ephemerides and orbital elements for more than 100,000 objects)
    http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?horizons
  • Solar System Dynamics Small Body Database Browser
  • NASA's Near-Earth Object Program (includes orbit element search)
    • http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=#### returns ephemeris for object ####
      e.g. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=433 returns 433 Eros' ephemeris.
  • Orbits of NEOs
• NASA NEAR mission details

• NeoDyS: Near Earth Objects - Dynamic Site (University of Piza, Italy)
• AstDyS: Asteroids - Dynamic Site (University of Piza, Italy)
• Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (NSSDC)

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4.3: Surface textures and maps

• Cylindrical Planetary Map List
  http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/spaceart/planetcylmaps.html
  List and critique, compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
  • Usage FAQ http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/faqusage.html
  • Planetary maps http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/spaceart/cylmaps.html
    Earth: ice age & unglaciated; other bodies.

• Steve Albers' Planetary Maps
  http://laps.noaa.gov/albers/sos/sos.html
• Phil Stookes' Cartography of Non-Spherical Worlds
  http://publish.uwo.ca/~pjstooke/plancart.htm

• SolarViews
  http://www.solarviews.com/
• Solar System Maps and Models
  http://www.planetscapes.com/maps/
  by Calvin J. Hamilton
• Planetary Imagry Sites
  http://www.lpi.usra.edu/library/LISTS/img_file.html
  compiled by the Lunar and Planetary Institute
  http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi.html

• Björn Jónsson's Renderings and Models
  http://www.mmedia.is/~bjj/
• The Art of Evil Dr. Ganymede
  http://evildrganymede.net/
  aka Dr. Constantine Thomas
  includes surface textures for Cytherea, Terraformed Venus, etc. at http://www.evildrganymede.net/art/maps.htm
• Images of Terraforming
  http://www.geocities.com/planetary_engineering/image.html
  (includes Cytherea maps)
• J.H.T.'s Planetary Pixel Emporium
  http://gw.marketingden.com/planets/
  by James Hastings-Trew
• http://www.space-graphics.com/
  Relief and Texture maps of Earth and Mars
• http://tomruen.topcities.com/geo/shade/topo.htm
  Tom Ruen's bump map links and surface textures (need to be resized for use by Celestia)

• Rectangular Paleogeographic maps of the Earth
  http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/rect_globe.html
  Note: these maps have to be resized to work with Celestia
  
  • Global Paleogeographic Views of Earth History - Late Precambrian to Recent
    http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/globaltext2.html
    by Dr. Ron Blakey of Northern Arizona University

• Tor 0ra
  http://www.oera.net/How2/TextureMaps.htm
  Note: these maps have to be resized to work with Celestia
  See also the Tor 0ra home page at http://www.oera.net/
• Jules Map Server
  http://www.unavco.org/
  Earth and the Solar System Java Web displays
  http://www.unavco.org/edu_outreach/map_tools/map_tools.html
• A Space Library
  http://samadhi.jpl.nasa.gov/
  by David Seal
  • http://maps.jpl.nasa.gov/ Maps of the Solar System

• USGS Astrogeology planetary and satellite maps
  • http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/DataAndInformation/ImagesAndMaps/
  • http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/BrowseTheSolarSystem/wall_txt.html
  • http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/JupiterSatellites/

• NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
  http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/stories/
  This site's "Story" pages include many high resolution TIFF "flats" which are easily converted to texture maps for use on the Earth, Mars and other planetary models.
• Stooke Small Body Maps
  http://www.psi.edu/pds/maps.html
• NASA's Planetary Maps
  http://pdsmaps.wr.usgs.gov/maps.html
  also reachable as
  http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/Map-a-Planet/
  high resolution files are avilable at
  • ftp://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/mars/usgs/
• Earth Observatory
  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images_topic_index.php3?page=20&topic=land
• Lunar Prospector: surface maps (800x400) and videos.
  http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/
  • 3D Lunar Data Maps
    http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/datavis/3ddata/index.htm
  • Map format selection
    http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/datavis/3ddata/multidata.htm:

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4.4: Extrasolar Planets

• The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia
  http://exoplanet.eu/
• Exoplanet mailing list and archives
  http://listes.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr/wws/arc/exoplanets/
• Califorina & Carnegie Planet Search
  http://exoplanets.org/
• The Search for Another Earth
  http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/
• Nonprofit Planet Search organization
  http://www.planetquest.org
• Recent extrasolar planets
  http://zebu.uoregon.edu/newplanet.html
  (includes simplified tutorial on detection principles)

• Systemic: simulation of extra-solar systems
  http://www.oklo.org/
  • UC Santa Cruz Press release:
    Planet hunters wanted to help astronomers in the search for new worlds
    http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/press_releases/text.asp?pid=958

• ExtraSolar Visions
  http://www.extrasolar.net/
  • http://www.extrasolar.net/forums/index.php

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4.5: Compendia

4.5.1: Catalogs.

• Planetary Fact Sheets
  http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html

• I/239 The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues (ESA 1997)
  • Hipparcos Site Guide (stellar position measurements)
  • 118,218 stars in main Hipparcos catalog
  • Uses HIP and HD numbers
  • ftp: (partial) ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/cats/I/239

• A few of the Catalogs with radial velocities; available at CDS
  • I/196 HIPPARCOS Input Catalogue, Version 2 (Turon+ 1993)
    • 118,209 stars
    • Includes HD and HIC numbers
    • Ftp: ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/cats/I/196
  • III/190B WEB Catalog of Radial Velocities (Duflot+ 1995)
    • 20,793 stars
    • includes HD and HIC numbers
    • ftp: ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/cats/III/190B
  • J/A+A/381/446 Astrometric Radial Velocities. III. (Madsen+, 2002)
    • about 1,000 stars in 11 clusters and associations
    • uses HIP numbers
    • ftp: ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/cats/J/A+A/381/446
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4.5.2: Catalog Servers.

