Solar Explorer

Solar System Explorer will take you on an interactive 3D trip through our solar system. Featuring more than 35 planets, moons, asteroids and the spacecraft that have visited them, you’ll have a chance to see a different side of our little corner of the galaxy!

The full edition delivers all the planets and major moons of our Solar System in glorious HD with extra effects and a special tablet mode, so it will look great on all devices, large or small.

Solar System Explorer also features detailed models of past present and future robotic explorers, such as Cassini which is currently half way through a 20 year mission to study the Saturnian system.

Surface images of the planets have been re-constructed from photos taken by telescopes or NASA spacecraft. Because few probes have been to the outer solar system, a number of moons have only been photographed from one side, so the missing details have been estimated based on what is visible.

Orbital positions and speeds have been adjusted to make it easier to navigate the Solar System and see the planetary motion at human speeds.

Interesting facts about each of the places you visit in the solar system, and the spacecraft you see are available at the touch of a button.

Statistics are calculated relative to the Earth where ever possible because for most people, big numbers mean little.

There may only officially be eight planets now, but because Pluto is larger than 200KM in radius, it is included for your viewing pleasure.

Coding and graphics by Neil Burlock

Music by Kevin MacLeod

Please leave comments here, not on Android Market
Google’s comment system is broken and I can’t access most comments posted there

Education Guy

Any chance on providing proxy support for the program? – Thanks, work well at home but not at school.
- Anonymous
  
  The full version doesn’t need an Internet connection, and the free one shouldn’t complain if there isn’t a connection, it’ll just run a bit slower.
  
  If you are seeing an error, can you give me more information like what version you are using or any error messages?
  
  Proxies have to be configured on the device. I don’t think Android supports wifi proxiesyet, it does for 3G though. If you device is rooted, you might be able to use something like ProxyDroid from the market.
http://www.facebook.com/patricki.oflynn Patricki O’Flynn

I love this app… It is definitely my favourite… !!!

Aren’t there are few moons missing from Saturn & Jupiter?

How about a Galactic Explorer?

Patricki
- Anonymous
  
  Thanks for stopping by.
  
  I decided to limit Solar Explorer to anything that’s about 200km or more in radius (except for Deimos and Phobos because they are famous) since anything smaller than that won’t have enough gravity to form a spherical shape.
  
  There’s hundreds of other moons, asteroids, kupier belt and oort cloud objects smaller than 200km. Check out the wikipedia page of Solar System objects ordered by size for more info.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Solar_System_objects_by_size
  
  Galactic explorer, now that would be a challenging project
Jona

Thank you, Neil Burlock for the most beautiful app on the Market!
- Anonymous
  
  I’m glad you like it
E1wdawg

I love this. Just spend two hours looking at the planets
Anonymous

I like the app. I would like the radius put in miles instead of ratio to earth’s radius. It would be easier for people to relate miles rather than the math of .0004 to that of earths. But its minor complaint for the ease of reference data. Thanks
- Anonymous
  
  I’ve been thinking about moving the planet stats to their own page in the info box and giving the user the option of switching between metric, imperial and relative measurements to cater for everyone.
Guest

Saw a few misspelled words in the information for the planets.
- Anonymous
  
  Guess I’ll have to fire the proofreading department again!
  
  I’ll see if I can spot them while working on the next update…
Martin0259meba

This app is one of the beast apps that I have download on my phone , its easy to use and a great teaching tool for my boys … We love it .

Thanks great jod on it .
From Pathfinder
Martin perez
Vahida98

Hello
I,m like it
Terrytresner

I like this app a whole bunch,I tried to buy the full version the other day but my phone doesn’t have enough memory or something.It kept saying error:-( I’ll get it worked out,I love this kinda stuff.
Terry
Terrytresner

Ah ha,I found the right spot.
Great app dudes,love it,spent $40 on a sd card just so I could fit it on my phone,it and one other anyway.
Love it,thank you.
If I could make a request,not a complaint in anyway,I would love to see the ISS rotating Earth and also have all the info about it that you could fit on the app.If there was only one thing you could add that’s the one I’d like to see.
Thanks again,super cool looking,fun,educating app.
Terry
- Anonymous
  
  Hi Terry, thanks for the feedback
  
  The ISS would be a great addition, complex to model though, but definitely a good idea.
  
  Right now I’m working on my new app which should be ready soon, then I’ll revisit Solar Explorer and add some new features.
  - Terrytresner
    
    Whoops,I should have scrolled down the comments before putting a new one up,I hadn’t realized you had responded.Thank you for that.Anyway,I just put up a new comment asking about the ISS again,but now I have my answer:-)
    
    Awesome app Mr.Burlock,I’ve spent a lot of time on it with my kids(and by myself,shhh)
Sean

Hi can you please re-add Telechips M778 Tablet PC to your compatibility list for the paid version of the app. I bought it not so long ago and loved it so much I wanted to get it for my son. But when I went to buy it the Android Market says its not compatible. Not fair … like the free version it is completely compatible otherwise you’ve lost a customer.
- Anonymous
  
  I haven’t set the app to block any devices, apart from requiring Android 2.2. Both the free and paid versions have exactly the same settings on the developers console.
  
