Ability to speed up time on Orrery map for planetary day/night forecasting, etc

[Alec Turner]

As it stands the Orrery map is cool but somewhat without significant purpose.

It would be awesome if it were possible to speed up time on the Orrery map so that it became possible to use it as a tool for predicting the future position of planets. It would be even more useful if the map could indicate the light/dark side of planets as it could then be used when planning community events (e.g. canyon races, mountaing climbs, circumnavigation expeditions, etc) to make sure the event didn't end up taking place in the pitch dark.

 

[Lestat]

I could go for this one. Have it time lapses. Not sure how it could be useful. But it would be cool to see.

 

[varonica]

As it stands the Orrery map is cool but somewhat without significant purpose.

I use the Orrery all the time, both to plot a route through the systems I visit if I am intending to probulate any bodies and examine ring systems around gas giants for anomalous moon positioning. Being able to see the orbits and location of bodies for future reference might be an interesting but ultimately not very useful ability I suppose, but I don't see it being a more useful feature, just another minor feature really.

 

[Alec Turner]

I use the Orrery all the time, both to plot a route through the systems I visit if I am intending to probulate any bodies and examine ring systems around gas giants for anomalous moon positioning

Fair enough.

Being able to see the orbits and location of bodies for future reference might be an interesting but ultimately not very useful ability I suppose, but I don't see it being a more useful feature, just another minor feature really.

It's mostly about being able to predict when a particular feature (e.g. a mountain) is going to be in daylight and for how long. Incredibly useful if you spend a lot of time planetside.

I imagine it would also be useful for cinematographers to know when planets, moons and stars are going to fall into alignment/proximity.