• ARICNS: ARI Database for Nearby Stars
  http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/aricns/
  at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Heidelberg

• AstDys Orbital elements
  http://hamilton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/astdys/astibo?orbital_elements:0;main
  at AstDys: Asteroids - Dynamic Site
  http://hamilton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/astdys/astibo

• COSMOS -- Cosmic Evolution Survey
  http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~cosmos/
  • data sets at IRSA
    http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/COSMOS/
  • image viewer for oversize images (10^10 pixels; uses popup window)
    http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/COSMOS/skywalker/#
• IPAC GATOR catalog search
  http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/applications/Gator/
  at IRSA
  http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/
• NED -- NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
  http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/
• MAST -- Multimission Archive at Space Telescope
  http://archive.stsci.edu/ (Quick Targer Search)
• HEASARC -- High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center
  http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/
• LAMBDA -- Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis
  http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/
• Chandra X-ray Center
  http://cxc.harvard.edu/
• NSSDC Astronomy and Astrophysics
  http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/
  Multiwavelength Milky Way
  http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/mw/milkyway.html

• NASA's Astrophysics Data Facility
  http://adf.gsfc.nasa.gov/adf/
• NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service
  http://adsabs.harvard.edu/ads_abstracts.html

• Guide Star Catalog
  http://www-gsss.stsci.edu/gsc/GSChome.htm

• Hipparcos and Tycho Catalog Search
  http://www.rssd.esa.int/index.php?project=HIPPARCOS&page=hipsearch

• SIMBAD: Query by identifier, coordinates or reference code
  http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/sim-fid.pll

• Sloan Digital Sky Survey
  http://www.sdss.org/
  • Sloan Data Release 3
    http://www.sdss.org/dr3/
  • DR3 Sky coverage
    http://www.sdss.org/dr3/coverage/index.html
  • Image Query Server
    http://cas.sdss.org/astro/en/tools/search/IQS.asp

  • Sloan Data Release 2
    http://www.sdss.org/dr2/access/index.html
  • DR2 Sky coverage
    http://www.sdss.org/DR2/coverage/
  • DR2 SQL form
    http://cas.sdss.org/astro/en/tools/search/sql.asp
  • The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog
    http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~ivezic/sdssmoc/sdssmoc.html

• VizieR Astronomical Catalog Service (home site in France)
  http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR

• WebDA Open cluster database
  http://obswww.unige.ch/webda/
• Deep Sky Objects: maps and lists
  http://www.messier45.com/
• Eric Honeycutt's PNe and other astronomy links
  http://www.icplanetaries.com/links.html

• Research Consortium on Nearby Stars
  http://www.chara.gsu.edu/RECONS/
• NStars Project at NAU
  http://www.nstars.nau.edu/
  Database of nearby stars (within 25 parsecs)
  NStars Project at Northern Arizona University
• NStars Project at NASA
  http://nstars.arc.nasa.gov/index.cfm
  NASA's equivalent database of nearby stars ( within 25 parsecs)
• NearBy Star Observers
  http://www.nbso.org/

• ADC to close
• VizieR Astronomical Catalog Service (U.S.mirror at ADC)
• Astronomical Data Center home page
• Official Alternatives to the ADC
  • Data and Catalog Services: CDS (France) -- Centre de Données astronomiques de Starasbourg
  • Data Mining & the NVO: ADC's Data Mining Resources for Space Science
  • FITS Support Office: HEASARC FITS -- FITS Support Office Home Page
  • VizieR Mirror at CADC (Canada):
    http://vizier.hia.nrc.ca/
    The VizieR Catalogue Service at CADC/CCDA (the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre)
    http://cadcwww.dao.nrc.ca/CADC-homepage.html
    Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics
    http://www.hia.nrc.ca/hia.html
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4.5.3: Image Servers.

• Chandra X-Ray Observatory
  http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/category.html

• European Southern Observatory
  http://www.eso.org/outreach/gallery/astro/

• Hubble Space Telescope
  • Two Line Elements for scientific satellites, including HST
    http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/science.txt
  • Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility
    http://ecf.hq.eso.org/
  • Space Telescope Science Institute
    http://www.stsci.edu/
    • The STScI Digitized Sky Survey
      http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form

    • MultiMission Archive at Space Telescope
      http://archive.stsci.edu/
      • The Hubble Ultra Deep Field
        • http://www.stsci.edu/hst/udf/index_html
        • http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/survey/hubble-ultra-deep-field/2004/07/
      • The Hubble Deep Field
        http://www.stsci.edu/ftp/science/hdf/hdf.html
      • Hubble Deep Field South
        http://www.stsci.edu/ftp/science/hdfsouth/hdfs.html

    • STScI/HST Public Information
      http://www.stsci.edu/public.html
    • Astronomical Software & Documentation Service
      http://asds.stsci.edu/
    • Hubble Heritage
      http://heritage.stsci.edu/
    • HubbleSite
      http://hubblesite.org/

• ISSA Image Server
  http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/
  • IRAS
    http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/Missions/iras.html

• National Optical Astronomy Observatory (U.S.)
  http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/

• Spitzer Space Telescope (previously SIRTF)
  http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/
• Sloan Digital Sky Survey
  http://www.sdss.org/
  • SDSS visual browser
    http://skyserver.pha.jhu.edu/dr1/en/tools/chart/navi.asp
  • Sloan Data Relase 1
    http://www.sdss.org/dr1/
  • Sloan Digital Sky Survey SkyServer
    http://skyserver.sdss.org/en/

• The Two Micron All Sky Survey at IPAC
  http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/
  • IPAC Missions Gallery
    http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/image_galleries/missions_gallery.html

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4.5.4: All-Sky Servers.

