I have never seen anything like that in my entire life lol- where is that? interstellar space?

Just a relatively normal cold desert.
Try setting aurorae brightness to 100 and try looking at planets. Aurorae is not uncommon in SE.

Thanks but I cannot find a way to set Aurora brightness.  When I originally altered Aurora from medium to low I found out that the medium setting is no longer selectable.  The only two options that work now are either Low or High.  I can't select any integer value for it either

Absolutely awesome! I run 0.85 (patch) version  with r_IgnoreFBO enabled and I can run the Space Engine on Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD without graphics glitches (apart from it making only a few frames per second)! Perfect! (see attached images)

Is this a program where the fps matter more or the amount of video memory? I am asking because I am about to make a purchase for a graphics card and I have the choice between a used GTX 580 (1.5 GB) and a new GT 730 (4GB).  The latter has more memory but the former is much faster.  I want to future proof for a few years at least, so I'm worried with rising specs for the program I need the upgrade.  I am also upgrading to 4 GB RAM.  Currently I have an 8800 GTS (640 MB) and 2 GB RAM, Core 2 Quad Q6600.

GTX 580 (1.5 GB) and a new GT 730 (4GB)

Man, those are 5 years-old GPUs. Why not buy some GTX 1060?
580 is much faster than 730: link, and 1.5 GB is enough for SE, if you will not use LOD 1.

GTX 580 (1.5 GB) and a new GT 730 (4GB)

Man, those are 5 years-old GPUs. Why not buy some GTX 1060?

Thanks but I cannot find a way to set Aurora brightness.  When I originally altered Aurora from medium to low I found out that the medium setting is no longer selectable.  The only two options that work now are either Low or High.  I can't select any integer value for it either

I think you're confusing aurora brightness with aurora quality. Aurora brightness is in the lower right corner of the graphics menu, just above real sun brightness and real planet brightness

I can confirm that my laptop runs SE pretty smoothly, it's a 7 year old Lenovo Y570with a early lower spec i7 and a Nvidia GT555m. Admittedly, i haven't tried it on integrated graphics..

Amen Salvo. I don't play on Intel HD Graphics just to bother everyone - GPUs these days are expensive!
(inb4 "you can go to [website] and pick up a GTX [number] for about $200...": If you think $200 is in my budget you're already grossly overestimating it.)

problemecium, if you move over to the PC discussion thread and post your budget I, or someone else, may be able to help you find some better options.

GTX 580 (1.5 GB) and a new GT 730 (4GB)

Man, those are 5 years-old GPUs. Why not buy some GTX 1060?
580 is much faster than 730: link, and 1.5 GB is enough for SE, if you will not use LOD 1.

Problem is that my motherboard is not compatible with anything newer than PCI-e 2.0  The GT 730 was actually the last PCI-e 2.0 GPU made- from 2014.

My laptop doesn't run SE correctly. Black screen once I open the planetorium.
*Windows 7 SP1
*Intel HD 3000 Graphics
*Intel Core i5-230M (2.40 GHz)
*Dell Inspiron N4110
*5.90 Usable RAM
Any help?

I'm afraid Intel HD Graphics 3000 isn't going to work for SpaceEngine. Some users are successfully using Intel HD 4000, but the recommended minimum specification as stated in the main webpage is a somewhat recent AMD/NVIDIA graphics card with at least 1GB integrated Video RAM, sorry.

oh, I was hoping for a much better experience than my desktop (AMD, but worse.), it bluescreens at a certain point in 9.8.0, due to it being weak. (My Intel card is better than the AMD, wonder why it won't work.)

You could attach your se.log file which is located in your SpaceEngine/system/ folder, it could contain more specific info about what it happens when SE crash.
Intel HD 3000 supports OpenGL 3.1 as far as I see around, If I'm not mistaken latest SE works with cards supporting OpenGL 3.3 at least.

Sure thing.

Well, I do have OGL 3.1, and I'll tell you that I updated the IHD 3000 Drivers to the latest, plus I have DirectX 11. Not sure if that explains anything, though.
Would there be a way to get SE to run on OGL 3.1, or get OGL 3.3 for my graphics (if possible at all)?

Fancymaster1,
SpaceEngine does not work with Intel HD 3000. There is no help.
All you might get to see is something like this: And I think Mosfet meant your 'se.log' for your AMD card.