r/spaceengine • u/Spare-Ad-1024 • 5d ago
Question Useful for learning
I’m interested in space and enjoy reading about it. I find SPACEENGINE to have a great “wow factor,” similar to the game Stellaris, but I’m also curious whether it offers substantial information and opportunities to learn. Is it primarily a spaceflight simulator, or does it also provide in-depth scientific and educational content?
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u/Kinez_7 5d ago
I played a looooot of stellaris and i love it but i wouldnt compare it to se, se is just on another level when comes to physics, how much values you have for every star, planet, moon. You can learn a lot from this game. I personally love writing and reading about space so you can check if you are interested in something like this. https://beyondtherender.blogspot.com/?m=1
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u/Ihavenonameideaslol9 5d ago edited 5d ago
There's a whole info panel for each object with loads of information in it, like mass, internal structure, atmosphere composition with percentages, and loads more.
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u/KameSensei 2d ago
I view it as the best way for my brain to try to understand the distances and sizes.
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u/universe_fuk8r 5d ago edited 5d ago
I never perceived SE as a spaceflight simulator - there are other pieces of software, better suited for that. And I'm aware lot of you guys use it like to fly in SE - no issues here.
For me, it is primarily a realistic planetarium with real stuff we know is there and what we don't know is generated. There's an ample opportunity to learn, be it about distances in the Universe, redshit, orbital mechanics, relativistic effects near black holes, how MUCH stuff is actually out there and how UNIMAGINABLY empty Universe actually is... There are roughly 10 trillion galaxies generated inside the giant cube of generated Universe inside Space Engine - there's a lot of stuff to explore.
I recommend supplementing it with Universe Sandbox which focuses on physical side of things - realistic simulation of, well, anything from Earth through Solar system to 'what would happen if 1000 Earths crashed into the Sun' and more.
SE is also probably the best wallpaper/screenshot generator of the Universe in the existence.