Epoch and exoplanets

[ajtribick]

A quick question:

Does Celestia automatically compensate for the light time delay on the perihelion time for planets around other stars, and if not, has this been handled when the extrasolar.ssc file was created?

[granthutchison]

There seems to be little point in trying to adjust for light-time delay for extrasolars - there are usually distance uncertainties amounting to months or years of light travel time, considerably exceeding the orbital period for most extrasolars. So for this majority any orbital position is as likely to be correct as any other!
Given that depressing fact, I simply ignored light travel time and portrayed the planets as accurately as possible, as seen from Earth.

Grant

[t00fri]

There seems to be little point in trying to adjust for light-time delay for extrasolars - there are usually distance uncertainties amounting to months or years of light travel time, considerably exceeding the orbital period for most extrasolars. So for this majority any orbital position is as likely to be correct as any other!
Given that depressing fact, I simply ignored light travel time and portrayed the planets as accurately as possible, as seen from Earth.

Grant

As far as I can remember, when I coded the LT delay in Celestia, I switched it off outside the solar system. Otherwise one could generate quite a number of "odd effects" ...

Bye Fridger

[granthutchison]

As far as I can remember, when I coded the LT delay in Celestia, I switched it off outside the solar system.

Oops, yes, that's the answer to the first part of chaos syndrome's question ... I went straight in with a response to the second ("... and if not ...") part.

Grant