The Solar System: September, AD 15605

[RPMiller]

Jupiter had 63 moons a few years ago, but I heard rumors that they discovered a bunch more.

[RPMiller]

Check out this page:
http://astro.nineplanets.org/astrosoftware.html

It has links to all sorts of software for all different platforms.

[töff]

One aspect of this project that cannot (should not) be disregarded is this: the era is the 16th Millennium, and humanity has achieved levels of technology that easy allow the addition or elimination of small moons. That fact opens up a wide range of possibilities that could easily be 'abused'; e.g., I might succumb to the temptation to say that all the little Jovian moons were 'cleaned up' at some point in the storyworld's past, thus relieving the mapmaker (c'est moi) of the burden of detailing tons of little shepherds and microsatellites. Will I cheat so? I hope not. But, what can I do with 63 flippin' moons at Jupiter alone? Yeeks.

I also need to go through some of my canon material in search of permanent artificial satellites. I know I've mentioned some.

Now I'm wondering how to map the kingdoms of the Belt. Traditional borders don't apply because the component landmasses are all moving relative to each other. I might have to color-code them, too, or maybe stick little heraldry icons on them.

My god, this project is getting complicated fast.

[töff]

Very cool software link, thanks! I just tried one and it tells me Jupiter and Saturn are both in Pisces in Sep 15605. I'll try another, maybe, and Starry Night later too.

[töff]

A demonstration of astronomical scale, for you disbelievers out there ...

I can't even make this program (AlphaCentaure, 2nd freeware on the list linked above) display all the planets at the same time. Not that I expected to!

I'm glad, though, that it lets me set the date as high as AD 15,605. Some of the others I tried long ago would not let me go past AD 9,999.

[ravells]

I'm really looking forward to seeing this one develop!

[töff]

Thanks ... um, me too ...

Another temptation I hope not to give in to is the use of photos for the planets. I want to do new stylized representations for them, maybe something kinda isometric ... OK, it's stupid to try to represent a sphere isometrically ... but you know, at a jaunty angle with some shading. Dunno what this will do to my color palette.

I also want to make new icons for the zodiac. it would be too easy to steal a set.

I want I want I want! I sound like my 2.5yr-old nephew!

[töff]

Oh, I know how to solve the "too many moons" problem! If this map is an interactive piece of animated-ink software, I can just have a variable-quantity moon display. Then the thing just defaults to the first, oh, say, 4-5 moons, or it has a basic starting setting for each planet, and then a little popup menu so the user can hide the moons, show all, show inhabited, show #?, select by name, etc.

This will be more of a screenshot kinda thing, than a paper map.

The project just took on a whole new dimension.

[töff]

Ooh, and I get to do the trojans, too. At the very least, Jupiter's L4 and L5, but maybe others. Neptune and even Mars have trojans. That'll help fill out the circles!

[Midgardsormr]

OK, it's stupid to try to represent a sphere isometrically ... but you know, at a jaunty angle with some shading.

If you can pull that off, I'll be . . . suitably impressed.