Subscribe to download
Large Magellanic Cloud HDR Skybox/Environment

• HDR Skybox; few stars visible in high light polution, but in the darkness there's more than you can count
• 4096x4096 resolution
• Set in the Large Magellanic Cloud, approximately 163 kly (kilo-light years) away from the Earth
• Skybox features the glow of the galactic disc around you, a diffuse nebula overhead, and the Milky Way below
• Blue sun, smaller than the standard sun and slightly less bright. The light it casts has a slightly blueish hue to it
• Sun's flare effects are modified and include a couple new textures for a nicer looking flare effect
• Low level ambient light; shadows are dark but some details can be made out, light pollution permitting
• Highlighted object border is now thinner, and and the bloom effect is removed, making LCDs readable
• Chromatic abberation significantly reduced

This is a skybox paired with some thematically appropriate sun and lighting changes. The sun here is a B-type main-sequence star, notable for its blue color and extreme brightness, though it is also very far so it appears a bit darker than you may be used to back on Earth. Located inside the Large Magellanic Cloud, the glow of the galaxy around you and a nebula above you provide some mild ambient light which makes working in the dark less tedious and hazardous.

Visible below is the Milky Way. Don't let its large apparent size fool you, it's around 163 kly away. Using standard jump drives with a fastest-possible 5min38sec recharge time and maximum-possible jump distance of 2Mm, it would require around 820terajumps (8.2e+14 jumps) which you would need 8.8 gigayears (8.8e+09 years) performing in order to return to Earth. In other words, how you got here is a mystery worthy of its own Star Trek episode.

Sun
The local sun here is a B-type main-sequence star. It orbits (NB: Space Engineers' orbital mechanics are somewhere between very dodgy and non-existant, so the Ptolemaic geocentric model would be more accurate here, rather than the expected heliocentric model described by Kepler) at a distance of 12.66 AU, placing you comfortably inside its habitable zone.

It casts a beautiful blueish white glow, making its appearance a stark difference from the yellowish white that inhabitants of the Sol system may be familiar with. When you're not staring directly at the sun though, its blue tint is fairly easy to forget, as the light it casts is still fairly white. In atmosphere, rayleigh scattering almost entirely masks the difference altogether.

Name: RS 8475-1-4-3504-313
Type: Blue main-sequence star
Spectrum: B9.5 V
Distance: 12.66 AU (astronomical units)
Mass: 3.365 M☉ (solar masses)
Apparent magnitude (at 12.66AU): -25.69m
Absolute magnitude: 0.39m
Luminosity: 59.363 L☉ (solar luminosity)
Temperature: 9736.8 °C

Technical note: While the star included in this skybox is based on RS 8475-1-4-3504-313, that star is actually 234ly from where the skybox is rendered from. The render was actually taken from 4.68ly away from RS 8475-1-8-14241059-831, a binary red dwarf. As such, the constellations and other major landmarks are in a different position from what you may expect if you were to explore these locations yourself in Space Engine.

Milky Way
Visible below, the Milky Way looks as though it's only just out of reach. However, scientific instruments and calculations place its distance at 161.4kly away, with Earth itself being 163.0kly away. Even a ship made entirely out of jump drives would not get you back to Earth within anything close to your expected lifespan. As such, it's best to avoid thinking about any Earth-based plans you may have previously had.

Nebula
The nebula visible over-head is identified as RN 8475-12. It is a diffuse type nebula, with a diameter of 27.18ly (light years) and is at a distance of 11.36ly, putting you at around 2-3ly away from it, depending on where you define its boundaries. No significant hazards are expected from its close proximity, though its high level of UV radiation could be a cancer risk if it weren't for the powerful UV filters in all glass used standard in any space-rated equipment. Exposure without the protection of a suit or vessel does not need to be factored into lethality calculations, as asphyxiation and dehydration are expected to be just as lethal to any cancerous cells as they are to healthy cells.

Space Engine[spaceengine.org]- to render multiple exposures of the cubemap and for basing stellar information on (not to be confused with Space Engineers)
Hugin[hugin.sourceforge.net]- to stitch the multiple exposures of the rendered cubemap into HDR images
Intel Texture Works Plugin for Photoshop[software.intel.com]- to convert the HDR images into the .dds cubemap file