  The M778 is easily capable of running the full version, so I don’t know why Google’s decided to block it. It could just be a bug and they’ll fix it in the next couple of days. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve broken something accidentally with an update.
  
  I’ve also released Solar Explorer on SlideMe market for devices that don’t/can’t have access to Google’s Market.
  
  http://slideme.org/application/solar-explorer
  
  I’m sure SlideMe won’t block you if you want to get the app there.
  - Sean Fishlock
    
    Thanks. Champion Android Market is a pain.
W Sireci

Nicely done. Is it possible to add some features like planets in their real time positions, and perhaps an animation feature, watch the planets rotate and revolve around the sun as well as their moons. Also a wallpaper would be cool to. Just a suggestion, like I said, this app is very well done as it is.
- Anonymous
  
  I hope to improve the simulation aspect of the Solar Explorer in the near future.
  
  The reason that the orbits weren’t accurate was due to technical limitations of the development tool that I was able to overcome during development of Exoplanet Explorer.
  
  The moons aren’t visible when the you’re viewing the whole solar system because the scale is so huge, it wasn’t possible to get it all on screen. During development of Exoplanet Explorer I also tried out some new techniques using logarithms which may permit me to include moons and planets together. I’ll need to do some testing before I’ll know for sure though.
  
  A live wallpaper? I’d like to do that, but with all the graphics and processing needed by Solar Explorer, it’d probably be too resource hungry to be viable.
Kieranmccoey

Apostrophe crime in the very first info screen about the Earth!!! He, she, its. No apostrophe required.
- Kieranmccoey
  
  Erm… I meant His, hers, its.
  How embarrassing.
  - Anonymous
    
    I guess we’ll both get the death sentence for crimes against the English language then?
    
    I type quickly and my fingers have a mind of their own. If I’m not paying attention then they’ll insert subtle errors such as “statue” instead of “status”, “it’s” instead of “its”, “their” instead of “they’re” and so on.
    
    It’s hard to spot subtle problems while distracted by all the other things that that a developer has to deal with, such as bug spotting or thinking of ways to speed up or improve the interface.
    
    Once Exoplanet Explorer is out, I’ll be working on an update for Solar Explorer, so I’ll do an “it’s” hunt then.
    
    Damned fingers, always working against me!
W Sireci

Thanks for your reply. You did a beautiful job with this application, I am very impressed with it as is. I can’t imagine the complexity that goes into the making or development of such an app. So hats off, keep up the good work! Thanks again!
Anonymous

Great application, very informative and nice to use. However, please correct the constant misuse of apostrophes: it’s = “it is” and not the possessive “belonging to it”.
- Anonymous
  
  Have just noticed other comments on the same subject. Glad it’s not just me. I really do like the application though. Suggest including hyperlinks to external information though to supplement the info in the app.
  - Anonymous
    
    Thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, I’m aware of the typos in the current free version of Solar Explorer. I fixed them in the paid version (I think there’s still one I missed), but forgot to put the fix into the free one during the last update.
    
    Since then, I’ve been working on a big update to Solar Explorer which amongst other things includes a complete rewrite of the text, a lot more info, a tablet mode, an updated UI, better use of screen space and hopefully fewer grammatical errors!
    
    ETA is a couple of days…
    - Anonymous
      
      Thanks for the response – I may just pick up the full version.
SG-3

Absolutely wonderful… I just had to buy the paid version, especially for New Horizons, but was admittedly over-optimistically expecting a real time position for the probes, which upon thinking about is ludicrous considering the rest of the system is not in real-time! My BIG wish list then would be a “Current Time” button, that shows current positions and orbits of the planets AND the movement trails and labels of the non-planet-orbiting probes!
- Anonymous
  
  Thanks for the suggestions.
  
  Until version 2, it was not possible for the app to even calculate the planetary positions accurately due to floating point rounding errors (the development tool was designed for performance at the cost of accuracy). I’ve since found a way around it, but I’ve only gone as far making the orbital eccentricity and inclination accurate. Further improvements in this area are on the to-do list.
  
  As for accurately positioning the probes, there’s a technical issue I still have to solve. If Voyager and New Horizons are to be positioned accurately, then so would Cassini and Dawn. These models are intended to be detailed, and I’ve pruned them as much as possible, but some lower-end devices won’t be able to handle the stress of rendering the models with background planets or moons, especially in the case of Cassini. That’s not to say it won’t happen, but I need to come up with a solution that works for all of them.
  - Please3mta3
    
    I love your program. I hope that you can give the option to have real time planet locations. I bought your app because my son loves astronomy. So far its been worth the money.
    - Anonymous
      
      Hi, accurately positioning the planets in their orbit is on my to-do list.
Jay

Stunning, this is the best Solar systems app I’ve seen. It looks fantastic on my XOOM. I also tend just to get free or ‘lite’ versions of apps, but I had to buy the full version of this – its that good.
Mrader66

Background view of milkyway overdone. I want old version back.
- Anonymous
  
  I don’t know what’s “overdone” about it…
  
  It’s more accurate, the colours are closer to correct (the old one was too blue) and it’s also higher resolution than the old one.
Trafton17

Wow I like that very beautifui I want see show picture very cool.
Hernen

Hi Neil,
Like the ExEx the Solar Explorer is just great. There’s just one mistake since the recent update as the rotation axis of Uranus isn’t right (it should point at the sun). More moons soon?
All the best!
- Anonymous
  
  Yep, Uranus managed to flip itself over without me noticing… I’ll fix that.
Macreibert

What about the newly discovered planet in the oort cloud?
- Anonymous
  
  There are some dwarf planets that I know of beyond Pluto, but we know so little about them that I’d just be guessing if I included them in the app.
  
