Update

If Update 32.3 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions. If you don’t own Universe Sandbox, you can buy it via our website.

We’ve combined our two previously separate collision methods improving collisions so shockwaves now realistically eject fragments as they spread across gas giants during collisions. Interface panels, such as graphs, data maps, and object properties, are now remembered when you open saved simulations. We’ve also added new astronomical discoveries to explore, like the galaxy-sized detector used to find new evidence of supermassive black holes.

Unified Collisions

Collisions are more realistic, with shockwaves propagating across gas giant surfaces and fragment ejection direction based on impact angle with our new unified collision system. This new collision solution combines our two previous separate collision methods.

Saving Your Interface

Pick up right where you left off with the properties panel open, or include a temperature graph in a shared simulation to show a planet heating up from a close encounter with a star. Saved simulations now remember the state of the interface panels. See it in action in
Open > Core > A Tidally Heated Habitable Moon or Tidally Locked Earth

Searching for Supermassive Black Holes

On June 28, 2023, evidence for a signal generated from all supermassive black hole pairs from across the universe was announced by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves. Explore the galaxy-sized detector they used and learn how they found this evidence in our new guide
Guides > Discoveries > Searching for Supermassive Black Holes

More Highlights

See the dwarf planet Quaoar’s newly discovered rings in the new simulation
Open > Solar System > Quaoar with Rings

We’ve also added a simulation of the dwarf planet Haumea’s rings, which were discovered back in 2017, in the simulation
Open > Solar System > Haumea with Rings

Manipulate the temperature of the universe and learn about the cosmic microwave background, a type of faint radiation spread across space, in our new guide
Guides > Science > Cosmic Microwave Background

Display settings have been updated to include more options for exclusive fullscreen, fullscreen borderless, and windowed resolutions

Additional Actions have been added to the Properties panel of objects so you can easily Fly To, Follow, or Land on objects

Default temperature unit can now be changed to °F, only °C, or only K under
Settings > General > Temperature Units

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 32.3

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

If Update 32.2 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions. If you don’t own Universe Sandbox, you can buy it via our website.

Watch a green comet pass by Earth for the first time in 50,000 years, see an asteroid swing by Earth in one of the closest ever encounters, and explore a hypothetical planet from the 1800s disproven by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Speaking of comets, asteroids, and planets…

A comet, an asteroid, and a hypothetical planet walk into the Solar System. The hypothetical planet says to the comet, “Why so green?” The comet says, “It’s the radiation from the Sun evaporating the carbon on my surface. You’d know that if you were as close to the Sun as people thought you were.” The hypothetical planet turns red with anger and ceases to exist. The asteroid says, “Phew, that was a close one!”

A Green Comet

The green comet, C/2022 E3 (ZTF), recently passed by the Earth for the first time in 50,000 years. Explore its path and watch this once-in-a-lifetime event occur over and over with our new simulation
The Green Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in 2023

Close Encounters of the Asteroid Kind

Asteroid 2023 BU performed a close pass of Earth (though it posed no threat), only 2,200 km from the surface. That’s just under half the length of the United States! Watch one of the closest asteroid encounters ever recorded in our new simulation 
Asteroid 2023 BU Close Encounter in 2023

The Non-Existent Planet

In the 1800s, many astronomers thought there was a planet, dubbed Vulcan, between Mercury and the Sun. Mercury’s orbit was observed to wobble slightly more than predicted, and Vulcan was hypothesized to explain this. We now know Vulcan does not exist, and general relativity causes the additional wobble, but you can see Vulcan’s proposed orbit in the new simulation
Hypothetical Planet Vulcan

More Highlights

Landing (press “c”) on the surface of a planet now always points you toward the horizon. Taking off returns you to your previous position instead of in front of the planet.

On February 3, 2023, astronomers announced the discovery of 12 more moons orbiting Jupiter. Learn about these new moons in our new simulation
Jupiter’s New Moons 2023
Or explore the history of the discovery of all of Jupiter’s 92 moons in our guide
History of Jupiter’s Moons

We added a Spherical Cow to Universe Sandbox! This refers to a joke that when physicists want to make a problem easier to handle, they sometimes simplify it so much it’s no longer realistic.

Experience 100 spherical cows hitting Earth at lightspeed in our new sim
Earth & 100 Spherical Cows at the Speed of Light
Because why not?

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 32.2

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

If Update 32.1 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions. If you don’t own Universe Sandbox, you can buy it via our website.

Collision shockwaves and atmosphere colors are more realistic, camera motion is smoother, and you can try the new Automatic Simulation Speed, which adjusts the simulation speed based on what’s happening in the simulation. Never miss a collision again!