• Digitized Sky Survey
  http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form

• U.S. National Virtual Observatory
  http://www.us-vo.org/
  • Montage: An astronomical image mosaic service by the National Virtual Observatory (in development)
    http://montage.ipac.caltech.edu/index.html
  • yourSky: Web access to the Digital Sky database: Palomar, 2MASS (and, maybe soon, Sloan) all-sky image repository.
    http://yourSky.jpl.nasa.gov/
    yourSky descriptions:
    • yourSky: Rapid Desktop Access to Custom Astronomical Image Mosaics
      http://pat.jpl.nasa.gov/public/jjacob/SPIE02_files/frame.htm
    • http://pat.jpl.nasa.gov/public/jjacob/SPIE02.pdf

    not to be confused with the Your Sky interactive Web planetarium
    http://www.fourmilab.to/yoursky/

    by John Walker

• The Palomar Digital Sky Survey (DPOSS)
  http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~george/dposs/

• SkyView: The Internet's Virtual Telescope
  http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  Advanced Image Request Form
  http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/skvadvanced.pl

  Alternate server:
  http://skys.gsfc.nasa.gov/

  • "SkyView in a Jar" (includes ImageJ image processing program)
    http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/jar/jar.html
    • ImageJ (Image processor in Java)
      http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/

• Combined access to several all-sky surveys (DPOSS, etc)
  http://virtualsky.org/

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4.5.5: Newsletters.

• The Magellanic Clouds Working Group
  http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/projects/mcnews/mcwg.php

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[back to Contents]

4.6: Popularizations

• Telescopes in Education

  The TIE project seems to have been discontinued. Most of the Web pages listed below no longer respond as of August, 2006.
  
  http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov/tie/index.html

  • The TIE 24" telescope at Mt Wilson
    http://www.mtwilson.edu/Tour/24inch/
  • Software for TIE
    http://www.bisque.com/thesky/tom/tie-2.htm
  • Participant: Thomas Jefferson High School
    http://www.geocities.com/tjtie/about.html
  • Participant: Higate School (UK)
    http://www.highgate.demon.co.uk/tie/tie.htm

• Kitt Peak Visitor Center's Advanced Observing Program
  http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/

• 3D Universe: Hipparcos-Based Star Charts
  http://www.astronexus.com/node/28

• An Atlas of the Universe
  http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/

• Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
  http://www.seds.org/
  Messier Catalog
  http://www.seds.org/messier/
• SolStation.com
  http://www.solstation.com/index.html
  Solar system and nearby stars
• Stars of the Milky Way
  http://members.nova.org/~sol/chview/chv5.htm
  Inspired by C.J. Cherryh's science fiction, this site includes an extensive compilation of details about many nearby stars with links to the original literature.
  • Ch View
    http://members.nova.org/~sol/chview/
    by Jo Grant and Ben Lin.
• Extrasolar Planetary Foundation
  http://www.planetarysystems.org/

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[back to Contents]

4.7: Misc

• Two Line Elements: orbits of Earth's satellites
  http://celestrak.com/
  • Convert TLEs to Celestia SSC: Grant Hutchison's TLE spreadsheet
    http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/hutchison/spreadsheets.html#3 Phase of the Moon
    http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html
    a service of the Time Service Department http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/
    of the U.S. Naval Observatory http://www.usno.navy.mil/

  • ORSA: Orbit Reconstruction, Simulation and Analysis (for Linux, MacOS & Windows)
    http://orsa.sourceforge.net/index.html

  • Orbit (Gravity) simulator
    http://www.orbitsimulator.com/
    by Tony Dunn
    • orbital calculators
      http://orbitsimulator.com/formulas/
  • AstroGrav (shareware)
    http://www.astrograv.co.uk/portal/index.html

  ---

  [back to Contents]

  4.8: Astronomy Software.

  4.8.1: Freeware.

  • AudeLA: Telescope control and image processing using Tcl/Tk.
    http://audela.ccdaude.com/
    by Alain Klotz and Denis Marchais.

  • Cartes du Ciel and other packages
    http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/index.html
    by Patrick Chevalley
  • "Hallo northern sky." (HNSKY)
    http://www.hnsky.org/software.htm
    by Han Kleijn
  • Home Planet
    http://www.fourmilab.ch/homeplanet/homeplanet.html
    by John Walker
  • Iris
    http://astrosurf.com/buil/us/iris/iris.htm
    By Christian Buil http://astrosurf.com/buil/
  • ISIS: Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers
    http://isis.astrogeology.usgs.gov/
    by the USGS for manipulating imagry from interplanetary missions
  • MMPS: Matthew's Map Projection Software
    http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~arcus/mmps/mmps.html
    by Matthew Acrus
  • The ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator
    http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/fits_liberator/index.html
  • SIP: Sky Image Processor
    Web based Java app. for processing FITS astronomical images.
    http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/SIP/
    • SIP 2.20 Beta
      http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/SIPbeta/
  • StarCalc
    http://www.relex.ru/~zalex/main.htm
    by Alexander E.Zavalishin
  • Stellar Magic (image processor)
    http://stellar-magic.com/
    by Laser Diagnostics

  • Panorama Tools
    http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/%7Edersch/

  • Charon: extracts astrometric information from images
    http://www.projectpluto.com/charon.htm
  • Find_Orb: calculates orbits from astrometric information
    http://www.projectpluto.com/find_orb.htm

  4.8.2: Demoware & Shareware.

  4.8.3: Commercial.

  • Guide
    http://www.projectpluto.com/
    Web site includes links to astronomical datasets and ephemeris tables:
    • Assorted Astronomical datasets
      http://www.projectpluto.com/datasets.htm
    • Assorted celestial events
      http://www.projectpluto.com/mut_pln.htm

  [back to Contents]

  4.9: Journals.

  4.9.1: Free.

  • arXiv.org e-Print archive
    http://arxiv.org/
    • Astrophysics
      http://arxiv.org/archive/astro-ph

  4.9.2: Subscription required.

