In-System Distance Chart

edgepixel

edgepixel
Hi there commanders.

2000 Ls. 15 AU. Quantities like these are encountered by every commander. But how do they compare to anything meaningful? Some people may do maths and conversions really well in their heads, but I understand better what I can SEE. I'm a visual person. So... here's a "map" (official name "Chart") I tinkered with for a while (drawing a bit of inspiration from Dieter Rams' minimalism), that plots out the SOL System's planets and orbits (including Pluto) on their accurate real-world positions for 1st December 2015, and then adds a double grid for comparison (in AU and Lightseconds). Now everybody can SEE what AUs and Ls mean.

Enjoy.
in-system-distance-chart.png


ADDITIONAL INFO
The orbital numbers display the semi-major axis (In Ls and AU), out of all the orbital values used to plot the orbits: Periapsis, Apoapsis, Semi-major axis, Argument of periapsis, Longitude of ascending point, Inclination.
In layman terms, the semi-major axis means "the average distance" from the star, as it's half of the ellipse's long axis, uniting periapsis (the point on the orbit where the planet is closest to the star) and apoapsis (the point on the orbit where the planet is farthest from the star).
 
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Redfox

Redfox
Being out there I've developed a good sense for how far stuff is, and the grey matter computes the x500 with an acceptable lag.

But: Having this visualised in such a neat and intelligable way is great, thanks for that! +1, when it's back up.

And: Judging by the style and your username, you wouldn't be creating this sort of stuff for a living, would you? ;)
 

Cmdr Frawd Digger

Cmdr Frawd Digger
wow...this is really really cool. I have something of a mathematical brain but the visuals really make it easy to see!

And just think, the devs calculated that if all the airless worlds (the ones we can now land on) were all put together their combined area would be a square surrounding the orbit of Saturn (10AU/side)...there is a lot of space in the galaxy and not much rock...your chart makes this easy to understand.

I would rep you except the rep/avetar server seems to be missing right now.

Frawd

Edit...can I be a little pedantic (sorry)? Your Saturn orbit is showing up at slightly greater than 5000ls/10AU but the numbers you show are somewhat less than 5000ls/10AU...
 
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edgepixel

edgepixel
Cmdr Frawd Digger said:
Edit...can I be a little pedantic (sorry)? Your Saturn orbit is showing up at slightly greater than 5000ls/10AU but the numbers you show are somewhat less than 5000ls/10AU...
Click to expand...

Oh yes, an orbit is an ellipse, not a perfect circle, even if some are pretty close; as such, the distance a planet is from the star varies between a minimum and a maximum point; also the central star's position inside the orbit may be pretty off-center; all these variables add up to what may seem as inaccuracies at first glance, as the actual orbit path will obviously deviate from the distance grid.

Instead of an interval (min-max distance), I chose to simply indicate the semi-major axis on each orbit; an orbit has a rather verbose set of data.
 
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Andrew Gaspurr

Andrew Gaspurr
Great helper, thanks. Thinking of it, I took a screenie of VY Canis Maioris from something like 6,000 LS. It took me mere seconds and I was in fuel scooping range. Makes you think 'big, big, big'.
+1
 

aRottenKomquat

A
Did we lose the ability to +REP?

The two numbers I always remember are 1 light-second is the distance from the Earth to the Moon, and 500 light-seconds is the distance from the Sun to the Earth. I don't have a good sense of scale for anything else.
 

Cmdr Frawd Digger

Cmdr Frawd Digger
aRottenKomquat said:
Did we lose the ability to +REP?.
Click to expand...

Yes, and our avatars have disappeared

Frawd

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

edgepixel said:
Oh yes, an orbit is an ellipse, not a perfect circle, even if some are pretty close; as such, the distance a planet is from the star varies between a minimum and a maximum point; also the central star's position inside the orbit may be pretty off-center; all these variables add up to what may seem as inaccuracies at first glance, as the actual orbit path will obviously deviate from the distance grid.

Instead of an interval (min-max distance), I chose to simply indicate the semi-major axis on each orbit; an orbit has a rather verbose set of data.
Click to expand...

Good answer...so I was just proving my ignorance of planetary orbits then... ;)

Thanks for the great visual

Frawd
 
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