Improved Shockwaves

Energy from collisions spreads more realistically over the surface of an object, resulting in larger shockwaves. Heating from collisions is also less concentrated and spreads over a larger area. Previously, shockwave expansion ended abruptly in a smaller area, often resulting in blue-hot impact sites.

The dwarf planet Ceres colliding with Earth

The Moon colliding with the Earth

Automatic Simulation Speed

Allow the simulation speed to adjust itself automatically based on various conditions, like nearby objects and collisions, by turning on the new Automatic Simulation Speed feature. Automatically speeding up and slowing down the simulation speed provides an improved viewing experience for collisions, orbits, explosions, and more.

This feature is still in active development and is currently off by default. Turn it on under
Settings > General > Experience > Auto Simulation Speed

The simulation speed will slow down to show collisions that you might otherwise miss

Create a more cinematic experience while watching simulations like Earth & 100 colliding moons

Rayleigh Scattering

Object atmospheres now visually simulate Rayleigh scattering, which describes how light scatters in the atmosphere. Rayleigh scattering is what makes Earth’s daytime sky appear blue and the setting Sun appear red. Adjust the strength of the scattering under
Visuals > Atmosphere > Rayleigh Scattering Strength

Earth with realistic Rayleigh scattering

Custom object with Rayleigh scattering at 85% strength

More Highlights

Your view now smoothly rotates, or pans, to focus on an object instead of sliding the view left or right, like a camera on rails

Atmospheres are now visible from the surface of planets. Land on a planet by pressing “c” on your keyboard to check it out.

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 32.1

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

If Update 32 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions. If you don’t own Universe Sandbox, you can buy it via our website.

Customize the look and topography of planets and moons with a library of realistic color and height maps. Turn Earth into Mars or mix-and-match maps to create your own worlds.

Elevation Maps

Blend, shift, and flip any two of the elevation maps in Universe Sandbox to create your own custom surface that governs water flow, temperature simulation, and more. Learn more

Guides > Tutorials > Creating Planets from Scratch & Transforming Planets

Color Maps

Change the surface map of any planet to match other planet images included in Universe Sandbox.

Apparent Elevation Intensity

Change the apparent difference between high and low elevation, also called the normal map, under
Visuals > Elevation > Exaggerated Terrain

More Highlights

Invert a planet’s elevation with the push of a button under
Surface > Elevation > Elevation Map > Flip

View a planet’s simulated surface without high-resolution corrections under
Properties > Visuals > Enhance Surface Detail
Turning off the enhanced view shows the map resolution we use for simulating object surfaces, including water flow and snow.

Turn off the visual glow from high temperatures, also called blackbody radiation, under
Properties > Visuals > Heat Glow

This update includes 9+ additions and 3+ fixes and improvements.

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 32

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

If Update 31.4 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions, or buy Universe Sandbox via our website.

“Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.”

    - Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

And now we’ve made it a bit easier to comprehend the scale of space.

Scaling Space

The unit of measurement selection menu now explains what each unit means to help you better understand the vastness of space. Unit names based on the properties of other objects (like Earth mass) have also been updated for clarity.

Juno Flyby of Europa

On September 29, 2022, the Juno spacecraft performed a flyby of Jupiter’s moon Europa, coming within 352 kilometers and taking the highest-ever resolution close-up image of the moon’s surface. Watch this close flyby in our new simulation

Juno Flyby of Europa in 2022

More Highlights

You can now view and monitor the data views for all objects in a simulation at once, also called the Atlas, by going to Open View Panel Settings > 2D Settings > Show All Maps Atlas. The interface for this type of view is a work in progress.

Object holograms have been updated to look the same, be more visible across different backgrounds, and clearly show their positions in front of or behind other objects

This update includes 4+ additions and 15+ fixes and improvements.

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 31.4

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

If Update 31.3 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions, or buy Universe Sandbox via our website.

DART Mission

NASA’s DART mission will intentionally collide the DART spacecraft with the asteroid Dimorphos, attempting to change its orbit & testing humanity’s ability to protect Earth from future asteroids. Check out our simulation of this mission:

Open > DART: Humanity’s First Planetary Defense Experiment

More Highlights

Fragment temperature and glow from collisions are now realistically based on the collision energy. Low energy collisions, like the one shown here, don’t generate enough energy to make the particles glow.

Camera transitions after the target collides are smoother

Explosions now create rock fragments and dust clouds

Under-the-hood improvements to make referencing known objects more reliable

This update includes 1+ additions and 20+ fixes and improvements.

