Finding a star

[Solomoriah]

Perhaps I'm just dense, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding stars in Celestia. I'm not familiar with the designation systems in use, so I don't know if I'm asking the wrong question.

The best example I can think of is a G8V star designated "BD+80 238" for which I have looked up information on the web and via some other programs. Celestia is obviously superior to everything else I have looked at, but I can't find that star (or any of several others) with it. I'm assuming, given that the data I have found for BD+80 238 includes Hipparcos updates, and the star is only about 55-56 LY from Sol, that it should be in the Celestia database. Is there another designation I should be using?

[lostfisherman]

Celestia understands the star designation HD (the Henry Draper catalogue) and HIP (Hipparcos data). In Celestia go to the "navigation" and choose "select object" and type in either

HD 62613
or
HIP 38784
in exactly that way.

That is what your star is also called, and it is in Celestia.

Try this site to cross reference star catalogue names
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/sim-fid.pl

High proper motion sun type star eh?
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/sim-id.pl?pr ... ch3=2000.0

[Solomoriah]

Celestia understands the star designation HD (the Henry Draper catalogue) and HIP (Hipparcos data). In Celestia go to the "navigation" and choose "select object" and type in either

HD 62613
or
HIP 38784
in exactly that way.

That is what your star is also called, and it is in Celestia.

Thanks for the assist. I'm new to a lot of this (always interested, but inadequate resources pre-Internet).

Try this site to cross reference star catalogue names
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/sim-fid.pl

Most helpful! I'll bookmark it at once.

High proper motion sun type star eh?

G-type star in the "general direction" of Polaris, "not too far" from Sol. For an RPG I'm working on.

Again, many thanks. Celestia rocks!

[Guest]

Okay, me again. This time I'm looking for Eta Casseopeiae B (HIP 3821 B). Apparently my stock Celestia 1.3.1 does not contain this star? According to several sites I've looked at, the primary is a G3V star, the secondary is a K7V (there seems to be some dispute about this). I've found a number of sites where amateur astronomers describe how easy it is to see the pair, so why can't I "go" there?

I just made myself dizzy spinning around and around Eta Casseopeiae A looking for it...

[Solomoriah]

Dang, though I was logged in. That last one was from me.

I'm getting a bit frustrated. Add to my wish list Procyon B (BD+05 1739B). I'm currently interested in binary star systems, but Celestia seems underequipped... or I am. The secondary stars in many of these systems don't seem to have Hipparcos or HD numbers.

[}{]

in the latest version of celestia i found your star...
it's called Achird B...
and Procyon B is there too...

when u select a star an you see "planetary companion present", you should click on Navigation_Solar system browser...

you'll find what you're looking for..bye[/img]

[granthutchison]

The binaries aren't present in the distribution Celestia unless they have separate Hip catalogue numbers. "}{" must have an add-on installed.

You'll find the companions to nearby stars (out to 25 light years) in my nearby stars add-on at:
http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/hutchison/nearstars.html

Grant

[Solomoriah]

Thanks. I downloaded your add-on and am testing it now.

According to your site, Celestia lacks support for stars orbiting each other. How are Rigel Kentaurus A and B handled then?

[}{]

you're right grant.....but in my nearstars.stc there isn't procyon B, nor achird B....

[}{]

maybe the file you're lookin' for is stellarcompanions.ssc

here's the code:

# Orbit specifications for companion stars out to 25 light-years

# Most often, the direction of the node on the plane of the sky
# is unknown - the orbit's appearance is correct when viewed
# from Earth, but it may be tilted towards or away from the Earth.
# For a few orbits the nature of the node is known - these are
# marked with the phrase "fully specified orientation".


