{"slug": "celestia", "name": "Celestia", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 5, "warners": 1, "score": 2.128, "rising": 3.0, "first": "2026-08-19", "latest": "2026-09-30", "why": "Stellaris or Celestia could help them identify stars and constellations", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 0, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Stellaris or Celestia could help them identify stars and constellations", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "celestiaproject.space", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://celestiaproject.space/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Celestia"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 798468752, "item_id": 49904297, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49904297", "by": "defrost", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Both Celestia and Stellarium have \"open data\" file formats", "excerpt": "> and the download page looks like this: https://sourceforge.net/projects/celestia/ The page that states \"Please do not download Celestia from this repository. This repository has been abandoned, and the new source and website are here and here, respectively.\" for the past four years ? Try: https://celestiaproject.space/download.html and https://github.com/CelestiaProject/Celestia for version 1.6.4 Both Celestia and ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Real-time Solar System with 526k asteroids and all tracked satellites"}, {"id": 798444304, "item_id": 49902769, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49902769", "by": "tintor", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Celestia did all of this and more. 10+ years ago.", "excerpt": "Celestia did all of this and more. 10+ years ago. https://celestiaproject.space/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Real-time Solar System with 526k asteroids and all tracked satellites"}, {"id": 789802673, "item_id": 49362667, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49362667", "by": "doodlebugging", "date": "2026-08-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Stellaris or Celestia could help them identify stars and constellations", "excerpt": "I was one of the data points in that spike related to the Chinese balloon incident though that is not the first time I used sondehub. A couple years before that incident I found the site while trying to help someone understand what they were seeing in the sky near where they live. An old dopehead, friend-of-a-friend was paranoid that they were being surveilled by aliens in UFOs, something they could assure you had be", "context": "", "use_case": "identify stars and constellations", "switched_from": "", "story": "A joke domain purchase turned in geopolitical warfare"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 798468016, "item_id": 49904251, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49904251", "by": "bbor", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it's been in beta since at least 2016, seems mostly defunct", "excerpt": "Surely we can make room for cool stuff like this without implying that they're stealing or oblivious? The audiences are completely oblivious, and this one combines a stuff in a unique way (and I've seen/loved these kind of sites ever since finding out satellites are in freefall). Not to mention that it's been in beta since at least 2016, seems mostly defunct, and the download page looks like this: https://sourceforge", "context": "", "use_case": "space simulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Real-time Solar System with 526k asteroids and all tracked satellites"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["space simulation", "identify stars and constellations"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49898778", "title": "Show HN: Real-time Solar System with 526k asteroids and all tracked satellites", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49420524", "title": "Show HN: Galaxium, an experimental WebGPU space explorer", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49360015", "title": "A joke domain purchase turned in geopolitical warfare", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1, "compare": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 2, "warn": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 798468752, "item_id": 49904297, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49904297", "by": "defrost", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Both Celestia and Stellarium have \"open data\" file formats", "excerpt": "> and the download page looks like this: https://sourceforge.net/projects/celestia/ The page that states \"Please do not download Celestia from this repository. This repository has been abandoned, and the new source and website are here and here, respectively.\" for the past four years ? Try: https://celestiaproject.space/download.html and https://github.com/CelestiaProject/Celestia for version 1.6.4 Both Celestia and ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Real-time Solar System with 526k asteroids and all tracked satellites"}, {"id": 798468016, "item_id": 49904251, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49904251", "by": "bbor", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it's been in beta since at least 2016, seems mostly defunct", "excerpt": "Surely we can make room for cool stuff like this without implying that they're stealing or oblivious? The audiences are completely oblivious, and this one combines a stuff in a unique way (and I've seen/loved these kind of sites ever since finding out satellites are in freefall). Not to mention that it's been in beta since at least 2016, seems mostly defunct, and the download page looks like this: https://sourceforge", "context": "", "use_case": "space simulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Real-time Solar System with 526k asteroids and all tracked satellites"}, {"id": 798444304, "item_id": 49902769, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49902769", "by": "tintor", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Celestia did all of this and more. 10+ years ago.", "excerpt": "Celestia did all of this and more. 10+ years ago. https://celestiaproject.space/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Real-time Solar System with 526k asteroids and all tracked satellites"}, {"id": 791906688, "item_id": 49494168, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49494168", "by": "rybosome", "date": "2026-08-29", "stance": "compare", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Hi there, I see you mention Celestia. I\u2019ve never used it myself but have looked at screenshots and read about it. I built a WebGL viewer for our local solar system only[0]. If you happen to have the time to give any feedback I would sincerely appreciate it - you seem very knowledgeable about this. [0]: https://orrery.ryboso.me/ EDIT: With apologies to OP, I don\u2019t want to hijack your post. I\u2019m currently traveling with", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Galaxium, an experimental WebGPU space explorer"}, {"id": 789802673, "item_id": 49362667, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49362667", "by": "doodlebugging", "date": "2026-08-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Stellaris or Celestia could help them identify stars and constellations", "excerpt": "I was one of the data points in that spike related to the Chinese balloon incident though that is not the first time I used sondehub. A couple years before that incident I found the site while trying to help someone understand what they were seeing in the sky near where they live. An old dopehead, friend-of-a-friend was paranoid that they were being surveilled by aliens in UFOs, something they could assure you had be", "context": "", "use_case": "identify stars and constellations", "switched_from": "", "story": "A joke domain purchase turned in geopolitical warfare"}]}