Ground view

peterhuang913 · Post #1by **peterhuang913** » 16.03.2008, 05:37

I've read around and figured that Celestia could do a sort of ground observer's view. Like what I can see from Earth. It seems I need scripts for this. Could someone point me in the right direction?

buggs_moran · Post #2by **buggs_moran** » 16.03.2008, 12:25

Go above the point you want to observe from, "Y" to syncronize orbit, CTRL-G to goto ground, CTRL-F to shift to ALT-AZ mode. Also, look into Vincent's Lua addon. It has a compass and other tools that can help.

peterhuang913 · Post #3by **peterhuang913** » 16.03.2008, 15:28

Thank you. It works. What is Alt-AZ mode? Also, moving my viewpoint around the skeis seems to mess up my balance. Like if I look around with left click, the horizon tilts.

Johaen · Post #4by **Johaen** » 16.03.2008, 15:45

buggs_moran wrote:Go above the point you want to observe from, "Y" to syncronize orbit, CTRL-G to goto ground...

One thing. CTRL-G automatically synchronizes your orbit.

peterhuang913 wrote:What is Alt-AZ mode?

I'm not familiar with Alt-AZ mode. Maybe someone else can help you with that.

Post #5by **selden** » 16.03.2008, 15:59

"Alt-Az" is an abbreviation for "Altitude-Azimuth coordinate system".

Altitude is the vertical direction, up-and-down with respect to the object (Earth, perhaps).
Azimuth is the horizontal direction, right-and-left with respect to the object.

When you switch to "Alt-Az" mode, the right- and left- arrow keys rotate the viewpoint toward the left and right. Normally those keys will cause the viewpoint to rotate around the center of the screen.

buggs_moran · Post #6by **buggs_moran** » 16.03.2008, 16:04

Peter, watch the video here, it gives a simple explanation of the astronomical coordinate systems: http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/museum/esim.asp?c=500027

peterhuang913 · Post #7by **peterhuang913** » 16.03.2008, 18:00

Thanks guys. It's all good now.