  There were at least some blurry Hubble photos of Pluto to work from.
Dr Thomasfink De

Hello,

I would like to be able to zoom into the overview to have a closer look at the orbits of vesta and ceres.

It would be nice for those to have a small label at the screen’s bottom (for every centered object) since one can not identify them at the lineup.
- Anonymous
  
  I hid the label that was positioned on the centre point of the currently selected planet with the intention of using the function that positions the label below the planet as seen in Exoplanet Explorer… except I forgot copy the code across. Next release.
Ian

This is a really good app. Unfortunately since the new update the labels are far too big, you can’t see the planets or satellites. Can the labels be put back to normal size please. It’s a good reference to my open university course.
- Anonymous
  
  Do you mean the labels under the planets? The size hasn’t been changed, so maybe you are seeing a bug.
  
  Can you tell me know what device you’ve got? If possible can you give me a screenshot, or describe what they look like – is the text huge, or is it just the label border?
  
  In the meantime, there’s an option on the second options page called “show labels” which will hide the tags under the planets.
Sggt

Wish it was available for the kindle fire
- Anonymous
  
  There’s two reasons why it’s not available from Amazon:
  1) I’m Australian and the Amazon’s store is too difficult for non-US developers to publish on.
  2) I keep hearing about bad experiences from small developers who published on Amazon Market.
  
  For people who don’t have access to Android Market, Solar Explorer is available on SlideMe market, which can be used on the Kindle Fire.
  
  http://slideme.org/application/solar-explorer
  
  You’ll also find other apps on SlideMe that won’t appear in the Amazon market for the same reason my apps aren’t there.
  
  http://slideme.org/
W Sireci

Hello…. I really hate to complain but wondering if anyone else noticed this graphics issue. The planets appear jagged. Almost as if they were made up of several small straight lines rather then one circular line. Not sure but have to say it started after update to 2.1.1. I certainly appreciate any feedback… Thanks, Bill
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Unless the problem is severe, then you’re probably just seeing the edges of the triangles that are arranged in a spherical shape to look like a planet, which is how 3D graphics are created.
  
  In recent versions, because of the detailed surfaces feature, I’ve permitted the camera to get a little closer to the planet which will make it slightly more obvious that it’s not really a perfect sphere.
Stylishd

Hi Neil, just updated to version 2.2 and there seems to be a glitch with the background galaxy image. It’s free floating and disappears off to one side when the solar system view is zoomed out to show all planets. I’m using a HTC Desire.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  I’ve also got a HTC Desire, and I’m not seeing that, so it’s probably some weird glitch when the Solar System was being constructed at startup.
  
  Does it still happen if you quit the app completely or kill it with a task manager and restart it?
  
  If that doesn’t work, then try uninstalling it and reinstall it – perhaps not all the files updated during the upgrade.
Y Krasnov

Thanks, very good
But need also photos for planets as opshion
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Hi, thanks for the suggestion, several other people have made the same comment.
  
  The reason that there aren’t additional photos is that if I were to include them, they would cause the size of the app to grow enormous because they’d have to be in HD for tablet users. This would affect people that already have little space to on their devices and I also wouldn’t be able to list it on certain markets because it would be too large.
  
  I’ll keep the idea on my to-do list for later, should the situation change.
Johnsonbrand2000

Not sure if this is a bug or what, but several of the planets – including Jupiter & Saturn – are showing up black even though their moons look fine. Very disappointing. Especially since I actually bought the full version….
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  It sounds like there’s not enough memory available on your device, so some of the graphics can’t be loaded. This would be most likely to happen around Saturn and Jupiter because they use so many different graphics for all the moons. Uranus would also likely be affected.
  
  It could be caused by another app that’s having problems and not releasing the memory it’s taken, or by memory becoming “fragmented”. Try a reboot of the device to clear it.
  
  If that doesn’t work, it could be that you device just doesn’t have enough memory. In that case, try turning off “Detailed Planets” in the video options (if you’ve enabled it), because that needs a tonne of memory. If that doesn’t help, then also try turning off “HD Textures”. You might need to quit the app each time to allow Android to clean up any memory that has been allocated.
  
  What device do you have?
David

Mars data is in error for both years and days.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  The numbers look correct to me. Can you elaborate?
- FOvad
  
  helOv
Gfds

Can’t find it for the kindle fire?
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  It isn’t available on Amazon Market because Amazon makes it hard for non-US citizens and small developers to publish on their market.
  
