Touch, Mouse, Keyboard and Gamepad/Joystick Controls
Touch
Mobile Celestia supports touches, it has two modes on the sidebar where you can toggle between.
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Camera Mode | Drag to orient camera |
| Pinch to change field of view (FOV) | |
| Object Mode | Drag to orbit selected object |
| Pinch to adjust distance to selection |
Mouse
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Left Drag | Orient camera |
| Right drag | Orbit selected object [Shift+Arrow keys] |
| Left+Right Drag left/right | Roll view left/right [Left/Right arrows] |
| Left+Right Drag up/down | Adjust distance to selection [Home/End] |
| Wheel | Adjust distance to selection [Home/End] |
| Ctrl+Left Drag up/down | Adjust distance to selection [Home/End] |
| Shift+Left Drag | Change Field of View (FOV) [. / ,] |
| Middle Button | Toggle FOV between 45 degrees and previous setting |
| Left Click (on object) | Select object [Enter key -- by object name] |
| Left Click (on no object) | Cancel selection |
| Left Double Click (on object) | Select and Center object |
| Right Click | Bring up context menu |
Keyboard
Navigation
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| 1 - 9 | Select planet around the nearest star |
| 0 (zero) | Select parent star of current planet or system |
| H | Select Sol (Home system) |
| C | Center on selected object |
| G | Goto selected object |
| F | Follow selected object |
| T | Track selected object |
| Y | Sync Orbit selected object at a rate synced to its rotation |
| : | Lock on selected object |
| " | Chase selected object |
| Shift+C | Center/orbit --center the selected object without changing the position of the reference object |
| Ctrl+G | Goto surface of selected object |
| Ctrl+F | Toggle Alt-azimuth mode |
| Home | Move closer to object |
| End | Move further away from object |
| * | Look back |
| Backspace | Select parent of current object or clear the selection |
| Esc | Cancel motion or script |
Time Control
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Spacebar | Pause/Resume the flow of time and scripts (toggle) |
| J | Reverse/Forward time (toggle) |
| \ | Set time rate: 1x forward (norm), cancels faster/slower x factors |
| L | Change time rate: 10x faster |
| K | Change time rate: 10x slower |
| Shift+L | Change time rate: 2x faster |
| Shift+K | Change time rate: 2x slower |
| ! | Set time to current system date and time |
| ? | Display light-travel delay between observer / selected object |
| - (hyphen) | Subtract light-travel delay from current simulation time |
Labels (on/off Toggles)
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| E | Galaxies |
| Shift+E | Globulars |
| B | Stars |
| P | Planets |
| Shift+P | Dwarf Planets |
| M | Moons |
| Shift+M | Minor Moons |
| W | Asteroids |
| Shift+W | Comets |
| N | Spacecraft |
| = | Constellations |
| & | Locations |
Render/Display (on/off Toggles)
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| U | Galaxies |
| Shift+U | Globulars |
| ^ | Nebulae |
| Ctrl+A | Atmospheres |
| I | Clouds |
| Ctrl+L | Night side maps |
| Ctrl+T | Comet tails |
| Ctrl+E | Eclipse shadows |
| Ctrl+B | Constellation boundaries |
| / | Constellation diagrams |
| ; | Earth-based equatorial coordinate sphere |
| Ctrl+K | Markers (placed on objects) |
| O | Orbits (toggle ALL selected orbits) |
Render Options
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| { | Decrease Ambient Light |
| } | Increase Ambient Light |
| ( | Decrease Galaxy Light Gain |
| ) | Increase Galaxy Light Gain |
| [ | Decrease Magnitude Limit: AutoMag OFF: Decrease limiting magnitude (fewer stars), AutoMag ON: Decrease limiting magnitude at 45 deg FOV |
| ] | Increase Magnitude: AutoMag OFF: Increase limiting magnitude (more stars), AutoMag ON: Increase limiting magnitude at 45 deg FOV |
