Gaia Sky

Gaia Sky logo

Build status

Note

14/11/2016 – Version 1.0.2 is out!

What is Gaia Sky

Gaia Sky is a real-time, 3D, astronomy visualisation software that runs on Windows, Linux and MacOS. It lives in the framework of ESA’s Gaia mission to chart about 1 billion stars of our Milky Way Galaxy. It is developed in the Gaia group of the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ZAH, Universität Heidelberg).

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Main features

  • Free and open source – The application is free and open source and will stay this way. You can even contribute to the development or the translations.

  • From Gaia to the cosmos – Move freely through the cosmos and descend to the surface of any Planet or do a close-up inspection of Gaia. All movement and transitions are seamless!

  • Gaia - Observe Gaia in its orbit and discover its movement in the sky and its attitude.

  • 3D ready – With 4 stereoscopic modes: Anaglyphic (red-cyan), VR headset, 3DTV, cross-eye.

  • Planetarium projection mode – Ready to produce videos for full dome systems.

  • 360 mode – Ready to produce 360 videos.

  • Use your own data – Comes with HYG and TGAS. Supports VOTable, FITS, CSV and all formats accepted by STIL.

  • Navigate the galaxy – Support for controllers and gamepads makes navigating the Galaxy a piece of cake.

  • Spacecraft mode – Jump aboard a spacecraft to navigate the skies!

  • Record and play your camera paths – Ready to record and play camera paths off-the-shelf.

  • Scriptable and extensible – Use Python to script and extend the capabilities of Gaia Sky.

  • Internationalised – Translated so far to English, German, Spanish and Catalan.

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