  It’s available from SlideMe, an alternate market which works with the Kindle Fire, and doesn’t have silly rules and restrictions.
  
  http://slideme.org/application/solar-explorer
Highrange101

Very well done
Edgar Randy

I love this app, however when I run it on my samsung tablet android 3 and choose planet details it hangs and crashes…very awesome otherwise
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  It’s a bug in my development tool that affects some devices running Android 3 and I’m waiting for a fix from the vendor. Once I have it, I’ll build a new version of the app and release it ASAP.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  The problem is fixed with the latest update.
Seb

Zoom in with hires images would be good. Also how about true 3D for the HTC EVO 3!D display.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  3D viewing on supported devices such as yours is planned.
  - Bi0raptor
    
    Hi Neil.
    Had this App instaled on my phone for sometime now.
    The up dates that you keep bringing out make it feel and look fresh.
    Great work bro,this app as come a long way since I bought it.
    Keep up the good work.
Scartoemail

It would be perfect if the rotation of the planets from the reality,is it possible?
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  I’m planning to do this in a later release.
sabrina10

Great app
Martin_darlington

a bloody brilliant app! better than the nearest thing to it on iphone4,really informative and great graphics, better by far- get it, you will not regret it
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Awesome!
Fransx

very good app. Translate to Spanish please.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  I’d like to translate it, but at the moment it’s a bit too expensive to get it done properly.
mail@7thdragon.de

Nice App but Lightyears behind “Solar walk” at the moment.
Is it possible to set the Time into Realltime (in Freeware Version)?
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  It would be a bit sad if a company of 30 employees made an iPhone app that wasn’t as good as a free Android app made by a lone developer working in his spare time, wouldn’t it?
  
  There’s no real-time option, but it’s planned for a future update.
Terrytresner

I seem to have lost the ability to look at the satellites,Voyeger and whatnot.When I click on one it just zooms to outer space now?Was that intended?I used to be able to look at them like I can a planet but they’re not there anymore.Droid 3.Any chance of adding the ISS?Thanks,great app.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  The camera should zoom to the spacecraft. Have you tried quitting the app and re-loading it, or restarting your device?
  
  Also, make sure you’ve got the latest version.
  
  If you can’t get it to show the spacecraft, then let me know the device you have and version of Android.
ZQuimby

Fabulous. Very stable on rooted HTC desire. Well worth paying for full version. Possible future option to ” change time”, planet rotation speeds etc?
peps

Beautifull. My son is loving it… and I play a lot with
I have the lite version but can not buy the full one. (error)
Galaxy S / MIUI.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  I’ve listed my apps on Slide Me for people who have problems with Android Market (you aren’t alone).
  
  It’s the exact same version as the one on Android Market, and it gets all the updates.
  
  https://slideme.org/application/solar-explorer
Bi0raptor

Ive had this ap for almost a year now and its as fresh as the day I bought it.
Great updates and changers.
Good work great ap.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Arnold-Rieser/100001936167214 Arnold Rieser

Great, THX
http://www.facebook.com/people/Arnold-Rieser/100001936167214 Arnold Rieser

It’s great, THX
Mullardeq

Fantastic app. Beautiful rendering of planets and moons. Runs smoothly on my optimus m. There is only one thing I could request to make this perfect and that is adjustable speeds for the solar system view, especially for the inner planets – although the speed it runs at now is great for watching the whole solar system. Incredible app. Thank you.
jess

amazing on my playbook!
Dpprofesores

Many planets appears in black. Saturn,venus,etc.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Something could be hogging the video memory which is what would cause some planets to have no graphics on them. You could try a reboot of the device.
  
  What device are you running it on?
  - Dpprofesores
    
    Bq kepler
    - http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
      
      It should work on your tablet, it’s a good device.
      
      I’ve seen this problem before on a Vizio VTAB 1008. It’s a bug in the ROM. Have you checked for a ROM update?
      
      If there’s no update, then tell me and I’ll refund your money.
      
      Sorry, I can’t fix this sort of problem.
      - Dpprofesores
        
        Thank you for your kindness
        I’ll tell you
Relaxin_poolside

Just downloaded app for my playbook. Looks great on the tablet but can’t wait to see it on my 50″ through HDMI. Great app for my kids to learn. Nicely done and keep the playbook apps coming..
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Thanks
http://twitter.com/JamesGrant2 James Grant

I just wanted to say Wonderful App. I really am enjoying it, and also great that you made it for the PlayBook. I would have never seen this otherwise. Great work, and keep it up.
Eric Desgroseilliers

Great app, I picked it up for the playbook after seeing it featured on crackberry. Any thoughts on creating additional language support? I’d be willing. To help out translating to French if you would like.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  I’ve been wanting to translate it but the cost of doing so was prohibitive. I’ve been reluctant to provide a machine translation because of concern that it would mess it up as reference material.
  
  I’d like to take you up on that offer. If I provide you a translation and the original English, it’d be great if you could verify that there’s no obvious errors.
  
  Email me apps@burlock.org and I’ll give you a dropbox link.
  
  Thanks
Jeff

I really like this!!! Good job.
Rbe1733

Nice application
Is there any chance to have translations, like french ?
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Yes, hopefully French will be in the next release.
  
  http://apps.burlock.org/update-solar-explorer/
Sims_3

It would be cool if it would ready it to you
Knightcrawler

Oh my god. Thank you! This is exactly what I had in mind when I thought space + tablet. A virtual tour of the solar system is what I DREAMED about as a kid and you have made it a reality. All I need now is an audio tour by Ms. Frizzle and I’ll feel like I’m part of the Magic School Bus.

