Graphical star system online resource?

Toltrin · 05-08-2018, 10:51 PM

I have been searching for a good graphical star system creation tool. I think it would be really cool if it could also link up with Universe Sandbox and give us a real 3-D representation of of the system.
Any thoughts?

thrash · 05-09-2018, 07:07 AM

Celestia? That would give you a realistic picture, anyway. The data format isn't hard to use.

I'm not sure you want a realistic depiction, however. Not to go all Douglas Adams on you, but stellar systems are really big and almost empty. Most objects, if they are visible at all, will appear as points of light or tiny, barely resolvable disks from any particular vantage point.

ericbsmith · 05-13-2018, 03:53 PM

Yeah, I just ran some numbers for the fun of it...

If Mercury were represented by 1 pixel then:

The Sun would be 285 pixels in diameter
Mercury would orbit at a distance of 11,867 pixels - on a standard 1080p monitor that would be a distance of just over 6 Monitors
Earth would be 3 pixels in diameter and orbit at a distance of 30673 pixels - 16 Monitors away
Neptune would have a diameter of about 10 pixels and orbit at a distance of 920,000 pixels - 480 Monitors away.

The good lord must love nothing, for he sure made an awful lot of it. It's impressive what nothing can do to a man.

Or, you can look at A Tediously Accurate Scale Model of the Solar System, scaled so that the moon is one pixel in diameter.

ak_aramis · 05-13-2018, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

Or, you can look at A Tediously Accurate Scale Model of the Solar System, scaled so that the moon is one pixel in diameter.

The snarky comments are a hoot.

05-08-2018, 10:51 PM	#1
Toltrin Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Oregon	Graphical star system online resource? I have been searching for a good graphical star system creation tool. I think it would be really cool if it could also link up with Universe Sandbox and give us a real 3-D representation of of the system. Any thoughts? __________________ HCobb's OGRE Maker Yet another OGRE designer FJCestero OGRE Maker CP Alpha's new home My email

05-09-2018, 07:07 AM	#2
thrash Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: traveller	Re: Graphical star system online resource? Celestia? That would give you a realistic picture, anyway. The data format isn't hard to use. I'm not sure you want a realistic depiction, however. Not to go all Douglas Adams on you, but stellar systems are really big and almost empty. Most objects, if they are visible at all, will appear as points of light or tiny, barely resolvable disks from any particular vantage point.

05-13-2018, 03:53 PM	#3
ericbsmith Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Binghamton, NY, USA. Near the river Styx in the 5th Circle.	Re: Graphical star system online resource? Yeah, I just ran some numbers for the fun of it... If Mercury were represented by 1 pixel then: The Sun would be 285 pixels in diameter Mercury would orbit at a distance of 11,867 pixels - on a standard 1080p monitor that would be a distance of just over 6 *Monitors* Earth would be 3 pixels in diameter and orbit at a distance of 30673 pixels - 16 Monitors away Neptune would have a diameter of about 10 pixels and orbit at a distance of 920,000 pixels - 480 Monitors away. The good lord must love nothing, for he sure made an awful lot of it. It's impressive what nothing can do to a man. Or, you can look at A Tediously Accurate Scale Model of the Solar System, scaled so that the moon is one pixel in diameter. __________________ Eric B. Smith GURPS Data File Coordinator GURPSLand I shall pull the pin from this healing grenade and... Kaboom-baya. Last edited by ericbsmith; 05-13-2018 at 03:59 PM.