  Note: access may require a subscription
  • Astronomy & Astrophysics
    http://aanda.u-strasbg.fr:2002/docinfos/AA/

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[back to Contents]

5.0 Related sites

5.1: 3D simulations.

See also:
• http://hobbyspace.com/Simulators/index.html
• 4D2U: 4 Dimensional Digital Universe
  • 4D2U
    http://4d2u.nao.ac.jp/index_E.html
  • Mitaka viewer
    • http://4d2u.nao.ac.jp/html/program/mitaka/index_E.html
    • http://4d2u.nao.ac.jp/html/program/mitaka/
• Gottorfium
  A free Solar System simulator for Linux
  http://pille.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de/~planeten02/
• Mitaka Plus viewer (updater program for Mitaka)
  http://orihalcon.jp/mitakaplus/index_e.html
• Solar System Studio Project (multilingual)
  http://www.sssim.com/

• NCSA's Partiview
  http://virdir.ncsa.uiuc.edu/partiview/
  • Mailing list/group at Google
    http://groups-beta.google.com/group/partiview/
  • The Hayden's Digital Universe
    http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/hp/vo/du/index.html
  • Selden's Resources for Partiview
    http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/~seb/partiview/index.html

• GLNebula: realtime 3D planetary nebula visualization
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/glnebula/
• Cloudy3D: pseudo-3D nebula visualization (requires IDL)
  http://132.248.1.102/Cloudy_3D/index.php

• MPL 3D Solar System (Windows only)
  http://www.mpl3d.com/index2.htm
• Astrofly (Windows only; filterable 3D display of Hipparcos and Tycho datasets)
  http://www.anumajor.com/astrofly/
• Planet 10 (Web shockwave app)
  http://www.nbos.com/products/astro/astro.htm
• Synergistic Engineering Environment (SEE)
  http://centauri.larc.nasa.gov/see/
• Solar Journey
  http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~soljourn/
  Hanson, Frisch & York.
• 3D Starmaps
  http://www.projectrho.com/starmap.html
• It's Full of Stars
  http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/7472/
• Jim Smith's Free Virtual Galaxy
  http://www.ccm.net/~jrsmith/index.html
• HippLiner (Hipparcos Line writer)
  "A hipparcos viewer with constellation writing function" and proper motion.
  http://t.nomoto.org/HippLiner/index-e.html
• Atlas of the Solar System
  http://www.planetology.net
• Polygon Worlds
  http://www.polygonworlds.com
• VRMLUniverse
  http://vrmluniverse.sourceforge.net/
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/vrmluniverse/
  by John Hewett
• Orbiter Space Flight Simulator
  http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/~martins/orbit/orbit.html
  by Martin Schweiger
• Infinite Universe Engine
  http://www.vterrain.org/Packages/IUE/index.html
• Noctis
  http://anywherebb.com/noctis.html
  "A dreamable space simulation," by Alexander "Fottifoh"
• Orbit Space Combat Simulator
  http://www.head-crash.com/orbit/
  by Steve Belczyk
• A Real-Time Procedural Universe
  http://home.attbi.com/~s-p-oneil/index.htm
  by Sean O'Neil
• planet engine
  http://drtypo.free.fr/
  by dr.typo
• Procedural Planet (not updated since 2001; site gone 2007)
  http://baddoggames.com/planet/index.htm
  by Rob James
• Xplanet
  http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/
  • Xplanet Addons
    http://www.wizabit.eclipse.co.uk/xplanet/

• 4D2U Project
  http://4d2u.nao.ac.jp/index_E.html
• Mitaka : A Four-Dimensional Universe Viewer
  http://4d2u.nao.ac.jp/html/program/mitaka/index_E.html

• Starstrider (shareware)
  http://www.starstrider.com/
• Seeker (commercial)
  http://www.bisque.com/Products/Seeker/

• Description of "Solar System Modeler"
  http://www.mediaport.net/CyberScience/BDD/fich_058.en.html
• 3D space screen savers
  http://www.fpsoftlab.com/

[back to Contents]

5.2: 3D Models.

• Search engine for 3D models
  http://shape.cs.princeton.edu/search.html
• Solar system object shape models http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/spaceart/shapemodels.html
  list compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston

• Build Scale Model of JPL Spacecraft
  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/scalemodels/
• Build Your Own Space Exploration Fleet
  http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/papermodels.cfm
• Cut Out and Build ... ESA Spacecraft
  http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=35013
• Paper Air- and Space- craft Models by Philippus Lansbergen
  http://www.lansbergen.net/modelbouw.htm

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY -- 3D Modelling Archive
  http://www.2001-3d-archive.info/
• SciFi Meshes
  http://www.scifi-meshes.com/
• TrekMeshes
  http://www.trekmeshes.ch/

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5.3: Stereo Pictures.

• Akira Inaka's 3D Space World
  http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~aq6a-ink/indexusa.htm
• Astronomical nebulae, galaxies and the Big Bang in 3D
  http://nzphoto.tripod.com/3dastro/
  by John Wattie
• Volume Visualization of the Orion Nebula
  http://vis.sdsc.edu/research/orion_stereo.html
  The San Diego Supercomputer Center and
  The American Museum of Natural History Hayden Planetarium

[back to Contents]

5.4: Panoramas.