Keep improving and adding to the app and PLEASE continue to make more space related apps (I wonder if you can perhaps use the Hubble Deep Field image somehow and zoom through the universe!).

Just fyi, I don’t generally buy apps for my playbook. Yours is just the second one I’ve ever bought and it was well worth the money. I’d be happy to buy more apps like this, so do keep it up!
- Knightcrawler
  
  Oh and as for stuff for future updates, I’d love to be able to pan rather then just rotate around to see things….maybe multi touch scrolling to pan the screen around?
  
  Also it would be awesome to have certain preset view, like birds eye or side-on….for the solar system atleast if not individual planets/moons.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  If you want more space apps, I’ll be releasing Exoplanet Explorer on Playbook soon. 600+ systems simulated from the exoplanet data that astronomers have been collecting over the last 20 years.
Vferrari

Love your app. My only quibble is that it doesn’t appear (unless I’m just not seeing them) to include plutoid dwarf planets such as Eris, Makemake, and Haumea that meet your 200 km radius cutoff. Is there a plan to include those some time in the future? Regardless, thanks for a fun, educational, and beautiful app.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  These and a few others are missing because there’s very little information about what they look like. I might add a generic grey rock at some point, and just use it for all of them.
Rene Grothmann

No real time animation?
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  If you mean showing the planets where they are currently, then that feature is coming shortly.
  
  http://apps.burlock.org/solar-explorer-work-progressing/
noname2062

Excellent App. I use it on my Samsung GS2 and it’s works flawless. I also installed it on my Acer A500 (4.0 OS) tab but I’ve come across some issues. The app loads but when pressing on the planets, nothing happens. Earth is pulled up by default along with the info but when I scroll, it always reverts back to the top of the info Page. I’ve tried uninstalling /reinstalling it, and the problem still persists. Other apps work fine… Any suggestions??
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Yours is the second report of that issue with ICS on Acer tablets in the last couple of days. The app does work with ICS, at least on my Transformer Prime.
  
  Are you running the official Acer ICS, or a ROM?
  
  If it’s the official ICS, was a patch rolled out by Acer recently, or is it still just the first release of ICS?
  - noname2062
    
    Hi, Neil.
    
    I’m glad to hear that it works w/ ICS. I’m using the un-official official 1st release ICS from Acer. It hasn’t rolled out to the masses, so I’ll just assume thats what the problem is. Again, I’m very glad that it works for official ICS and thanks for responding so promptly! Keep up the great work!
Inta Stella

Fantastic job on this app. Works and looks great on the BlackBerry Playbook and on my HD flatscreen with my HD output. Great way to give the kids a tour of the solar system. Feature request: Select Date and Time to show exact position of planets at selected time.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  I’m currently finishing off a feature to select a date and position the planets accurately. It should be released sometime in the coming week.
JHPJHP

I love it!

No critique, just keep building it – don’t worry about the size. I have similar apps on my other tablets and they range from 800 mb to over 1 gb.

More information the better – don’t make the mistake of underestimating your audience… This app is so good it will excite the beginner to the avid enthusiast.

Thanks,
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  There’s other factors to consider when an app grows in size, including additional costs involved in developing new content, which are particularly significant for HD material. That’s the main reason why graphically impressive games on consoles can cost many millions to develop and send software houses broke when a title flops.
  
  Then there’s the people who have already bought the app but have Android devices with limited storage space. There’s still lots of them, but the situation is getting better as older devices are replaced.
  
  There’s also size limitations imposed by other market places where the app is on sale.
  
  It’s a juggling act.
Robert_kunze

.Hello,
Nice app !
One area of improvement could be:
background, stars – especially in milkyway area – seem a bit unfinished.
A line appears between the different sections of the background.
Is it also the same in the paid version.
Regards,
Robert
- Robert
  
  .I mean:
  Is it also the same in the paid versin ?
  - http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
    
    The background graphics in the paid version are completely different to the free version. It has a much higher resolution and the colour is more uniform.
    
    The stars are drawn onto the inside of a huge cube which the Solar System is inside of. On the free version, when the screen is bright enough, it’s possible to see the edges of the cube where the background colour isn’t quite even, appearing as a straight line.
Paunngaq

I purchased this for my PlayBook for my 3 year old son and he loves it. I think I love it more than he does though. It is a great app.
nikola987

Can’t buy this app in Serbia…
Stupid google!!!
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  I’ve also released the app on SlideMe market for the many people who have problems with Google. It’s the exact same version at the exact same price, updated whenever Google’s Market version is.
  
  http://slideme.org/application/solar-explorer
John D Cannell

Absolutely brilliant!
Stunning graphics, excellent descriptive material.
An absolute tour design force!
Flip

Can you please make a today button in the timetable? Thanks, Flip
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  OK, it’s on my to-do list
Ian

On the date function would it be possible to include a today button to set the start date etc to today?
Terrytresner

I’ve had the paid version for a few months now and still really enjoy looking at it and I use it often to learn for myself or teach my kids.
Something I’m having a problem with now is viewing the machines we’ve sent out,any time I click on a spacecraft the app goes to deep space,I used to be able to view the spacecraft.What am I doing wrong now?
Great app,thank you.If I could make a request it would be the addition of the ISS,with the option to see it flying around Earth or not and also to view it like I used to view the other spacecraft.
Thank you.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  That problem has been reported by several people with recent Motorola phones – it seems that the spacecraft aren’t visible for some reason, though the camera should be in the right location. What device do you have?
Brucecrossan

Still would like higher resolution textures.

