Mouse Controls description

Left Drag

keys, and 2/8/4/6 on the Number Pad with NumLock enabled)

Deselect and Center selected object

Select object (Enter key — by object name)

Deselect currently selected object

Display object context menu if it has one

Adjust distance to selection (Home/End)

Shift+Left Drag

Middle Button

setting (Alt (option)+Left Click)

Keyboard Controls description

Navigation

1 … 9

0 (zero)

Esc

Cmd+L

Open Go To Object dialog box

Cmd+B

Open Browser

C

Center the selected object on the display

Shift+C

Center/orbit–center the selected object without changing the
position of the reference object

“

Chase selected object (orientation is based on the object”s
velocity)

Backspace

Select parent of current object or clear the selection:

– If selection is a location, select the parent object

– If selection is an object, select the parent object / star

– If selection is a star, clear the selection

F

Follow selected object

G

Goto selected object

Ctrl+G

Goto surface of selected object

:

Lock two objects together as one (select object #1, press “f”,
select object #2, press “:”)

Home

Move closer to object

End

Move further away from object

*

Reverse view 180 degrees (look back)

H

Select Sol, our sun (Home system)

Y

Sync Orbit selected object at a rate synced to its rotation

T

Track selected object (keep object centered on the display)

Navigation via Arrow Keys

Up Arrow

Pitch down (moves object Up)

Down Arrow

Pitch up (moves object Down)

Left Arrow

Roll left (rolls object Right)

Right Arrow

Roll right (rolls object Left)

Shift+Left Arrow

Orbit object: right (rotates object Left)

Shift+Right Arrow

Orbit object: left (rotates object Right)

Shift+Up Arrow

Orbit object: down (rotates object Up)

Shift+Down Arrow

Orbit object: up (rotates object Down)

Navigation via number Pad Keys (with NumLock active)

8

Pitch down (moves object Up, also Down arrow)

2

Pitch up (moves object Down, also Up arrow)

7

Roll left (rolls object Right, also Left arrow)

9

Roll right (rolls object Left, also Right arrow)

5

Stop rotation

4

Yaw left

6

Yaw right

Motion (Spaceflight)

A

Increase velocity

Z

Decrease velocity

Q

Reverse direction

X

Set direction toward center of screen

S

Stop motion

F1

Stop motion

F2

Set velocity to 1 km/second

F3

Set velocity to 1,000 km/second

F4

Set velocity to speed of light (1 c/second)

F5

Set velocity to 10x the speed of light (c)

F6

Set velocity to 1 AU/second

F7

Set velocity to 1 light year/second

Time Control

Spacebar

Pause/Resume the flow of time and scripts (toggle)

Spacebar+Shift

Pause the flow of time only

J

Reverse/Forward time (toggle)

Set time: 1x forward (norm), cancels faster/slower x factors

L

Set time: 10x faster

K

Set time: 10x slower

!

Set time: to current date and time

?

Display light-travel delay between observer / selected object

– (hyphen)

Add / Subtract light-travel delay from current simulation time

Cmd+T

Open Set Time dialog box

What Label to display (on/off toggles)

w

Asteroids (lower case w)

Shift+W

Comets

=

Constellations

E

Galaxies

Shift+E

Globulars

&

Locations

M

Moons

Shift+M

Minor Moons

P

Planets

Shift+P

Dwarf Planets

N

Spacecraft

B

Stars

What Items to Render / Display (on/off toggles)

Ctrl+A

Atmospheres

I

Clouds

Ctrl+T

Comet tails

Ctrl+B

Constellation boundaries

/

Constellation diagrams

;

Earth-based equatorial coordinate sphere

Ctrl+E

Eclipse shadows

U

Galaxies

Shift+U

Globulars

^

Nebulae

Ctrl+K

Markers (placed on objects)

Ctrl+L

Night side planet lights (light pollution)

What Orbits to Display

O

Orbits (toggle ON/OFF ALL selected orbits in the Preferences/General
dialog box)

Shift+Cmd+P

Planet orbits

Shift+Cmd+M

Moon orbits

Shift+Cmd+A

Asteroid orbits

Shift+Cmd+C

Comet orbits

Shift+Cmd+S

Spacecraft orbits

Render / Display Options

{

Ambient Light (Decrease)

}

Ambient Light (Increase)

Ctrl+X

Antialias displayed lines (ie. orbits)

Ctrl+Y

Auto Magnitude (toggle) Auto adaptation of star visibility to Field
of View (FOV). Works best with the 2 million star database add-on

(

Galaxy Brightness (Dimmer)

)

Galaxy Brightness (Brighter)

Cmd+F

Toggle full screen mode

,

Field Of View [FOV] (Narrow, also Shift+Left Drag)

.

Field Of View [FOV] (Widen, also Shift+Left Drag)

[

Magnitude Limit (decrease):

– If AutoMag OFF: Decrease limiting magnitude (fewer stars)

– If AutoMag ON : Decrease limiting magnitude at 45 deg FOV

]

Magnitude Limit (increase):

– If AutoMag OFF: Increase limiting magnitude (more stars)

– If AutoMag ON : Increase limiting magnitude at 45 deg FOV

Ctrl+P

Mark selected object (Marker display must be active — Ctrl+K)

R

Object file resolution (decrease)–use texture images in next lower
resolution directory (lores-medres-hires)

Shift+R

Object file resolution (increase)–use texture images in next higher
resolution directory (lores-medres-hires)

Ctrl+V

OpenGL Render Paths — Cycle through the paths supported on your
graphics card

+

Planet Texture Type toggle (Artistic / Limit of Knowledge)

Ctrl+S

Star Styles — Cycle fuzzy points, points, and scaled discs

V

Informational text verbosity control (None / Terse / Verbose)

Ctrl+W

Wireframe mode toggle

Multiview Options

Tab

Cycle through all active views

Delete

Delete active view

Ctrl+D

Delete all views except active one (reset to Single view)

Ctrl+U

Split view horizontally

Ctrl+R

Split view vertically

Other Functions

Cmd+E

Open Eclipse Finder

Ctrl+F

Alt-azimuth mode (toggle). Used with Ctrl-G (Goto surface). The Left
& Right Arrow keys become Yaw Left / Yaw Right

Cmd+C

Copy the cel:// URL of current position

Cmd+V

Paste last cel:// URL copied

Cmd+D

Add selected object to Favorites

Shift+Cmd+D

Open Favorites dialog box

~

Display “file loading” information (toggle). Use to debug texture
loading problems. Up/Down arrow keys scroll list

`

Display “frames per second” (FPS) being rendered (toggle)

@

Edit Mode toggle (to assist in the placements of objects)

D

Run demo script (demo.cel)

Cmd+]

History (Forward)

Cmd+[

History (Backward)

Cmd+M

Minimize Celestia window

Enter

Activate object/location name entry mode

– Esc to exit

– Type an object or location name and press Enter

– Type a partial name then use Tab / Shift+Tab to highlight an item

Enter will then select the highlighted item