• Axel Mellinger's All-Sky Milky Way Panorama
  http://home.arcor-online.de/axel.mellinger/
  • 360x45 degree panorama with constellations
    http://home.arcor-online.de/axel.mellinger/mwpan45_c.html
• 360 Degree Panorama from the Mars Pathfinder Lander
  http://www.science.ankara.edu.tr/astronomy/astro/ast_goruntu/astronom1/PIA00752.HTM
• Apollo Mission Lunar Panoramas
  http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarAtlas/panoramas/
• Lunar Module interior panoramas http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/cchoice/lm2/lm2_08.htm
  at the National Air & Space Museum
• at SkySkan:
  • National Air & Space Museum panorama images
    http://www.skyskan.com/Products/Prod_media/Panorama/NASM/cont.html
  • Mars & Moon
    http://www.skyskan.com/Products/Prod_media/Panorama/SkySkan/cont.html
• Mauna Kea
  • What can you see when you look around?
    http://atmos.nmsu.edu/ijw/maunakea_iopw.htm
    • The GEMINI North telescope
      http://gemini.physics.ox.ac.uk/pr-outreach/gemtel-photos.html
  • Panoramas of the Summit
    http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/JACpublic/JCMT/About_JCMT/Gallery/Panorama/panoramas.html
  Kitt Peak National Observatory Panoarma
  http://www.noao.edu/outreach/kptour/kpno_pan.html
• Dudley Observatory, Rooftop Panorama
  http://www.dudleyobservatory.org/uaobs/uaobs00.htm
• Observatoire de Saint Véran
  http://www.astrosurf.com/astroduvel/information.html

[back to Contents]

5.5: Space Science.

• The Milky Way: structure, constituents and evolution Chapter 2
  http://bookmarkphysics.iop.org/fullbooks/0750308370/falckech02.pdf
  by Susanne Huttemeister
• Logarithmic Maps of the Universe
  http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~mjuric/universe/
  by Gott, Juric et al.
• http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/
• Tristan Guillot: solar and extra-solar planetary physics
  http://www.obs-nice.fr/guillot/
  graphs of sizes, etc.
  http://www.obs-nice.fr/guillot/figures.html
• The Theory of brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets
  http://zenith.as.arizona.edu/~burrows/papers/rmp/RMP-final.pdf
  Burrows,Hubbard, Lunine and Liebert, Reviews of Modern Physics, 0034-68612001/73(3)/719(47) 2001
• Long-Term Stability of Planets in Binary Systems
  Authors: Matthew Holman, Paul Wiegert
  http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9809315

[back to Contents]

5.6: Mars.

• Database of images from Viking orbiters, Mars Global Surveyor MOC, Mars Odyssey THEMIS, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CTX and HiRISE cameras.
  http://global-data.mars.asu.edu/
  provided by the Mars Space Flight Facility of Arizona State University
• Compact Reconnaissance ImagingSpectrometer for Mars
  http://crism.jhuapl.edu/gallery/featuredImage/search.php
  provided by the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johhs Hopkins University
• Mars Express HRSC data explorer
  http://hrscview.fu-berlin.de/cgi-bin/ion-p?page=entry.ion
  provided by the Department of Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensiing, Institute for Geological Sciences, Freie Universitat Berlin
• MarsOWeb: VRML of potential Mars landing sites
  http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/
• Google Mars: Mars Global Surveyor maps plus locations of interest.
  http://www.google.com/mars/
• Time on Mars
  http://www.giss.nasa.gov/data/mars/time/terminator.html
• USGS PDS Mars Explorer for the Armchair Astronaut
  http://www-pdsimage.wr.usgs.gov/PDS/public/mapmaker/mapmkr.htm
• Mars Academy
  http://www.marsacademy.com/
• Terraforming Mars
  http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/
  • Technological Requirements
    http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm
  • A Review of Research
    http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/paper1.htm
• The Planet Mars: A History of Observation and Discovery
  http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/online.bks/mars/contents.htm
  By William Sheehan, 1996, The University of Arizona Press, Tucson
• MARS
  http://www.wanderer.org/references/lowell/Mars/
  by Percival Lowell, 1895
• MarsWatch
  http://marswatch.tn.cornell.edu/mars.html
• Nirgal.net : De la planéte rouge à l'origine de la vie [Accueil]
  http://www.nirgal.net/
• Renderings of Mars (static and animated)
  • By Kees Veenenbos from MOLA data using Terragen
    • http://www.space4case.com/index/index1.html
    • http://home-1.worldonline.nl/~veenen/terragen/mars/mars.html

  • By Paul Bourke from MOLA data using POVRay and rendering farms
    http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/terrain/mars32/

  • Interactive "Seas of Mars"
    http://bulk.vttoth.com/BULK/MOLA/mola.html
    by Viktor T. Toth

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5.7: Spaceflight.

• Airship to orbit
  http://www.jpaerospace.com/
• Rocket and Space Technology
  http://www.braeunig.us/space/index.htm
• http://www.apollosaturn.com/
• http://www.realspacemodels.com/
• http://www.spacecraftfilms.com/

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5.8: Art.

• International Association of Astronomical Artists
  http://www.iaaa.org/

• Solar Voyager Space Art Forum
  http://www.solarvoyager.com/
• Sci-Fi Meshes
  http://www.scifi-meshes.com/

• Chesley Bonestell
  • Chesley Bonestell Gallery
    http://www.bonestell.org/
  • Man Conquers Space (movie based on Collier designs)
    http://manconquersspace.com/
  • Chesley Bonestell Interactive Art Gallery
    http://www.bonestellgallery.com/
• Lynette Cook's Space Art
  http://extrasolar.spaceart.org/space.html
• Don Dixon Portfolio
  http://cosmographica.com/gallery/portfolio2007/index.html
• David Hardy's AstroArt pages
  http://www.hardyart.demon.co.uk/
• Greg Martin
  http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/
• Walter Myers' Computergraphic Vistas
  http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/
• SSI Space Art Gallery
  http://www.spacescience.org/ExploringSpace/Gallery/
• Rick Sternbach
  http://www.ricksternbach.com/
• Gary Tonge
  • Dynamic Flash version
    http://www.visionafar.com/va.html
  • Static HTML version
    http://visionafar.spaceart.org/

[back to Contents]

5.9: Fiction.

