Land-able planet indicator ... what does the size signify ?

mpfj · Jun 26, 2018

Been playing since Premium Beta and only just noticed that the blue indicator in the System Map (that shows if a planet is land-able or not) can be different sizes for planets the same size.

For instance, the following SysMap picture shows planets 3 & 4 are both land-able, and are roughly the same size:-

Here's the planet info:-

Code:

Zunou LY-Z d13-1826 3 

High Metal Content Body, None, Landable

  Planetary Composition:
    Rock - 67.17%
    Metal - 32.83%

Earth Masses: 3.5424
Body Radius: 8755.15km
Surface Temp: 951K
Gravity: 1.9g
Volcanism: Major Silicate Vapour Geysers Volcanism
Distance from Arrival Point 50.3ls
Orbital Period: 10.8 days
Semi Major Axis: 0.10AU
Orbital Eccentricity: 0.000
Orbital Inclination: 0.006°
Arg Of Periapsis: 68.767°
Axial tilt: 14.39°
Rotation Period: 10.9 days
Tidally locked

Ring:
  Zunou LY-Z d13-1826 3 A Ring (Rocky)
  Mass: 99,645,000,000.0000 MT
  Inner Radius: 61,567km
  Outer Radius: 94,218km

Materials:
  Iron (Fe) Very Common 21.0% 8/300
  Nickel (Ni) Very Common 15.9% 41/300
  Sulphur (S) Very Common 14.9% 21/300
  Carbon (C) Very Common 12.5% 27/300
  Chromium (Cr) Common 9.4% 104/250
  Manganese (Mn) Common 8.7% 67/250
  Phosphorus (P) Very Common 8.0% 17/300
  Zinc (Zn) Common 5.7% 59/250
  Niobium (Nb) Standard 1.4% 23/200
  Molybdenum (Mo) Standard 1.4% 24/200
  Tellurium (Te) Rare 1.1% 6/150
Estimated value: 40,056

Code:

Zunou LY-Z d13-1826 4 

High Metal Content Body, None, Landable

  Planetary Composition:
    Rock - 67.16%
    Metal - 32.84%

Earth Masses: 1.7849
Body Radius: 7212.94km
Surface Temp: 698K
Gravity: 1.4g
Volcanism: Minor Silicate Vapour Geysers Volcanism
Distance from Arrival Point 93.6ls
Orbital Period: 27.4 days
Semi Major Axis: 0.19AU
Orbital Eccentricity: 0.000
Orbital Inclination: 0.026°
Arg Of Periapsis: 31.111°
Axial tilt: 16.31°
Rotation Period: 27.5 days
Tidally locked

Rings:
  Zunou LY-Z d13-1826 4 A Ring (Metal Rich)
  Mass: 2,590,200,000.0000 MT
  Inner Radius: 33,194km
  Outer Radius: 34,414km

  Zunou LY-Z d13-1826 4 B Ring (Rocky)
  Mass: 50,831,000,000.0000 MT
  Inner Radius: 34,514km
  Outer Radius: 52,938km

Materials:
  Iron (Fe) Very Common 23.0% 8/300
  Nickel (Ni) Very Common 17.4% 41/300
  Sulphur (S) Very Common 16.4% 21/300
  Carbon (C) Very Common 13.8% 27/300
  Manganese (Mn) Common 9.5% 67/250
  Phosphorus (P) Very Common 8.8% 17/300
  Germanium (Ge) Common 4.9% 30/250
  Selenium (Se) Rare 2.6% 43/150
  Tin (Sn) Standard 1.5% 22/200
  Tungsten (W) Standard 1.3% 18/200
  Technetium (Tc) Rare 0.8% 8/150
Estimated value: 37,892

I thought the indicators were just a fixed size, so what does the different size indicate ?

malenfant · Jun 26, 2018

Might be that the blue rings (if that's what you're referring to... can't see your pic) just scale up discretely as the planet size increases (e.g. there may be a large blue ring if the is over 8000 km, and a smaller one if it's less. That way the small ones don't merge with the larger planet surface on the map?)

varonica · Jun 27, 2018

malenfant said:
Might be that the blue rings (if that's what you're referring to... can't see your pic) just scale up discretely as the planet size increases (e.g. there may be a large blue ring if the is over 8000 km, and a smaller one if it's less. That way the small ones don't merge with the larger planet surface on the map?)

