Star Location

General discussion (space-sim gaming, astronomy, and sci-fi entertainment in general, etc.).
Dynodino
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Star Location

Post by Dynodino »

Hello Everyone,

I know I'm behind the times in discovering things about this game, but am digging for tips regarding exploration.

I purchased some info from a NPC player about a 'point of interest', which turned out to be a planet, off the beaten track as it were.

I then found another planet of (I think) the same system purely by chance. Both planets were strongly lit with a light and dark side, but no obvious Star visible, so I decided to locate the star central to the system. I did this by placing myself central to the light side of one of the planets, with my back to the planet, and checking in the rear view that the planet was centrally placed and evenly luminous around the periphery. I then jumped max distance twice in the direction I was facing (with a mantis drive), and discovered a rather beautiful star; but then I wondered:

Would it be possible to triangulate the position of the star by using the same method at both planets and working out the position of the star mathematically from the location and instrument readings?

That's question #1 :)

Question #2 is: Is there a simple way of detecting other planets in the system once the star is located, without dancing around using 'pot luck'?

I'd like to be able to map the whole system if it's possible (and not too laborious), even though it's 'Hostile'. :)

Thanks Folks.
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Marvin
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Re: Star Location

Post by Marvin »

Oh-boy, does that bring up memories. Yeah, it used to be possible, using a mod created by Atollski. The mod is still available at SeeJay's old website, here: https://evochron.junholt.se/menus/downloads.htm ... assuming it still works. To get an idea as to how it might work, make sure you download the Instructions for Navdata. If nothing else, it will at least let you know how (once upon a time) it was possible to do what you've asked about.

Of course, back then the Navigation map only expanded to about 2/3 (or less) of what it does today. Now you can pretty much expand it out far enough to see an entire system. Just to be sure, you can jump maybe 2 or 3 times along each of the cardinal points (with the map zoomed all the way out) to check for rogue planets.

P.S. SeeJay even had a program on line which allowed you to plug in triangulation coordinates, making it "easier" to find those rogue planets.
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Marvin
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Re: Star Location

Post by Marvin »

Hah, I found SeeJay's Planet Finder:

https://evochron2.junholt.se/main/planetsearch3.htm
Dynodino
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Re: Star Location

Post by Dynodino »

That's good news Marvin, thanks. I think I'll try my own method of triangulation first, just to see if it does work (and that my maths are up to it).
The surprising thing is that the system seems very spread out compared to 'normal' systems, but maybe I found the outer planets first. We shall see!
Thanks for your help. I'll check out Seejay's goodies after I've exhausted my own patience, which shouldn't take very long at all.
Thanks again. :)
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Marvin
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Re: Star Location

Post by Marvin »

Keep in mind that there is a midway crossover between systems. You can test it yourself using the Navigation map ... the upper-left part of the map displays the closest planet. Because of that, SeeJay's planetfinder uses the crossover point for triangulation.