"Sirius B" "Sirius" # fully specified orientation
{
Texture "bstar.jpg" # DA2VII
Radius 5800 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 50.09
SemiMajorAxis 19.8
Eccentricity 0.592
Inclination 97.51
AscendingNode 161.33
ArgOfPericenter 184.56
MeanAnomaly 40.89
}

RotationPeriod 0.5 # plausible guess
}

"UV Cet" "Luyten 726-8"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M6V
Radius 100000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 26.52
SemiMajorAxis 5.22
Eccentricity 0.62
Inclination 101.29
AscendingNode 159.51
ArgOfPericenter 219.73
MeanAnomaly 21.31
}

RotationPeriod 24 # plausible guess
}

"Luyten 789-6 B" "Luyten 789-6"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M7V
Radius 120000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 2.2506
SemiMajorAxis 1.20
Eccentricity 0.437
Inclination 96.18
AscendingNode 133.51
ArgOfPericenter 256.42
MeanAnomaly 241.70
}

RotationPeriod 20 # plausible guess

}

"Luyten 789-6 C" "Luyten 789-6"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M7V
Radius 120000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 0.010 # 3.8dys
SemiMajorAxis 0.027 # to match period
Inclination 96 # guess - to match plane of B
AscendingNode 133 # guess - to match plane of B
}

RotationPeriod 20 # plausible guess

}


"Procyon B" "Procyon"
{
Texture "bstar.jpg" # DAVII
Radius 8400 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 40.82
SemiMajorAxis 14.9
Eccentricity 0.407
Inclination 42.9
AscendingNode 27.8
ArgOfPericenter 268.4
MeanAnomaly 282.5
}

RotationPeriod 0.5 # plausible guess
}

"GQ And" "Groombridge 34"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M3.5V
Radius 130000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 2600
SemiMajorAxis 147
Eccentricity 0
Inclination 67.9
AscendingNode 308.4
MeanLongitude 203.0
}

RotationPeriod 120 # plausible guess
}

"EPS Ind Bb" "EPS Ind B"
{
Texture "browndwarf.jpg" # T6V
Radius 67000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 16.1 # approximate orbit
SemiMajorAxis 2.65 #
}

RotationPeriod 5 # plausible guess
}

"DO Cep" "Kruger 60"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M4V
Radius 240000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 44.67
SemiMajorAxis 9.55
Eccentricity 0.41
Inclination 37.0
AscendingNode 126.6
ArgOfPericenter 84.08
MeanAnomaly 240.0
}

RotationPeriod 98 # plausible guess
}

"Ross 614 B" "Ross 614"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M7V
Radius 120000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 16.5
SemiMajorAxis 4.53
Eccentricity 0.38
Inclination 37.0
AscendingNode 71.2
ArgOfPericenter 310.7
MeanAnomaly 0.0
}

RotationPeriod 20 # plausible guess
}

"FL Vir" "Wolf 424"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M6V
Radius 100000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 15.9
SemiMajorAxis 3.98
Eccentricity 0.3
Inclination 28.7
AscendingNode 359.5
ArgOfPericenter 261.1
MeanAnomaly 169.8
}

RotationPeriod 24 # plausible guess
}

"GJ 1245 C" "GJ 1245 A"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M5.5V
Radius 170000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 15.22
SemiMajorAxis 1.27
Eccentricity 0.32
Inclination 20.0
AscendingNode 196.9
ArgOfPericenter 237.8
MeanAnomaly 39.7
}

RotationPeriod 12 # plausible guess
}

"Keid C" "Keid B"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M4.5V
Radius 190000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 252.1
SemiMajorAxis 34.89
Eccentricity 0.41
Inclination 84.4
AscendingNode 215.2
ArgOfPericenter 270.4
MeanAnomaly 214.77
}

RotationPeriod 31 # plausible guess
}

"70 Oph B" "70 Oph"
{
Texture "gstar.jpg" # K5V
Radius 510000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 88.38
SemiMajorAxis 23.16
Eccentricity 0.4992
Inclination 114.9
AscendingNode 330.8
ArgOfPericenter 161.6
MeanAnomaly 63.9
}

RotationPeriod 440 # plausible guess
}

"Luyten 722-22 B" "Luyten 722-22"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M7V
Radius 120000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 4.566
SemiMajorAxis 1.58
Eccentricity 0.364
Inclination 72.3
AscendingNode 85.2
ArgOfPericenter 349.4
MeanAnomaly 5.4
}

