Seems like most planets in SE always appear washed out, a hazy white. Ex- Mars and Venus look white and hazy all the time.
Is this the way they look to everyone else?

Here is a pic of Mars....

It looks fine to me.

Maybe you monitor is configured incorrectly?

Is every planet like that, even procedural planets? Mars and Venus aren't great examples because they normally appear kinda hazy white.
When viewing Mars when the Sun is directly behind, for example, lots of light bounces off its surface, which causes the entire surface to appear brighter and more white. This may happen because it uses a texture for its surface instead of procedural terrain, so its reflectivity may not be accurate to real life. This can happen to some procedural planets too; I often see a glare when looking at selenas.

NathanKerbonaut wrote:

Source of the post When viewing Mars when the Sun is directly behind, for example, lots of light bounces off its surface, which causes the entire surface to appear brighter and more white. This may happen because it uses a texture for its surface instead of procedural terrain, so its reflectivity may not be accurate to real life.

It has nothing to do with using a real map, and is accurate to real life. Examples: https://www.reddit.com/r/spaceengine/co ... e/d1ppkam/

HarbingerDawn wrote:

NathanKerbonaut wrote:

Source of the post When viewing Mars when the Sun is directly behind, for example, lots of light bounces off its surface, which causes the entire surface to appear brighter and more white. This may happen because it uses a texture for its surface instead of procedural terrain, so its reflectivity may not be accurate to real life.

It has nothing to do with using a real map, and is accurate to real life. Examples: https://www.reddit.com/r/spaceengine/co ... e/d1ppkam/

Oh cool, I didn't know that, thanks for pointing it out

I think you can set real planet brightness? It can make planets look "darker".

Mine too

Great planet