Questions tagged [universe-sandbox]

Questions regarding Universe Sandbox, software that simulates astrodynamics.

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6 votes
1 answer
364 views

At high temperatures, do planets glow like blackbodies?

I've been messing around in Universe Sandbox for a while and noticed that as a planet heats up, it glows like a blackbody starting at ~4000 K. Is the simulation here accurate, or do very hot planets ...
2 votes
2 answers
323 views

Why doesn't smashing larger and larger bodies incrementally into a rocky planet create a star?

Let's start with a stationary Earth. If we smash a few Mercury-sized objects into the Earth, the Earth begins to accrete mass. Repeat this step with larger and larger objects, until we start impacting ...
3 votes
1 answer
901 views

Easy interactive visualization of orbital elements

To get a grip on orbital elements, I'd like to play with a ready interactive visualization like in Universe Sandbox. E.g. drag the inclination slider and see immediately what happens to the satellite ...
  • 133
4 votes
1 answer
312 views

Could Planet Nine be much smaller than thought previously?

In 2016, Caltech astronomers began testing a Planet Nine hypothesis to explain the eccentric and inclined orbits of distant dwarf planets such as Sedna, 2015 TG387, Niku, and 2012 VP113. The ...
  • 251
6 votes
1 answer
709 views

What is the smallest diameter black hole that can be formed naturally?

I was watching the video I Put a 1mm Size Black Hole Next to Earth and This Happened - Universe Sandbox 2 discussing what would happen if a 1 millimeter black hole is orbiting the earth, and I began ...
  • 163
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Is a General Relativity approximation available in Universe Sandbox (1 or 2)?

This answer points out that including General Relativity in a simulation can be computationally intensive and may not be present in Universe Sandbox. However, answers to How to calculate the planets ...
  • 31k
1 vote
2 answers
537 views

Universe Sandbox 2 accurate representation of gravity

I've been playing Universe Sandbox for a while now and I have never been able to make a near Earth asteroid collide with it. By "make" I mean, simulating billions of years of known, near Earth objects ...
2 votes
1 answer
414 views

2 Earth-like planets in co-orbital configuration

I am trying to set up 2 Planets in a co-orbital configuration around a Jupiter size planet similarly to Saturn's moons Janus and Epimetheus. I'm trying to do this in Universe Sandbox 2 but when I ...
  • 127
14 votes
1 answer
11k views

Is Universe Sandbox 2 realistic?

Universe Sandbox 2 is the second installment of Universe Sandbox that is available on Steam. It is an educational simulation game based on astronomy and anything space, it ranges from supernova ...
  • 1,061