A realistic, interactive 3D solar system visualization built using OpenGL, GLUT, and GLU, featuring textured planets, dynamic day/night cycles, orbiting moons/satellites, Saturn's rings, Venus atmosphere, Earth clouds, skybox background, camera controls, orbit toggling, and smooth animation.
- Realistic planetary orbits and self-rotation
- Textured planets (8K/4K/2K where available) using stb_image
- Special effects:
- Earth: day/night cycle with city lights + moving clouds + atmosphere glow
- Saturn: semi-transparent textured rings
- Venus: glowing atmosphere overlay
- Moon and two artificial satellites orbiting Earth
- Dynamic skybox (Milky Way)
- Orbit paths visualization (toggle with
B) - Free camera movement (keyboard + optional mouse look)
- Automatic orbiting camera mode (toggle with
O) - Real-time FPS counter
- Informative HUD showing camera position, object counts, and controls
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| W / X / Z | Move camera Up / Down / Zoom Out |
| A / D | Move camera Left / Right |
| S | Zoom In |
| R | Reset camera position |
| O | Toggle automatic camera orbit |
| M | Toggle mouse-look control |
| B | Toggle orbit lines visibility |
| Arrow keys / F1-F2 | Alternative camera movement |
- C++ compiler (g++, MSVC, clang)
- OpenGL + GLUT + GLU development libraries
solar-system-project/
├── index.cpp # The complete source code
├── textures/ # All planet/sky textures go here
│ ├── 8k_sun.jpg
│ ├── 8k_earth.jpg
│ ├── 8k_earth_night.jpg
│ ├── 8k_earth_clouds.jpg
│ ├── 8k_mercury.jpg
│ ├── 2k_mars.jpg
│ ├── 8k_jupiter.jpg
│ ├── 2k_saturn.jpg
│ ├── 2k_saturn_ring_alpha.png
│ ├── 2k_uranus.jpg
│ ├── 2k_neptune.jpg
│ ├── 8k_moon.jpg
│ ├── 8k_stars_milky_way.jpg
│ ├── panneaux.jpg # Satellite body
│ ├── anttenne.png # Satellite antenna
│ └── metal.png # Satellite thrusters/parts
├── screenshots/
├── stb_image.h
└── README.md
Where to get Textures? You can download high-quality planet textures from these free sources:
https://www.solarsystemscope.com/textures/
No collision detection or accurate astronomical scale (artistic representation)
Performance may drop with very high-resolution textures on low-end hardware
No shader support (fixed-function pipeline – compatible with old systems)
Possible future additions:
Realistic lighting with normal maps
Comet/asteroid belt
Time acceleration control
Planet name labels in 3D
Hanine Rouibah Created in 2025 as part of a Computer Graphics project.
MIT License – feel free to use, modify, and share!