binary stars

[bojan]

I am a new user.... it is fantastic software!
However, I noticed that some binaries are missing, like Sirius B?!
I was considering to treat Sirius B as a planet, but it is not the same thing...
Is there a solution to this problem?
Bojan

[granthutchison]

Celestia uses the Hipparcos star catalogue - if a star isn't in that catalogue, it doesn't appear in the Celestia distribution. Sirius B doesn't appear in Hipparcos.

Binary stars in orbit around each other aren't yet supported in Celestia.

The best solution at present is the one you've already thought of - to add companion stars as emissive planets. You can find an add-on featuring the correct orbit for Sirius B, among others, at http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/hutchison/nearstars.html

Grant