GN Found a replacement for Universe Sandbox^2

[GreyGeek]

Sometimes, without any discernible reason, Steam apps quit working, or won't start, which is always guaranteed if you don't have an Internet connection at the moment, so your installation can be "verified". Many commercial apps are moving to subscription systems, which also require an Internet connection for verification. Recently I had a problem starting Universe Sandbox^2. It turned out that Steam's help desk no longer helps. I was directed to the site of the original developer. He identified the problem as a "Steam problem" and I was redirected back to Steam.

I started looking around for a replacement for US^2. A couple days ago I found it. It is called Gaia Sky. Absolutely awesome.

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

• Free and open source - Open source and free, and will stay this way. Contribute to the development and translations.
• High object count - The MS-LOD technique enables the real-time exploration of billions of objects.
• From Gaia to the cosmos - Explore from high-z galaxies to small asteroids in a seamless manner.
• Virtual Reality - Visit the whole Universe in VR!

I tried the appimage package and it ran like a dream, so I installed the deb package. Very impressive!

[oldgeek]

I too have this program (Appimage), I downloaded it awhile ago and am starting to get the feel of it. Space Engine is also quite good (I have the free version). And to think that at one time my only astronomical software was an Atari planetarium program with little square stars! I also use Kstars, Stellarium, Celestia and Universe Sandbox, which still works for me after using a previous released Proton package.

[GreyGeek]

I ran spaceengine 0.98 under WINE for a while and it worked pretty good, and I've used all the rest that you mention.
Gaia Sky allows one to add an entity or entities by using jason files and scripting. An example is given here. In it the orbital parameters (aka TLE), if it is orbiting a star or the center of the galaxy, is given. I am currently exploring this capability.
The data sets and the works contributed by others is here.

[oldgeek]

I couldn't get it to run using the Debian installer, so I stuck with the latest apoimage, which works fine. A lot of catalogs to choose from. I'll have to go through the documentation to feel my way around, but it looks quite promising to play around with.