• The ArcBuilder Universe
  http://arcbuilder.home.bresnan.net/
  by John and Margo Dollan
  • AB for Celestia
    http://arcbuilder.home.bresnan.net/Celestia01.html

• Hoshikaze 2250
  by Benoît 'Mutos' Robin
  (These links may fail when the site is reorganized)
  • Système Sol
  • Système Drom

  • spacecraft models which were included on the Celestial Visions Web forum download page are now included in
    http://216.231.48.101/~rassilon/: Rassilon's page on Shatters.net.

• Orion's Arm
  http://www.orionsarm.com/
  • Nova Terra, by Anders Sandberg;
    http://www.orionsarm.com/worlds/Nova_Terra.html
  • Bolobo, by Steve Bowers:
    http://www.orionsarm.com/worlds/Bolobo.html
  • Errai and its moon Anomie, by Steve Bowers:
    http://www.orionsarm.com/worlds/Silence.html
  • Anders Sandberg's Penglai;
    http://www.orionsarm.com/worlds/Penglai.html
  • Ceres, by Steve Bowers:
    http://www.orionsarm.com/historical/Ceres.html
    
  • Others:
    • http://www.orionsarm.com/ships/Combat_Carriers.html
    • http://www.orionsarm.com/clades/Echir-n.html
    • http://www.orionsarm.com/ships/Crescent_Cruiser_Class.html
    • http://www.orionsarm.com/ships/Starlark.html
    • http://www.orionsarm.com/ships/Cargo_Ships.html
    • http://www.orionsarm.com/ships/Stig_Ranes.html
  
  
  
• Discussion Group
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OA-Celestia
• Tour of Orion's Arm
  http://www.eburacum45.5u.com/
• Steve Bowers' gallery of Celestia Addons
  http://img66.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=aquinas7qk.jpg

[back to Contents]

5.10: GeoPhysical Modelling.

• Map Projections Poster
  http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/MapProjections/projections.html
• Mapping toolbox: viewers, editors, etc
  http://www.digitalgrove.net/Toolbox.htm
• Ferret data visualization and analysis
  http://ferret.pmel.noaa.gov/Ferret/
• Virtual Terrain Project
  http://www.vterrain.org/
• IRIS
  http://astrosurf.com/buil/us/iris/iris.htm
  By Christian Buil
  http://astrosurf.com/buil/
• FreeGIS: listing of free Geographic Information Systems
  http://freegis.org/index.en.html
• GMT - The Generic Mapping Tools
  http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/
• WebWinds data visualization (free Java app)
  http://www.sci-conservices.com/rel4/webpage/wwhome.html
  • a product of Sci_Con Services http://www.sci-conservices.com/SCS/index.html

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[back to Contents]

6.0 3D, OpenGL and Other Graphics Programming References

• The Web3D Repository (VRML)
• www.OpenGL.org
  • http://www.opengl.org/developers/documentation/books.html Books on OpenGL
  • Reference Books, including The OpenGL Programming Guide [amazon link]
• Real-Time Rendering
  by Tomas Akenine-Mvller and Eric Haines

• http://www.planet-source-code.com/
• OpenGL Hardware Registry
  http://www.delphi3d.net/hardware/index.php
  at http://www.delphi3d.net/

  Books recommended by Chris Laurel:

• third edition of The OpenGL Programming Guide by Woo, Neider, et al, 1999, ISBN 0-201-60458-2
  • http://www.woo.com/errata.html Errata for the 3rd ed
    Note: Mason Woo's WOO.COM apparently will be shutting down immediately, since he's going back to school. Unfortunately, although most of the site is archived up through Sept.2001 by http://web.archive.org/, the errata page (maintained by David Shreiner) is not.
  • ftp://ftp.sgi.com/opengl source code files

• second edition of Real-Time Rendering, by Tomas Akenine-Moller and Eric Haines
  • brief review at Dr.Dobbs Electronic Review of Computer Books

• http://www.3dlinks.com/owforums/owforums.cfm?siteid=2 3D graphics forums
• http://web.ionsys.com/~priede/jordan/tips.htm Jordan Priede's Maximum Design: 3D Studio Max help -- tutorials, etc.
  • http://web.ionsys.com/~priede/jordan/tips/model/displace/main.htm How to create bumpmaps

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7.0: Planet Building.

7.1: Building your own planets.

7.1.1: Instruction.

• Fractal Models of Natural Phenomena (building MojoWorld)
  https://www.internal.pandromeda.com/engineering/musgrave/unsecure/S01_Course_Notes.html
• How to Build a Planet
  http://cs.lynchburg.edu/briggs/classes/planet/presentation/index.htm
  by Dr. Will Briggs, Lynchburg College
• Interactions of an accretion disk with a protoplanetary companion.
  http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~spac250/matt/intro.html
  by Matthew Browning: A final project for ASTR 250/350: Introduction to Astrophysics at Rice University
• Planetary Biology: Astronomical Circumstances (planet size calculations, etc)
  • http://www.planetarybiology.com/download/table_of_contents.pdf
  • http://www.planetarybiology.com/download/astronomical_circumstances.pdf
  • http://www.planetarybiology.com/download/Calc%20sheet%20for%20planetary%20profiles_02.xls
    On the Web site of Tom E. Morris
• World Builders
  http://www.world-builders.org/
• World Generation (uses gaming conventions)
  http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/trisen/sol/2300ad/wg/
• World Building (RPG and other)
  http://users.tkk.fi/~vesanto/world.build.html
  Map making
  http://www.hut.fi/~vesanto/link.useful/maps/maps.html
• Tutorial: Forging Worlds
  http://www.eyeland.com/tut-planet.php
• A Guide to World-Building
  http://www.brandubh.com/worldbuilding.htm
• Creating an Earthlike Planet
  http://www.cix.co.uk/~morven/worldkit/index.html
• Planetary Engineering Bibliography
  http://spot.colorado.edu/~marscase/cfm/terrabib.html
• World Building Orbit Formulae
  http://www.dausha.net/sciences/orbits.shtml
• Universe Simulation Maling List archive
  http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/8191/usml.html

7.1.2: Tools.

