I've been hacking on a universe simulator, modeled on the path that the amazing SpaceEngine worked out over a decade ago, but without its Windows platform restriction. It takes real scientific data where we have it and augments it with procedural generation. So you can fly to e.g. the Whirlpool Galaxy, see a real image of it, but then fly into a 3d model that's created based on the image characteristics and visit individual stars etc within it. Same with nebula and other celestial objects.

I used to work at a small planetarium during undergrad, and we didn't have the funds to buy the fancy planetarium software. I dreamed of using something like this during shows to share the scale of the cosmos with visitors. I've added a dome projection mode, but I haven't yet had the opportunity to test it out in a real planetarium yet. If anyone has access, let me know if it works!

There's also a sorta hidden presentation share mode where you can share a link and others can follow along with your journey. I added this cause screen sharing so often compresses scenes like this to death! It worked ok for a quick share with some coworkers, but I'm sure there are some issues.

Mobile controls are rough but maybe passable. Really hoping for feedback on how hard this thing is to use and where to improve! If you know of datasets I should be including or ways to improve rendering let me know!

Anyway, happy flying! There is an incomprehensible amount of stuff happening out there!