Software Alternatives & Reviews

Planetarium VS Celestia

Compare Planetarium VS Celestia and see what are their differences

Planetarium logo Planetarium

A browser-based virtual planetarium of stars and planets, customizable to any location and time.

Celestia logo Celestia

Real-time 3D visualization of space
  • Planetarium Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-23
  • Celestia Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-19

The expandable free and open-source real-time space simulator that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions.

Planetarium videos

Miller Engineering Dark Skys DS1 Home Planetarium Review

More videos:

  • Review - Sega Homestar Planetarium Original vs Flux
  • Review - Planetarium showdown: National Geographic Astro vs Sega Homestar Original vs Sega Homestar Flux

Celestia videos

Celestia Review - with Tom Vasel

More videos:

  • Review - Celestia - Shut Up & Sit Down Review
  • Review - Celestia Review with the Game Boy Geek

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Planetarium and Celestia)
Space Simulator
13 13%
87% 87
Universe Simulator
6 6%
94% 94
Virtual Universe
13 13%
87% 87
Education & Reference
34 34%
66% 66

User comments

Share your experience with using Planetarium and Celestia. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Celestia seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 26 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Planetarium mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Planetarium yet. Tracking of Planetarium recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Celestia mentions (26)

  • My 9 year old nephews drawing of stars
    I think Celestia could be a good one. I also thought about SpaceEngine, but AFAIK it was kind of terrible at generating realistic planetary systems, among other things (pricey, huge, etc.). Source: about 1 year ago
  • What are the best resources to explore space from my computer?
    Celestia was something I played with before. Pretty interesting. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Lunar Occultation of Mars
    Celestia looks as though it would do it. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Tips to visualize Apollo 17 trajectory
    I'm looking for data and software to visualize the Apollo 17 trajectory (especially the "powered descent", lunar rendezvous and entry). I'm thinking of using celestia. I'm look for a data tables as well (time stamp, position for each part of the stack). Any tips are appreciated. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Help rediscovering a certain night sky exploration program?
    Yes, that's Celestia most likely. I'm not sure it is still maintained though. Source: over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Planetarium and Celestia, you can also consider the following products

Stellarium - Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer.

Star Chart - Stellarium is a planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars. It's easy to use, and free. Read more about Star Chart.

Space Engine - Space Engine is a realistic virtual Universe you can explore on your computer.

KStars - KStars is a Desktop Planetarium for KDE.

Universe Sandbox - Universe Sandbox ² is a physics-based space simulator where you can simulate Events and even break physics and friction with certain features.

SkyView - SkyView is powerful, easy-to-use app that answers questions about stars, constellations, and more.