Solar System 3D Gravitator is an accurate 3D simulator of the solar system allowing the user to view the solar system from any angle in the past and in the future. Any solar system planet, asteroid or comet is accurately accounted for, using up-to-date orbital data.
The future is modelled using Newton's law of universal gravitation. This means you can for example predict the encounters between 99942 Apophis and the Earth in 2029.
Main features:
-Rotation and Zooming
The main way rotation and zooming is preformed, is using the right mouse button (RMB). Hold down the RMB and drag the mouse around inside the graphics window, release RMB when satisfied. Imagine that you are controlling a virtual 'trackball' on the screen, it is quite easy.
-Rotating with mouse around screen x,y and z
Rotation about the horizontal (x) screen axis is done by vertical mouse movements. Rotation about the vertical (y) axis is done by horizontal movements. Obviously, you can rotate around both axes at the same time using suitable diagonal movements. The above works within a virtual circle that extends from top to bottom of the graphics window. To rotate around the screen axis (pointing inwards), use the areas in the corners and drag 'tangentally' around the centre of the screen.
- Predefined view angles
You can also use the predefined rotation angles by choosing the options in the View menu or toolbar buttons. These options also have keyboard shortcuts as shown in the View menu.
- Zooming
Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Observe that the default is that the program is 'autotracking' on the Sun, so zooming will then be towards/from the sun. But you can set the autotracking (in the toolbar) to lock on any other object, or none at all. When no object is set as aoutracking object, zooming will always be focused on the mouse position.
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