Black Hole Simulator

Experience the awe, majesty, and terror of a fully simulated black hole, rendered in real time on your computer. Modelled after Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, Black Hole Simulator invites you to a close encounter.

Visit four types of hypothetical planets orbiting this black hole. Experience a black hole sun shining through the rings of a gas giant, and watch as huge tsunamis sweep across an ocean world under extreme tidal effects.

Experience Black Hole Simulator in full screen or across multiple monitors, or bring its views to your computer as a screensaver or desktop background.

Every setting is exposed, letting you customize visual styles and scientific assumptions. The included scientific readout describes the real black hole and explains how it works.

Simulated effects of the black hole include:

Schwarzschild black hole model: simulates how light travels through curved spacetime.

Gravitational lensing: light bends around the black hole, distorting the starfield and revealing the far side of the accretion disk.

Doppler beaming: orbiting material appears brighter as it moves toward you and dimmer as it moves away.

Doppler color shifting: that motion also shifts the disk's apparent color.

Gravitational redshift effects: the renderer includes a gravitational factor that dims emission near the horizon.

Photon rings and the black hole's shadow: traced light paths produce the shadow and tightly wrapped images around its edge.

Temperature-based disk color: hotter and cooler material use a blackbody color approximation.

Keplerian differential rotation: disk material closer to the hole rotates faster than material farther out.

Volumetric emission and absorption: glowing disk material emits light and obscures material behind it.

Black Hole Simulator provides a singular experience, conveying the feeling that beholding a black hole would elicit. There are no goals, objectives, or mechanics. Simply explore its four worlds while listening to a handcrafted soundtrack designed to amplify an atmosphere of awe and mystery.