Navigation and scale

Universe Map behaves like a spatial map rather than a fixed orbital diagram. Camera speed, minimum distance, labels, object representations, and background layers adapt to the current astronomical context.

Controls

Action	Desktop	Touch
Orbit around the target	Left-click and drag	One-finger drag
Pan	Right-click and drag	Two-finger drag
Zoom toward the pointer	Mouse wheel	Pinch
Select	Click an object or its name	Tap an object or its name
Focus	Double-click, click a name, or press F	Double-tap or tap a name
Play or pause time	Space	Timeline button
Change time speed	+ or -	Timeline selector
Close the object card	Escape	Close button

Wheel zoom follows the screen pointer. When an inward gesture starts over a navigable label or rendered object, that object is locked for the burst and becomes both the navigation target and the zoom anchor. The approach remains continuous and stops in front of its contextual distance floor; additional samples from the same burst cannot cross it. Automatic scale transitions may still replace the target with the logical parent or child required by the map hierarchy. Over empty space, the geometric pivot follows the pointer. Inward input from a reached target releases it only when the pointer no longer targets that object, then camera and pivot travel at a constant distance while the selected card remains open. Reversing the wheel retraces the recorded free-space route before distance zoom resumes.

The seven map scales

Scale	Typical content	Main representation
Planetary	Surface, atmosphere, rings, moons	Detailed meshes and textures
Solar System	Sun, planets, selected minor bodies, orbits	Adaptive meshes, labels, and orbital paths
Stellar neighbourhood	HYG stars, exoplanet hosts, constellations	GPU point batches and selected-object detail
Milky Way	Galactic disk, bulge, arms, local position	Layered emissive volume and catalogue context
Local Group	Milky Way, Andromeda, satellites	Galaxy impostors and bounded particle volumes
Nearby Universe	Local-volume galaxies and groups	Static spatial tiles and overview batches
Cosmic web	Groups, clusters, voids, and filaments	Catalogue points, line batches, and simulated density volume

The transition is continuous, but each scale uses a different internal reference frame. The renderer recentres coordinates around the camera when necessary to preserve numerical precision.

Target, selection, and labels

• The logical target drives the semantic route and contextual distance limits.
• The geometric pivot is the point around which the camera orbits and follows pointer zoom.
• The selection is the object shown in the information card.
• A label is a collision-managed screen annotation connected to a mapped object.

Clicking a label selects and focuses its object. Label density can be set to Minimal, Balanced, or Dense. The system prioritises the current target, the selected object, major Solar System bodies, and important contextual landmarks before adding lower-ranked catalogue names.

The Sun remains a contextual landmark through local stellar scales. Beyond it, the Milky Way becomes the persistent parent landmark. These labels do not render above nearer opaque geometry.

Direct scale navigation

The breadcrumb shows the current hierarchy. Its scale menu can jump directly to any map level without requiring repeated wheel gestures. Direct navigation uses the same focus and interpolation system as search results, so the destination remains shareable through the URL.

If a view appears empty

1. check the current scale in the breadcrumb;
2. enable labels and use Balanced or Dense name density;
3. select the Sun or Milky Way landmark to restore a known parent frame;
4. choose a scale directly from the scale menu;
5. reduce graphics quality if movement is delayed on the device.

Next: Time and eclipses.