| Ctrl+Y | Toggle Auto Magnitude (auto adaptation of star visibility to FOV |
| , | Narrow Field Of View [Shift+Left Drag] |
| . | Widen Field Of View [Shift+Left Drag] |
| Ctrl+X | Toggle Antialias lines |
| Alt+Enter | Toggle Display mode (Full-Screen / Windowed) |
| Ctrl+P | Mark selected object |
| Ctrl+V | Cycle among supported OpenGL render paths |
| + | Toggle Planet Texture type (Artistic / Limit of Knowledge) |
| % | Star color table toggle |
| Ctrl+S | Cycle the Star Style (points / fuzzy discs / scaled discs) |
| V | Cycle the Info text verbosity (None / Terse / Verbose) |
| Ctrl+W | Toggle Wireframe mode |
Multiview Options
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+R | Split view horizontally into upper and lower sections |
| Ctrl+U | Split view vertically into left and right sections |
| Tab | Cycle through all active views |
| Del | Delete active view |
| Ctrl+D | Delete all views except active one (reset to Single view) |
Navigation via Arrow Keys
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Up/Down Arrow | Pitch down/up |
| Left/Right Arrow | Roll left/right |
| Shift+Left/Right Arrow | Orbit object: right/left |
| Shift+Up/Down Arrow | Orbit object: down/up |
Navigation via number Pad Keys (with NumLock active)
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| 8 | Pitch down [Down arrow] |
| 2 | Pitch up [Up arrow] |
| 7 | Roll left [Left arrow] |
| 9 | Roll right [Right arrow] |
| 5 | Stop rotation |
| 4 | Yaw left |
| 6 | Yaw right |
Motion (Spaceflight)
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Z | Decrease velocity |
| A | Increase velocity |
| Q | Reverse direction |
| X | Set movement direction toward center of screen |
| F2 | Set velocity to 1 km/second |
| F3 | Set velocity to 1,000 km/second |
| F4 | Set velocity to speed of light (1 c) |
| F5 | Set velocity to 10x the speed of light (10 c) |
| F6 | Set velocity to 1 AU/second |
| F7 | Set velocity to 1 light year/second |
| F1 | Stop motion |
| S | Stop motion |
Other Functions
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+C | Copy location URL to clipboard (Cel:// URL) |
| Ctrl+Insert | Copy location URL to clipboard (Cel:// URL) |
| F10 | Capture Image to file (screenshot) |
| Shift+F10 | Capture Movie to file (video) |
| F11 | While in Movie Capture: Start / Pause capture |
| F12 | While in Movie Capture: Stop capture |
| ~ | Toggle debug console (use Up/Down arrow keys to scroll list) |
| ` | Toggle display of "frames per second" (FPS) being rendered |
| Ctrl+O | Display "Select Object" dialog box |
| @ | Edit Mode toggle (to assist in the placement of objects) |
| Enter | Toggle Name entry Mode (use Tab / Shift+Tab to highlight an item, Esc to exit) |
Gamepad/Joystick
You can customize behaviors by following this.
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| F8 (Win32 Only) | Toggle Joystick control |
| X axis | Yaw Left/Right |
| Y axis | Pitch Up/Down |
| L trigger | Roll Left |
| R trigger | Roll Right |
| Button 1 (A on Xbox, X on PS4) | Move slower |
| Button 2 (X on Xbox, Square on PS4) | Move faster |
Compatibility
Mobile Celestia also supports mouse/keyboard controls when a
mouse/keyboard is attached to the device. After switching to Camera
Mode, the mouse/keyboard behaviors are very similar to the desktop
behaviors.
| Platform | Issue | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Android | Right mouse action (click/drag) not available | Use left mouse button while holding ALT key |
| Chrome OS | CTRL + drag does not work | Also hold the ALT key for CTRL + drag |
| Android/Chrome OS | Keyboard does not work sometimes | Try to press enter key a few times when it happens |
| macOS | Keyboard does not work sometimes | On 1.5.18 to 1.5.23, click the menu. Press the Up/Down arrow key so that it displays a focus ring, and then close the menu |