Build status

Note: This is a pre-release version, first release is expected to be available by the end of August 2024.

Programs and libraries are frequently being tested on Windows 11 and Linux Mint (WSL and physical machine) with different compilers (MSVC, gcc), and hardware configurations (RX580 4GB GDDR5, Radeon V Carrizo 500MB).

Features

3d plot customization using .smd files, see settings.smd.
After downloading Gaia Universe Model data, load as many celestial bodies as you need in the scene, see settings.smd.
Decide what parameters to read (xyz parameter types + color_filter). To find what parameters are compatible, see settings.smd.
Graphics settings options: view modes (cartesian, polar), shade types (pixel, circle, cloud, animated cloud), see settings.smd.
Easily add new graphics features using the Vulkan API through shvulkan

Gaia Data License

‍The Gaia data are open and free to use, provided credit is given to 'ESA/Gaia/DPAC'. In general, access to, and use of, ESA's Gaia Archive (hereafter called 'the website') constitutes acceptance of the following general terms and conditions. Neither ESA nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the website shall be liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages arising out of user access to, or use of, the website. The website does not guarantee the accuracy of information provided by external sources and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such data.

Gaia Early Data Release 3 credits

‍This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement.

Sidera License

Sidera relies on the Gnu General Public License v3 (GPL3), see github.com/mrsinho/sidera/blob/main/LICENSE for more detailed information.

Roadmap

Documentation, references and website

Write header documentation
Summarize the theory behind each supported parameter (new page)
Add commands to documentation
Add image or gif to github project
Write and link documentation for gaia-archive-tools

Graphics

Lens flares, bloom effect
Brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, HDR (maybe on shengine and not on sidera directly)

User interface

GUI hint to edit ../../smd/settings.smd
Add profiling info to gui
Add black background regions to gui
Customize UI text color and UI regions color

Serialization/parsing

Save or load operation inverts camera rotation
Edit stars brightness and more graphics parameters instead of locking them into the shader

Missing features

Screenshots (need to work on shengine)
Time simulation based on radial velocity
Display vector of radial velocity
Motion simulation based on gravity (experimental, embed shphysics to shengine)
For cartesian graph use orthographic projection instead of perspective
Option for panorama mode and different panorama projections
Add orthosphere and planetarium mode
Display galactic center and probe location
Display polar and cartesian grid and text on grid (see gaiasky)
Display constellation and constellation boundaries
Option for galactic, elliptic, equatorial and recursive grid
Option for distance fade effect

Datasets

Dataset manager app like in gaiasky (flutter could be a possible API)
Find interstellar matter / nebulae datasets

Releases

Shci tests before August 2024 release
New and modern shinstaller (dismiss python application in favour of dart probably)
GDR3 update (first add/improve all the previous features)

Documentation and reference pages

Sidera related pages, see mrsinho.github.io for further documentation about the Sidera application.
ESA Gaia landing page, esa.int.
ESA Cosmos, cosmos.esa.int, includes a rich overview page (with access to the download page of the data release, query documentation and other services), online documentation (hardware, data processing), pdf documentation, RGB filters passband information and notes, known issues, related papers about GEDR3.
Gaia@AIP services (Leibniz-Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam), gaia.aip.de: includes Gaia data license and data release credits, Gaia data release/catalogues documentation (includes GEDR3 data tables, such as gaiaedr3.gaia_universe_model).
CDN ESAC (Content Delivery Network, European Space Astronomy Centre), gea.esac.esa.int: data release download page.

Dependencies

Feedback and contributing

I have been personally dedicated to this project since the beginning of 2022, investing a significant amount of my spare time developing the engine and working on new features. Should you encounter any issues with the application or wish to introduce new features while addressing existing ones, I welcome your contributions to the repository. You can contribute by either opening an issue or submitting a pull request.

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing on this website are the property of their respective owners.

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