Having the oceans of earth actually being reflective and the night dark side showing the lights of cities would be great too.

Real-time positioning of probes would be nice too. It should be set as an option to turn on and off, depending on peoples preference and device performance.

I would love to also have orbiters like the ISS etc around earth.

Another thing, is to maybe provide “magma” textures to the cross sections, and also give a 3D wedge cut-away view as well.

With the facts, it would be great to actually get decimal units for the sizes and masses of planets. This could be set on or off in the settings. I would also like it if the facts displayed the distance between these objects and the sun and earth.

With all these, they should be made as options: Allowing device with the power to see more beauty, and lower end ones to still run the app.

Thanks so much for the app. It is still brilliant. Best one on Android.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Higher resolution textures: prohibitively expensive – I’m not sure if you have any background in planet modelling, but it would require the creation of up to 30 new mercator maps. It took me about 150 hours to create the ones that are currently in the app, and I had the benefit of using partial maps that NASA provided. Quadrupling the pixel count would require starting over with hundreds of raw images of many of the moons, slicing them up, processing them so they can be patched together, assembling them into cylindrical mercator projections and then extrapolating the missing bits… I shudder to think how much that would cost.
  
  It would also increase the app size by 4x which is sure to annoy a lot of users because they wouldn’t get any benefit.
  
  Reflective (specular) oceans: already present using the detailed planets option, which activates normal mapping and specular mapping.
  
  Lights on the dark side of the Earth: not possible with Shiva3D
  
  Real-time positioning: I can put the probes close where they should be, but real time positioning is not feasible, because these aren’t satellites moving in a regular, repeatable orbit.
  
  ISS: I’ve not added it because it doesn’t fit the “solar system explorer” theme. The same with all other satellites around the Earth. I’ve kept it to the most important exploration probes, and there are more to come.
  
  Cross section changes: Too costly to implement alternate versions of something that’s already working
  
  Facts: I’m planning to rework these next.
  
  Anything I add to my apps has to be cost effective and of benefit to the majority of Playbook and Android users – the majority don’t have high-end devices.
  
  I estimate that I’ve invested at least US$10,000 in developing Solar Explorer to where it is today and despite it being in the top 25 Educational apps in English speaking countries it’s not even earned enough to cover half it’s development costs in nearly 12 months. On a good day it’ll make US$35, about 25 sales, from a marketplace with an estimated 200 million installed devices.
  
  If it wasn’t for the tremendous support I’ve had from RIM and Blackberry Playbook users, this app wouldn’t have received the calendar feature in the last update.
  - dexter55
    
    My point exactlly, but I’m a ‘newbie’ to this tablet world (in my very late 50′s), I’m still trying to properly work a ‘stylus’, … let alone my cell phone.
    Thanks for saying what I wanted to say, but simply don’t know how.
- Dexter55
  
  After that, … why not just say we want ‘real time”? No offense meant, but Igot hthis app for free and I think it’s great. Your suggestions while nice, would take this information away from those whom can’ t afford an extensive and expensive application.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003533528806 Jeroen Den Hertog

Solar Explorer is really beautiful and informative.
This is one of the show off applications on the Playbook.
One thing I would like is a Celsius conversion of the given kelvin temperatures of the planets and sun.
Ianrmuller

This is fantastic – Do you have anything like Living Earth HD for iPad. It’s also very good!
Xtomi

Very nice application! Running it on Playbook..
Mytra

It would be awesome of we could follow space craft from launch to current points in the solar system. Other the that, this application is excellent
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  There are some technical limitations that have stopped me positioning some the spacecraft near where they really are – mainly frame rate issues on certain devices when the planets are nearby. I have plans to work around this in a future release.
Terrytresner

I’m not able to view the spacecrafts anymore like the top left picture here,what am I doing wrong?When I tap on a craft the app just goes to deep space now???
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Do you have a recent Motorola phone? There’s an issue with the latest Android on high-end Motorola devices that causes the spacecraft to be invisible. I’ve reported it to the company that makes my development tools and they are working on it.
Ryan

Great app. There is an error in measurement labeling though. The earth is labeled as Radius: 1 earth. Since the radius of a circle is from the center to the edge, that would mean the earth is two times the size of the earth. The labeling should be Diameter: 1 earth.
Kshowell

This is beautiful. I just downloaded to my BlackBerry Playbook, and it is worth every cent! I am not an astronomer ; I just want to enjoy the universe. The music is so relaxing that it really adds to the app’s appeal. Thank you!
Jfmandeville

Love it!
Jwenderickx

I had the fill verson, but since Android 4.0 it doesn’t work anymore, even as the Lite one. I tried to download it again, but no chance. Is there something to do, because it is a great apps ? Thanks
Cdjdcld

I lost all picgures of the crafts and of the rings on both planets. How do i fix this?
Cdjdcld

