Celestia

**Celestia** **http://www.shatters.net/celestia/**

Celestia is a piece of software that would allow students to explore space through simulation. It begins with a view of the Earth, which can be zoomed in or zoomed out. The user can then move around the sky to view different things and choose to add labels to planets, moons, asteroids, spacecraft, galaxies, and constellations (among other things) that are in view on the screen. The program can also label the orbits of objects in space and can guide your eye to a constellation that may be difficult to picture by connecting its stars or outlining its boundaries. The user can also travel through the universe at numerous speeds and in different directions. Finally, students can visualize how the universe's landscape has changed or will change with time by traveling forward or backward through time, or simply view it in real time.

The program is free to download and runs on Windows, MAC OS X, and Linux. It could be used in the science classroom as an exploratory activity or as a demonstration. For example, if the teacher were to speed up time while looking at the Earth, he or she could discuss details of the Earth's rotation (days, weather patterns, the axis) with the class while demonstrating it. An assignment for students could also be to find a particular object using the "target" function, determine its radius and distance from the Earth or sun, and describe how it moves through space and what other objects are around it. Its main value is that there are endless possibilities for things to explore! The program could be used in any K-12 classroom by adjusting how many features are utilized at one time, depending on the complexity students are capable of based on their age.

This software supports meta-cognition in that students who may be having difficulty with such large-scale concepts presented in studying astronomy could reinforce their understanding by approaching the material from a visual domain. It is easy to imagine that students who are primarily visual learners would have trouble picturing objects and groups at an unimaginably large level. Students who are aware that visual presentation of material is the best way for them to learn could turn to this software.

Below is a screenshot of my exploration, with labels turned on for Milky Way planet orbits and local constellations.

