What is Teskooano?
Teskooano is a powerful 3D N-Body simulation engine that accurately recreates celestial physics. It allows you to visualize and interact with star systems, planets, moons, and other celestial bodies in a realistic and immersive environment.
Origin of the Name
The name Teskooano comes from Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson by G.I. Gurdjieff. In the book, a "Teskooano" is a type of advanced telescope in Beelzebub's observatory on Mars - used to observe distant cosmic phenomena. It is designed to perceive both physical and non-physical aspects of the universe.
The simulation engine is named after this fictional observatory device because it similarly acts as a tool for observing and exploring complex celestial systems in motion.
Core Philosophy
Teskooano was built with several guiding principles:
- Accuracy: Physical simulations should be as accurate as possible within the constraints of real-time rendering
- Accessibility: Complex orbital mechanics should be made intuitive and accessible
- Modularity: The architecture should be modular and extensible
- Performance: The simulation should run smoothly even with many celestial bodies
- Education: The tool should serve as an educational platform for understanding celestial mechanics
Key Features
- Full N-Body Simulation: Every object in the system exerts gravitational force on every other object
- Multi-View Experience: View the same simulation from multiple angles simultaneously
- Procedural Generation: Create unique star systems from random seeds
- Interactive Controls: Select and focus on any celestial body in the system
- Dynamic Time Control: Adjust simulation speed from real-time to 10 million times faster
- Modular Architecture: Easily extendable component-based design
Technical Overview
Teskooano is built with modern web technologies:
- Three.js for 3D rendering
- TypeScript for type-safe code
- Nanostores for state management
- Driver.js for interactive tours
- DockView for multi-panel layouts
- Vite for fast development and building
The architecture follows a unidirectional data flow pattern, with clear separation of concerns between the physics engine, state management, and rendering pipeline.