7.1.2.1: Freeware.

• Constructing solar systems
  • Hard Science Fiction Tools (javascript)
    by Alberto Monteiro
    http://www.geocities.com/albmont/hard-sf.htm
    • Plan a Planet Orbiting a Main Sequence Star
      http://www.geocities.com/albmont/mseqstar.htm
  • An applet for synthesizing solar systems [gone]
    http://www.geocities.com/Area51/6902/w_accr.html
  • Accrete
    http://www.znark.com/create/accrete.html
    by Ian Burrell
  • StarForm (uses Accrete v3.0)
    http://www.irony.com/StarForm.html
    based on Matt Burdick's starform (once a student at Stanford; current Web page not yet located)
  • StarGen -- a Solar System Generator
    http://www.eldacur.com/~brons/NerdCorner/StarGen/StarGen.html
    by Brons aka JimB. aka Jim Burrows
    ( includes support for SSC generation!)

• Constructing individual planets
  • Fracplanet (Linux/Qt; builds & runs under Cygwin for Windows)
    http://www.bottlenose.demon.co.uk/share/fracplanet/index.htm
    by Tim Day
  • Fractal Planet generator (Earthlike) [gone]
    http://www.circuitpsyche.com/fracplan/
    by Mark Santesson
  • Fractal World
    http://raieh.homelinux.net/cgi-bin/raieh.pl?FractalWorld
  • PlanetGen (fractal, freeware)
    http://www.gharat.net/
  • GenesisII Freeware
    http://www.geomantics.com/genesisIIfree.html
    • GenesisII Plugins
      http://www.geomantics.com/plugin.html
    • Landscape Explorer 2000 freeware
      http://www.geomantics.com/le2000.html
  • GForge
    http://beale.best.vwh.net/land/
    by John Beale
  • Planet Designer
    http://www.planetdesigner.org.uk
    by John Bray
  • Terraform (for Linux/Gnome)
    http://terraform.sourceforge.net/
  • Terragen 3D surface generator
    http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/
  • Terrain Forge (includes Visual Basic source code)
    http://www.renderology.com/terrain_forge.asp
  • Terrain Maker
    http://www.ericjorgensen.com/html/tm.htm
  • Wilbur: Terrain Editor and conversion (e.g. DEM -> BMP)
    http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~jslayton/software.html
  • Surface Texture generators
    • http://www.diku.dk/users/torbenm/
    • http://johnscelestiapage.no-ip.com/filemgmt/visit.php?lid=64
    • http://home.debitel.net/user/franz-xaver.schweiger/Verschiedenes/Planet_Texture_Generator.zip
      http://home.debitel.net/user/franz-xaver.schweiger/Verschiedenes/

7.1.2.2: Shareware & Demoware.

• AstroSynthesis (demo)
  http://www.nbos.com/products/astro/astro.htm
• Daylon Leveller heightfield editor (demo)
  http://www.daylongraphics.com/products/leveller/demo.htm
• World Builder (shareware)
  http://jendaveallen.com/builder/world/index.html

7.1.2.3: Commercial.

• aeliom 3D world generator (free for personal use)
  http://www.iluac.com/
• AstroSynthesis & Fractal Mapper by NBOS Software
  http://www.nbos.com/
• Fractal Terrains by Pro Fantasy
  http://www.profantasy.com/products/ft.asp
• MojoWorld
  http://www.pandromeda.com/
• VistaPro
  http://www.andromedasoftware.com/cd213.htm

[back to Contents]

7.2: Planetary Projects.

• Contact
  http://www.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/contact/index.html
  Epona
  http://www.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/contact/epona.html
• Epona at 82 Eridani (aka e Eridani)
  http://www.eponaproject.com
• Furaha: Nu Phoenicis IV
  http://home.casema.nl/gertvandijk/index.html

• Lists: Projects, People and FAQs
  • Terraforming
    http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/
  • World Building Experts
    http://www.world-builders.org/lessons/VCR/Vlounge.html
  • World Building FAQs
    http://www.nocturne.org/world/faqs/admin.html
  • World Builder Projects (RPG and other)
    http://hiddenway.tripod.com/world/
  • World Building (RPG and other)
    http://users.tkk.fi/~vesanto/world.build.html

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[back to Contents]

8.0: 3D Modelling Software.

8.1: Freeware.

• Anim8or
  http://www.anim8or.com/
• Blender3D
  http://www.blender3d.org/
• Draw3D
  http://members.optusnet.com.au/~draw3d/
• MilkShape 3D
  http://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-soft/index.html
• POVRay
  http://www.povray.org/
• Wings3D
  http://www.wings3d.com/
[back to Contents]

8.2: Demoware & Shareware.

• AC3D
  http://www.ac3d.org/
• CyberMotion 3D-Designer
  http://www.3d-designer.com/
• Easymodel
  http://www.jthesing.com/easymodel/easymain.htm
• Photomodeller Lite
  http://www.photomodeller.com/
[back to Contents]

8.3: Commercial.

• 3D Studio Max
  http://www.discreet.com/products/3dsmax/
• AMAPI 3D Designer (has free demo download)
  http://www.eovia.com/home.jsp
  by eovia
• Bryce
  http://newgraphics.corel.com/products/bryce4.html
• Caligari trueSpace
  http://www.caligari.com/
• Cinema4D
  http://www.maxon.net/index_e.html
• Imagine
  http://www.coolfun.com/html/imagine1.html
• Lightwave 3D
  http://www.lightwave3d.com/
• Maya (Wavefront)
  http://www.aliaswavefront.com/en/news/home.shtml
• Photomodeller
  http://www.photomodeller.com/
• Rhinoceros
  http://www.rhino3d.com/
• Universe
  http://www.electricimage.com/

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[back to Contents]

9.0: 3D Conversion Software.

9.1: Freeware.

