Reply With QuoteIf this system has an ice belt are there chunks with even more elliptical orbits which produce comets at a high frequency? Could make for fun mining options, or other resource hunting and claim jumping in a space-based rpg.
Segon star system
This is my preliminary chart for the Segon star system. As yet I have no use intended for this map, I just wanted to experiment with some style and techniques, and I was in a science-fiction mood after playing Mass Effect 3
The reason for the large size is that the orbit paths are drawn to scale. Any smaller and the inner system would've been too crowded. It does feel kind of empty right now, but I'm trying to think of ways to solve that. I have yet to add the scale, title, labels, etc. and I'm also working on a starry background and the outer ice belt, which is the empty orbit that crosses that of the blue planet.
If this system has an ice belt are there chunks with even more elliptical orbits which produce comets at a high frequency? Could make for fun mining options, or other resource hunting and claim jumping in a space-based rpg.
The eccentric orbit looks wrong, the sun should be in one of the foci.
Looks like a good start.
cfds: Which orbit? Or all of them? Because I specifically placed the star at the center of the map and mapped all of my orbits from its center. It's possible I may have typed a number wrong to throw one off, but I doubt it.
Ettrick: That's actually a good idea that I hadn't yet thought of. I may make the vM belt more elliptical and maybe map the trajectories of certain known comets that track through every now and then.
Last edited by afters; 06-30-2012 at 07:58 AM.
600px-Oort_cloud_Sedna_orbit.pngOrbits are elliptical. The body orbited is at one of the foci of the ellipse. If the orbit is close enough to circular to not notice the difference, then the center is where you will find the body orbited (even that's a bit simplified, but this is about making your map work, not a course in celestial mechanics). However, when the orbit is eccentric enough to notice that it is an ellipse rather than a circle, this will not be the case. Compare even the much less eccentric Pluto in this Solar System illustration (taken off Wikipedia; listed as a NASA public domain image). Then look at the really eccentric Sedna. Their orbits are not centered on the sun.
Thank you! That makes things much clearer and will indeed help me improve this map.
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