...Just as long as he does not delegate to his underling, Major Delay.
A little bit of eye candy for you. Here's how I 'envisioned' the Prism system.
It's a quadruple star system with 4 stars of different spectral types. They are a red dwarf 'Ruby', a blue main sequence 'Sapphire', a white main sequence 'Diamond' and an orange main sequence star (a little cooler than our sun) the titular 'Prism'. Only Prism has planets. Here's a shot of the other three stars with Chione (my inhabitable moon) in the foreground. Ruby is relatively close at 30 AUs, whereas Sapphire and Diamond are much further away, at around 500 AUs.
I also simulated the orbital dynamics to make sure they worked effectively.
Cheers,
Drew.
It's a quadruple star system with 4 stars of different spectral types. They are a red dwarf 'Ruby', a blue main sequence 'Sapphire', a white main sequence 'Diamond' and an orange main sequence star (a little cooler than our sun) the titular 'Prism'. Only Prism has planets. Here's a shot of the other three stars with Chione (my inhabitable moon) in the foreground. Ruby is relatively close at 30 AUs, whereas Sapphire and Diamond are much further away, at around 500 AUs.
I also simulated the orbital dynamics to make sure they worked effectively.
Cheers,
Drew.
That is an impressive amount of effort you have put into realising what the Prism system would look like. The graphics look great! Can't wait to begin reading E:R
That is an impressive amount of effort you have put into realising what the Prism system would look like. The graphics look great! Can't wait to begin reading E:R
My sci-fi writing is normally quite a bit 'harder' than is possible given the fantastical elements of the Elite universe. I wanted to ensure it was grounded in reality as much as possible.
In my 'own universes' I don't have things like hyperspace, visible lasers, limited top speeds etc.
Cheers,
Drew.
Very nice eye candy, Drew
Can i be cheeky and ask what software you used for the orbital simulation?
Google 'spaceengine'
Cheers,
Drew.
Nice Drew!
A system consisting of 4 stars with such spectacular differences in spectral types must be very unusual. Are there any known real systems with that setup or similar? Or did you infact want to make Prism stand out a little extra?
Not as unusual as you might expect. The two bright stars are pretty close in size and configuration, I've just played with the mass of one to make it more 'blue' (hotter).
The other two (including Prism) are also quite close, Red and Orange respectively. These configurations are pretty common and Red Dwarfs themselves are as common as muck!
Is there a direct analogue in a 'real' star? No, there's not but I've based it on extrapolation from real star systems such as Albireo (double yellow and blue pair - google it, very pretty) and even more complex sextuple systems like Mizar or Capella. Somewhere out there there is a real version of this system... perhaps not far away.
Our system is actually pretty unusual in that we only have the single star.
As for planets - are they believable? Yes, we've confirmed exoplanets around stars in quadruple star systems already.
I've put the Prism system about 150 light years from Sol (until star map confirmed). Right now it's in the constellation of Leo (I was born in August) and would be, if it were real, magnitude +14, which means you would need a pretty decent amateur telescope to see it and a professional one (20" inch diameter or better) to actually see the individual stars in the system.
Cheers,
Drew.
ps. But yes, I wanted the Prism system to stand out, but be realistic in construction.
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@Drew
Yes I was curious as it sounded somewhat unique. I know about Albireo, I even had the pleasure to watch it with a big telescope when I visited an observatory in my youth. Albireo together with a view on Saturn made me interested in astronomy. It was close to some kind of religious experience. Really amazing.
I know you're true to science as much as you can in your fiction. That was one heavy reason I've supported your project. Can't wait to read it and eventually visit the colourful system of Prism!
Yes I was curious as it sounded somewhat unique. I know about Albireo, I even had the pleasure to watch it with a big telescope when I visited an observatory in my youth. Albireo together with a view on Saturn made me interested in astronomy. It was close to some kind of religious experience. Really amazing.
I know you're true to science as much as you can in your fiction. That was one heavy reason I've supported your project. Can't wait to read it and eventually visit the colourful system of Prism!
Michael has given me the system names. I know how far away the Prism system is too.
Even better, Michael has taken all my ephemeris data (as shown above) so the Prism system in game should look as good, if not better, than the graphics above in E: D and very very close to how I simulated it.
Awesomeness.
Cheers,
Drew.
Even better, Michael has taken all my ephemeris data (as shown above) so the Prism system in game should look as good, if not better, than the graphics above in E: D and very very close to how I simulated it.
Awesomeness.
Cheers,
Drew.
Brilliant! Does that mean someone's now off the critical path?!
This is getting so close ... I really hope extended Alpha and Beta phases of ED don't delay FB from releasing the books in all formats.
This is getting so close ... I really hope extended Alpha and Beta phases of ED don't delay FB from releasing the books in all formats.
We may have more tourists at Prism than Sol. Especially in the early days, where the high pledgers get early access and they are more likely to be aware of the fiction.