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 31.3

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

If Update 31.2 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions, or buy Universe Sandbox via our website.

Update 31.2

Unity Engine Upgrade

We’ve updated Unity, the game engine we use to create Universe Sandbox. While you won’t see immediate changes, this will allow us to utilize new features for future improvements to our physics simulation.

Instant Water Flow

Use the Settle Water button to immediately stabilize the water level of a planet.

More Highlights

Control the lowest temperature of space with the Background Temperature. By default, this is 2.73 Kelvin to approximate the Cosmic Microwave Background. Adjust it under
Simulation > Advanced Simulation Settings > Temperature > Background Temperature

Random object icons in the Add tool have been updated

Learn about habitable zones and how Universe Sandbox models them in our guide
Guides > Science > Habitable Zones

Stellar collisions now partially merge and transfer mass before going supernova

Collision shockwaves are now realistically circular

Particles now collide more consistently, and gas cloud momentum is now transferred to and from impacting objects

This update includes 3+ additions and 27+ fixes and improvements.

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 31.2

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

If Update 31.1 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions, or buy Universe Sandbox via our website.

Update 31.1

Welcome to Universe Sandbox

Discover your infinite power to create and destroy! Our all-new welcome guide now better highlights the awesome potential of Universe Sandbox. Check them out
Home > Guides > Welcome to Universe Sandbox

More Highlights

• Blank planets now have the densities of rocky planets instead of gas giants

• The habitable zone no longer intersects planets, giving you a clearer view of the surface

This update includes 1+ additions and 18+ fixes and improvements.

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 31.1

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

If Update 31 does not download automatically, follow these update instructions, or buy Universe Sandbox via our website.

Update 31

Explore constellations from different cultures and watch as they change over thousands of years as stars move across the sky. Stars also look more realistic and planet and star glows depend on the same physical properties.

Constellations

We’ve added constellations! There are currently constellation sets for 10 cultures. Find them under: Home > Open > Constellations
Learn more about constellations in our new guides: Home > Guides > Constellations

Realistic Stellar Edges

Stars now show limb darkening, an observed phenomenon where the edges appear dimmer than the center.

Dynamic Object Glows

The size of an object’s glow now corresponds to how bright the object is, in addition to its temperature and how far away it is, with brighter objects getting larger glows.

More Highlights

• Glows from stars and planets of the same radius and temperature are now the same size

• Random Rock Particles and Dust Clouds can now be added directly from the Add panel

• The dynamic habitable zone now displays a notification indicating the object it is showing the habitable zone for

• Many user interface improvements: added two-column menus, fading scrollbars, and unit changes persisting in an object’s properties panel

• The Gravity button now only turns the gravity between objects on or off. You can turn the gravity holding objects together on or off in the Advanced Simulation setting.

• The Guide panel has been reorganized. Check it out under: Home > Guides

This update includes 4+ additions and 25+ fixes and improvements.

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 31

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.

Run Steam to download Update 30, or buy Universe Sandbox via our website or the Steam Store.

Update 30

Spin apart planets with the Force Spin tool and discover the destructive potential of the newly simulated centrifugal force. We’ve also improved same-sized object collisions so you can launch the Earth at itself and watch the shockwaves heat and fragment both planets on impact.

Centrifugal Force

Planets will fragment at very high rotational speeds as the centrifugal force overwhelms the gravity holding them together. Learn more: Home > Guides > Centrifugal Destruction

Same-Size Object Collision Improvements

Colliding two objects of similar size now causes heating and fragmentation on both objects. See the destruction yourself: Home > Open > Earth & Earth Collision

Move Oceans

Centrifugal force now pushes water on fast-spinning objects toward the object’s equator.

Force Spin Tool

Change an object’s rotational speed, poles, and equator with the new Force Spin tool. Check it out in: Tools > Force > Spin

More Highlights

• Rotation and speed of objects after collisions are now more accurately conserved, decreasing when mass is gained and increasing when mass is lost

• The habitable zone changes to use the properties of the object you have selected to show its optimal habitable distance

• You can now change the Number of Atmosphere Layers an object has and create Venus-like planets

• The Hubble Space Telescope has been added to Universe Sandbox

• We’ve corrected the orientations of the James Webb Space Telescope (now facing away from the Sun) and Parker Solar Probe (now facing toward the Sun)

This update includes 12+ additions and 43+ fixes and improvements.

Check out the full list of What’s New in Update 30

Please report any issues on our Steam forum, on Discord, or in-game via Home > Send Feedback.