• DXTex Tool: Microsoft's conversion utility for DDS DXT files
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dx8_c/directx_cpp/Graphics/ProgrammersGuide/Samples/CPP/DxTexTool.asp
  Part of the DirectX Software Development Kit
  • DirectX home page
    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.asp
  • MSDN DirectX support page
    http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/nhp/Default.asp?contentid=28000410
  • DirectX SDK download page (230MB!)
    http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/downloads/list/directx.asp

• ATI's Developer Tools: DDS/DXT plugins and conversion utilities for 3DSMax, Photoshop & standlone
  http://www.ati.com/developer/tools.html
• Nvidia's Developer Tools: DDS/DXT plugins and conversion utilities for 3DSMax, Photoshop & standlone
  http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nv_texture_tools.html

• Richard Rosenman's Photoshop Plugins
  http://www.richardrosenman.com/photoshop.htm
  includes "spherical texture mapping", implementing an algorithm by Paul Bourke. See http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/rendering/

• MeshLab
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeshLab

• Crossroads 3D
  http://home.europa.com/~keithr/Crossroads/
  by Keith Rule

• LithUnwrap: remap texure images within models (freeware, Windows)
  http://files.seriouszone.com/download.php?fileid=198
  Tutorials
  http://www.cage8.com/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi?act=SF;f=41
• UVMapper: remap texure images within models (freeware and commercial, PC and Mac)
  http://www.uvmapper.com/

• Wilbur: Terrain Editor and conversion (e.g. DEM -> BMP)
  http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~jslayton/software.html

[back to Contents]

9.2: Demoware & Shareware.

• 3D Object Converter
  http://web.t-online.hu/karpo
• Quick3D
  http://www.quick3d.org/

9.3: Commercial.

10 Image Processing.

10.1: Freeware.

• AudeLA: Telescope control and image processing using Tcl/Tk.
  http://audela.ccdaude.com/
  by Alain Klotz and Denis Marchais.
• the GIMP
  http://www.gimp.org/
• ImageMagick
  http://www.imagemagick.org/
• Iris
  http://astrosurf.com/buil/us/iris/iris.htm
  By Christian Buil http://astrosurf.com/buil/
• ISIS: Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers
  http://isis.astrogeology.usgs.gov/
  by the USGS for manipulating imagry from interplanetary missions
• SIP: Sky Image Processor
  Web based Java app. for processing FITS astronomical images.
  http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/SIP/
  • SIP 2.20 Beta
    http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/SIPbeta/
• Stellar Magic (image processor)
  http://home.att.net/~laser_diagnostics/newfile.html
  by Laser Diagnostics
• VIPS
  http://www.vips.ecs.soton.ac.uk/index.php
  at the School of Electronics and Computer Science of the University of Southhampton

10.2: Demoware & Shareware.

10.3: Commercial.

Contents

0: Introduction.
1: Celestia Web site.
2: Celestia Resources.

2.1: The Program and Documentation.
2.2: External Add-Ons.
2.3: Celestia in Use.
2.4: Reviews of Celestia.

3: Selden's Contributions.

3.1: Notes.
3.2: Minor Planet Orbits.
3.3: Comet Orbits.
3.4: Spacecraft Orbits.
3.5: Catalogs of Objects.
(Open Clusters, Globular Clusters, Galaxies, Planetary Nebulæ and Messier Objects)
3.6: Graticules (and other measuring sticks).
3.7: Gallery. (includes textures)
3.8 Deep Space Addons.
Redundant links to some of the Deep Space (Nebula) Addons hidden among these various pages.
3.9: Frans Blok's Map of RGB Mars. (includes textures)
3.10: Some of Selden's Addons.

• Bonestell & von Braun
• Gamma Ray Telescope
• Hale Telescope.
• Pell Station
• Philmont in 3D.
• Project Orion
3.11: Scripts.

4: Astronomical Resources.

4.1: Arithmetic.

4.1.1: Instruction.
4.1.2: Calculators.
4.1.3: Tables.
4.1.4: Libraries.
4.1.5: Programs.

4.2: Solar System Information.
4.3: Surface textures and maps.
4.4: Extrasolar Planets.
4.5: Compendia.

4.5.1: Catalogs.
4.5.2: Catalog Servers.
4.5.3: Image Servers.
4.5.4: All-Sky Servers.

4.6: Popularizations.
4.7: Misc.
4.8: Astronomy Software.

4.8.1: Freeware.
4.8.2: Demoware & Shareware.
4.8.3: Commercial.

4.9: Journals.

5: Related Sites.

5.1: 3D simulations.
5.2: 3D models.
5.3: Stereo pictures.
5.4: Panoramas.
5.5: Space Science.
5.6: Mars.
5.7: Spaceflight.
5.8: Art.
5.9: Fiction.
5.10: GeoPhysical Modelling.

6: OpenGL References.
7: Planet Building.

7.1: Building your own planets.

7.1.1: Instruction.
7.1.2: Tools.

7.1.2.1: Freeware.
7.1.2.2: Shareware & Demoware.
7.1.2.3: Commercial.

7.2: Planetary Projects.

8: 3D Modelling Software.

8.1: Freeware.
8.2: Demoware & Shareware.
8.3: Commercial.

9: 3D Conversion Software.

9.1: Freeware.
9.2: Demoware & Shareware.
9.3: Commercial.

10: Image Processing.
Appendices.

A.1: Signature.
A.2: Admonishment.
A.3: Disclaimer.

A.0 Appendices.

A.1: Signature.

This Web page is maintained by Selden Ball at Wilson Lab.

A.2: Admonishment.

Please send any questions, comments or corrections to seb@lepp.cornell.edu
Alternatively, you can post a message (anonymously or otherwise) on Celestia's Web Forum or use its Private Message page.

If you don't tell me that something's missing, unclear or wrong, I can't improve it.

A.3: Disclaimer.

The author disclaims all liability and endorsement.
Copyrights may apply.
For details, please read the full text of his disclaimer.