Yes I believe that's the case, there are a number of different sized rings that will change at a given size, after all it would look silly for a sub 200km radius body to have the same size blue ring as a 25,000km radius body, it would look rather, umm lonely and pathetic stuck in the middle of that giant blue ring

mpfj · Jun 27, 2018

The planet sizes are quite similar (8755.15km vs 7212.94km), but I guess 8000km could be a jump point.

Was just hoping it was an indicator of something more interesting ...

Cheers o7

Qohen Leth · Jun 27, 2018

mpfj said:
The planet sizes are quite similar (8755.15km vs 7212.94km), but I guess 8000km could be a jump point.

Was just hoping it was an indicator of something more interesting ...

Cheers o7

I remember one of FDev saying it was only there to make small bodies more visible in supercruise. Doesn't indicate anything technical.

Friedenreich Xante · Jun 27, 2018

Qohen Leth said:
I remember one of FDev saying it was only there to make small bodies more visible in supercruise. Doesn't indicate anything technical.

He means the blue arc on the upper left of bodies in the System map, the one showing that a Body is landable. Nothing that is visible in supercruise. I also always wondered if the proximity of this arc and its size was supposed to tell us something. Apparently not.

[VR] optimal_909 · Jun 27, 2018

I can't see the image in the OP, but if it is the size of the landable arc, it gives an indication of the gravity - i.e. the larger the arc, the stronger the gravity is.

Qohen Leth · Jun 27, 2018

Friedenreich Xante said:
He means the blue arc on the upper left of bodies in the System map, the one showing that a Body is landable. Nothing that is visible in supercruise. I also always wondered if the proximity of this arc and its size was supposed to tell us something. Apparently not.

Ah -- can't see any pic.

That one indicates something about gravity, I think, as optimal said.

mpfj · Jun 27, 2018

Qohen Leth said:
Ah -- can't see any pic.

Seems to be happening a bit ... some issue with imgur ?

Try this direct link ... http://i.imgur.com/1nT1zGA.png

Qohen Leth said:
That one indicates something about gravity, I think, as optimal said.

The gravity values are 1.9g vs 1.4g, so that might be it.

I guess I need to find another instance and compare the planet values.

Cheers

Friedenreich Xante · Jun 27, 2018

Here we have Achenar 1, 2 and 3, respectively 0.68, 1.41 and 6.73 G.

The arc isn't more distant from the planet surface on 2 or 3. But on 1, it's much more distant. The arc is bigger on 3, but so is the planet. I still struggle to find the pattern, no theory above seems consistent with that, except for the one postulated by varonica.

MrFailfactory · Jun 28, 2018

I never really thought to check, but by chance, does it correspond to the size of the ring around the planet itself?

I am not referring to the asteroid/icy body rings - the ring around the planet that denotes where you will enter orbital cruise.

Riôt

Shinji Ikari · Jun 29, 2018

varonica said:
Yes I believe that's the case, there are a number of different sized rings that will change at a given size, after all it would look silly for a sub 200km radius body to have the same size blue ring as a 25,000km radius body, it would look rather, umm lonely and pathetic stuck in the middle of that giant blue ring

That doesn't explain the phenomena for similarly sized planets. Why would the blue arc vary in size if both sizes are visible on the sys map?

Genar-Hofoen · Jun 29, 2018

Kurama 1100 said:
That doesn't explain the phenomena for similarly sized planets. Why would the blue arc vary in size if both sizes are visible on the sys map?

Could it be indicating the point at which your ship transitions from orbital cruise to glide phase?

Shinji Ikari · Jun 29, 2018

Genar-Hofoen said:
Could it be indicating the point at which your ship transitions from orbital cruise to glide phase?

I don't think so, if the blue ark were to be 1:1 scale, then you'd get below it before gliding. Maybe it marks the transition from normal supercruise to orbital cruise.

turkwinif · Jun 30, 2018

And then there are these.

They make no sense. And the blue indicators are always much larger than the planets themselves.

Para Handy · Jun 30, 2018

Perhaps the blue arc images only come in a fixed number of diameters. Having one larger than expected just being a "glitch" or tolerance issue in the sysmap deciding which one to apply to the planet image?