Forget to say i have a droid razer max
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  it was working before, but now it’s not? Has anything changed on the device?
  - Cdjdcld
    
    There was a software update. How low long ago i forgot.
Yagoy

Extraordinaria aplicacion, de lo mejor que he visto para Android. Muy corrrecta, muy bien hecha, muiy espectacular y muy didactica. Enhorabuena a los creadores.
Jwenderickx

More info: the start menu with version type scroll a few, then resume to first line, no more. The button (share, cancel,…) don’t work. It seems as if the capacitive screen was not working properly with this apps.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  This sounds like the same problem that is affecting some of the custom ROMs running ICS. I haven’t been able to report it to Stonetrip (developer of Shiva) because they don’t support custom ROMs, but now that you’ve got the same issue with an official ROM, they should be able to look into it.
  
  The update is almost ready to go, it should be out tomorrow. If it doesn’t fix the issue, then I’ll annoy Stonetrip about it.
Richie

This app is great.. I love it… it would be even better to be able to zoom out and see the entire Milky Way Galaxy… thanks.
Chris

Love tbe app!!!! And so does my 3 yr old son. He learned to say and remember the plants bh sight. But he is upset Saturn does have its rings a d also Uranus. Also missing pi tures of the probes. On razor max after a software update. Any idea on a fix? A+++++++++++ on the app!!!!!
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Hi Chris, this is bug in the in the latest Motorola Android build. On affected devices, anything that is partially transparent becomes completely invisible.
  
  Motorola will take so long to release a fix that it’s faster for the company that develops my programming tools to come up with a workaround.
  
  Unfortunately, I can’t do it myself because it requires low level changes in code I don’t have access to.
  
  Stonetrip (my tool developer) have told me that they are planning on releasing an update in the next week or two, after which I can rebuild my apps.
  
  Hopefully it will fix this issue once and for all.
Terrytresner

Hi Neil,
Love the app,had the paid version about a year now on a Droid 3.
When I first got the app I could see the satellites just like I could see planets,but now if I click on one it just takes me to deep space???Also,the moon is stationary now,it doesn’t rotate the earth anymore.I wanted to understand tidal locking better and had hoped the app could give me a somewhat accurate visual idea,but the moon doesn’t move at all.

What happened?
Are you still working on the app?I read one of your comments that said you’re in the red as far as cash with it after a yr,I could understand if you’re done with it,but I hope not.Out of the almost 200 apps I have it’s one of a small few I always go to,I enjoy it as much today as I did back when I got it.
So thanks for making it,I hope you sell a million.
So,I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong when looking for the satellites and I don’t know what else I could do looking at the rotation simulation to get the moon moving.Can you help sir?

Thanks
Terry
- Terrytresner
  
  My mistake,the satellites are visible again,I hadn’t checked them in a while but they’re working again.The moon is the only thing not working,unless of course I have the wrong idea about what it does.I want to understand visually why we only see one side of it,I’ve read about it and sort of understand it but I think for me it would help to see it.For whatever reason it just stays in one spot on the app,if zoomed out it’s just outside earths orbit ring and it stays there no matter what date I set it to or how fast the simulation speed is.
  
  Please help:-)
  Terry
  - http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
    
    There was a workaround in the last update for strange behaviour on mostly Motorola devices that caused the spacecraft to be invisible.
    
    You’re right about the moon being stuck in place, which is caused by the maths library not being updated with the changes I made in the final build. Thanks for letting me know. It’s a tough problem to spot because it doesn’t cause any obvious error message.
    - Terrytresner
      
      Thanks for the quick reply.
      I was able to see exactly what tidallly locked was using a moon on saturn,so I worked that out.If the moon doesn’t get fixed it’s not that big a deal for me,I still enjoy the app.It must be a lot of work keeping everyone happy,just reading the comments here gives me a small idea of what a developer must go through trying to ‘please’ everyone.So don’t sweat me,I’m fine,if you get around to fixing it great,if not that’s fine too.Like I said,after about a yr I still use it which is very rare with most apps I’ve used,so I’ve by far got my moneys worth.
      
      Thanks again
      Terry
      - http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
        
        I just released an update that fixes the Earth’s Moon.
      - Terrytresner
        
        I got it,thank you,working great now.
        
        I read one of your replies to someone about being in the red with this app,thanks for keeping it up to date for those of us using it and all the improvements you’ve done over the months.I thouroughly enjoy the app,in the time I’ve owned it I’ve spent many hours running around on it.So thanks for sticking it out,I hope you sell a million.
      - http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
        
        If I sold a million, I could retire and work on it full time!
        
        With the launch on Blackberry, the app ended up paying for it’s development, but it’s not enough to be able to focus on development 100% of the time – I still have to have a real job
Pietro Comoli

Great! Sin is not translated in Italian, it would be great to teach.
You can not have tables to translate?
Thanks and congratulations.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  The cost of translation is the killer. I’d have to use a professional, educated translator who will understand what the text says and convert it accurately, or the educational value will be destroyed.
Sorahiroaki

I am very pleased with both the solar and exoplanet full apps!!!

It is not only informative, but also very entertaining.
These frequent updates are also… well… awesome!

