Space Engine

[Mc Fadge]

http://en.spaceengine.org/

I am in awe. I love me some science, and thought I appreciated the size of our universe, but this has left me truly astounded. This is a simulation of the known universe using real data. You can zoom to any level - from the generated mountains of a planet, to having the entire universe in your field of view.

It's still in beta, and it is quite demanding (especially in terms of required VRam) but if you can run it, you're in for a treat.

Two large pictures below. The first is of a pink planet, the other of our humble home.

Spoiler: Click to Spoil

[Vivasanti]

Greenhouse effect FTW :|

[emetic]

Earth doesn't seem to have any land. But the idea of zooming in space is cool.

It needs to be a "game" before I look into it though.

[Mriceguy]

Have you tried Universe Sandbox?

http://universesandbox.com/

I'm not sure what Space Engine is like but this is pretty polished. Of course it also costs money, but you can try the free demo.

It was mentioned on the BM podcast some time back.

[Mc Fadge]

Yeah, I saw Universe Sandbox a while ago on Steam. It looks cool, but I think Space Engine grips me more because it's representing what's actually there, while US seems to be setting up planets and systems and seeing what happens and while that's cool, I just appreciate this more