[Thaeris]

A while back someone posted a link to a planetary simulator of sorts which seemed quite simple to use. However, I've got NO idea where that thread is, and the current Google internal search is... deplorable to say the least.

However - what we're doing is trying to produce logical or realistic solar systems about given stars - the primary seach tool for those stars is of course Celestia...

Thusly, what the Stellar Assault team needs is a sim that can allow us to take the known data about a star system and be able to throw some planets about it, etc., etc.

If anyone can help with this, please do so. Also, move this thread if necessary.

[Quanto]

The biggest reason for this is so that we may attempt to simulate the possibilities of worlds orbiting Binary Stars, if it is actually possible, and what kind of worlds they may be.

[Aardwolf]

It was probably posted by Watsisname.

[Nuke]

you mean celestia, supposedly its expandable so you could in theory add fake solar systems to it. of course i never got past installing it and looking around.

[Thaeris]

No, I DO NOT mean Celestia - I noted in the first post that we were already using that. However, if you know of a way to accurately create fake solar systems with it in a scientific fashion, please, do tell.

[Flipside]

You might want to take a look at something like Stargen for pointers:

http://www.eldacur.com/~brons/NerdCorner/StarGen/StarGen.html

If nothing else, it's open source, so you might get some hints towards the math involved from there, and there's a list of more references at the bottom of the page

[Thaeris]

Hmmm...

We actually looked at that one, and decided that it was a bit too clunky for general use - perhaps we might give it a more serious go in the future? Again, I'm pretty sure there was sort of an interactive program someone posted on the forum...

Also, I've got the first class of the semester today, which happens to be physics. My professor also teaches astronomy, so I'm sure he might have some insight into how to make some realistic determinations on solar system configuration.

For the record, we've also played with GravSim[sic], which is a terribly archaic piece of software. I've not toyed with it myself, but meh. There's got to be something out there.

[watsisname]

Thaeris, I'm not sure if this is fits what you're looking for, but you might be interested in trying "Gravitation 3D".  If nothing else it is very good for helping to visualize what is possible in a planetary system in three dimensions, and it's relatively easy to use.  Just create some objects, give them masses and velocities, and see what happens.  I could also provide a scenario file of a binary planetary system that I have been playing with, if that would help.
http://www.gravitation3d.com/  *Free to download/use, but small fee required to remove the annoying logo at center of screen*

I also agree with your choice of using Celestia for figuring out accurate information on various stars and whatnot, and the latest version includes a pretty good number of multiple-star systems.

[Rand al Thor]

Edit: SORRY, I've had a quick look and it's just an Earth-based-observatory type program. No extrapolation of potential extraplanetary systems. I'm leaving the original link in case anyone's interested.

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Coincidentally I've just come across the Open University vitual planisphere within a few minutes of reading your post. I haven't tried it yet and don't really know how much it covers but it was recommended by the chaps at the Naked Astronomy podcast and I'm pretty sure it's at least galactic scale.