Will it be possible to input future and past dates into the calender set? Such as 10/12/2435 or 10/12/1423?
Also, it could be interesting to have more control over the time elapse. It seems that elapse set is different from planetary to interplanetary view.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  The method used to work out where the planets are is only accurate for at most 100 years either before, or after the year 2000. That’s why it doesn’t offer a larger range.
  
  You’re right that the orbit speed is different in the interplanetary view. The reason is that when the update rate is low (one day per second or less), the planets looked like they weren’t moving.
  - Sorahiroaki
    
    Okay, I can live with that.
    The app is still rather amazing, and the clock doesn’t stop after 2099, anyway.
    I do hope to see any further developments on either of these apps, though.
    Simply to be able to play around with the Sol system, and even is neighboring systems is very exiting and fulfilling.
    I’ll be watching closely.
    Great work! And I thank you on behalf of every astronomy student on this side of the cosmos.
Matt

Hi Neil,
great app (as also others say ).
I would like to propose (I think small ) improvements to UI:
1. to be able to stop time completly (not just slow it down)
2. to be able to set not just date, but also time in calendar
I am sorry if it is there and I have not figured it out.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  1. I’ll see what I can do
  2. The reason that time isn’t provided as an option is that it would make the calendar date picker more complicated and that in most cases (except for Mars’ moons), the planets barely move over a 24 hour period.
  - http://www.facebook.com/matej.kormos Matej Kormoš
    
    thanks
efred

Beautiful app on my pb! Thanks
Calgary Space Workers

Very good and you will have my business if you upgrade this substantially. If you have other applications for sale for my PlayBook like this one just let me know. However,note that this product would not be as impressive if it was for the PC. This it is great because it is on the PlayBook. This quality is expected from the PC products and lots are out there that can do As good well or better.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Well, a PC is a lot more powerful than a Playbook, so I’m not sure what the point is?
Lisa

This is a fantastic app. The music is perfect and the navigation animation is supreme. I’m looking for an education app like this that could run animations to demonstrate spatial anomalies like black holes and meteor paths and time lines, etc. Beautiful app!
a fan

Higher resoloution images and kupier belt objects, asteroid belt and more detail beyond pluto would be a great improvement. otherwise very pleased. Great job neil.
a fan

Seasons on the earth, lunar eclipse red moon effect, kupier belt and more detail beyond pluto. Just a few sugestions cost efective. Would be a great upgrade. Come neil on your a million air lol. Im a fan keep up the good work!
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Lots of good suggestions, some if it is planned, in particular more inner system objects like asteroids.
  
  Expanding the app beyond Pluto would be challenging – I’m already using all 32 bits of the 3D universe coordinate system for spacing the planets out. The Kupier belt would double the size of the Solar System and require 64bit coordinates which Shiva3D can’t do. Maybe I can come up with a creative solution? I’ll have a think.
jaseru

Hi, is it possible to indicate the planet distances from the sun?
afh

Would be great if you could make a version of this for Kindle Fire
the bishop

I really like this and have also got the exoplanets app. I note the points about accuracy, but it really gives a sense of shape to our solar system I’ve never had before. However I can’t seem to find the other dwarf planets, asteroids or space programs tho I see that they are referenced. Am I being dense or are they not there yet?
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Those other things are in the Solar Explorer which is a separate app. I divided it into two separate projects because there’s a lot more detail about our system than there is about other star systems, so it uses a customised version of the 3D engine. I included our system in the Exoplanet app to give people something to compare other systems against.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Victor-Lourenço/100001366666796 Victor Lourenço

Hi Neil. Have you thought about translating their apps to another languages? If your interested I can translate it to Brazilian Portuguese.
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  The main issue is cost. At more than 7,000 words, it’d need about $700 per language to hire a skilled translation service that will ensure the text is factually accurate once translated.
  Thanks for the offer, but I had someone offer to translate it to French some time ago. They only got as far as 30% working on it part-time over a few weeks. It’s a lot of work.
Carl

Thank you for this app. I updated this morning and now it will not start, I just get a black screen and eventually a message that the app is not responding. LENOVO K1 running ICS. Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you.
ngn

Since the new update Solar crashes. CPU use too high and Solar does not even opens.
Graham

latest version of lite fails — just a black sceen. Android 4.2.2
- Graham
  
  Fixed! That was quick! Thanks!
dexter

Where can I get the newest app, even if I have to pay for it? /This thing is great!
dexter

Hey Niel, where can I obtain the newest app for this program for my Pandigital Planet? I guess I’ve been posting on an old page.

Best regards,
Dexter55
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  The Pandigital Planet doesn’t ship with Google Play, I believe. You can also get the exact same version of the app on SlideMe market though, which will work with any device
  
  http://slideme.org/application/solarexplorer
matt

Why google adds on.the paid version?
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  Where are you seeing ads? None of the paid versions of any of my apps have ads. I would not do that.
jack tupper

Hi
How about the ability to fly to a planet that you’ve tapped on it in the background when viewing another planet?
jack tupper

Still playing with this great app and now my daughter is addicted to it – one question though; how do I turn off the planet display list at the bottom of the screen?
- http://apps.burlock.org Neil B
  
  There’s not currently an option to hide the control panel, though it’s something I could add in a later release.

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