RotationPeriod 20 # plausible guess
}

"Stein 2051 B" "Stein 2051"
{
Texture "bstar.jpg" # DC5VII
Radius 6000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 23
SemiMajorAxis 0.39
Eccentricity 0.3
Inclination 63.9
AscendingNode 328.0
ArgOfPericenter 268.9
MeanAnomaly 172.2
}

RotationPeriod 0.5 # plausible guess
}

"Gliese 229 b" "Gliese 229"
{
Texture "browndwarf.jpg" # T6.5V
Radius 70000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 200 # approximate orbit
SemiMajorAxis 39 #
}

RotationPeriod 5 #guess
}

"33 Lib BC" "33 Lib" # fully specified orientation
{
Class "invisible"
Radius 1e6

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 2130
SemiMajorAxis 191
Eccentricity 0.2
Inclination 142.6
AscendingNode 191.6
ArgOfPericenter 309.2
MeanAnomaly 52.6
}

Obliquity 90.7
EquatorAscendingNode 30.5

}

"33 Lib B" "33 Lib/33 Lib BC"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M1V
Radius 450000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 308.9 # 0.8457yr
SemiMajorAxis 66000000 # appropriate for mass ~0.55
Eccentricity 0.7559
ArgOfPericenter 221.9
MeanAnomaly 45.2
}

RotationPeriod 300 # plausible guess
}

"33 Lib C" "33 Lib/33 Lib BC"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M3V
Radius 300000 #

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 308.9 # 0.8457yr
SemiMajorAxis 103500000 # appropriate for mass ~0.35
Eccentricity 0.7559
ArgOfPericenter 41.9
MeanAnomaly 45.2
}

RotationPeriod 160 # plausible guess
}

"Achird B" "Achird"
{
Texture "gstar.jpg" # K7V
Radius 460000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 480
SemiMajorAxis 71.4
Eccentricity 0.497
Inclination 152.2
AscendingNode 7.0
ArgOfPericenter 359.6
MeanAnomaly 82.8
}

RotationPeriod 400 # plausible guess
}

"36 Oph B" "36 Oph A"
{
Texture "gstar.jpg" # K1V
Radius 560000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 470.9
SemiMajorAxis 77.8
Eccentricity 0.916
Inclination 13.3
AscendingNode 348.9
ArgOfPericenter 91.0
MeanAnomaly 246.3
}

RotationPeriod 480 # plausible guess
}

"Ross 986 B" "Ross 986"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M6V
Radius 150000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 0.028 # 10.43dy
SemiMajorAxis 0.06 # from predicted masses of 0.17+0.16
}

RotationPeriod 24 # plausible guess
}

"Struve 1321 B" "Struve 1321"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # K7V
Radius 450000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 975
SemiMajorAxis 103.2
Eccentricity 0.28
Inclination 113.3
AscendingNode 13.4
ArgOfPericenter 276.5
MeanAnomaly 264.0
}

RotationPeriod 360 # plausible guess
}

"Gliese 896 C" "Gliese 896"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M7V
Radius 120000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 3.5 # "of the order of a few years"
SemiMajorAxis 1.7 # from estimated masses of 0.34+0.13
}

RotationPeriod 20 # plausible guess
}

"Gliese 896 BD" "Gliese 896"
{
Class "invisible"
Radius 1e6

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 359
SemiMajorAxis 42.92
Eccentricity 0.2
Inclination 19.6
AscendingNode 138.8
ArgOfPericenter 299.1
MeanAnomaly 352.0
}

}

"Gliese 896 B" "Gliese 896/Gliese 896 BD"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M4.5V
Radius 160000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 1280 # "of the order of a few years"
SemiMajorAxis 70000000 # appropriate for mass ~0.16
}

RotationPeriod 70 # plausible guess
}

"Gliese 896 D" "Gliese 896/Gliese 896 BD"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M9V
Radius 70000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 1280 # "of the order of a few years"
SemiMajorAxis 130000000 # appropriate for mass ~0.09
MeanAnomaly 180
}

RotationPeriod 5 # plausible guess
}

"Gliese 661 B" "Gliese 661"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M3V
Radius 280000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 12.9512
SemiMajorAxis 4.82
Eccentricity 0.743
Inclination 25.8
AscendingNode 59.0
ArgOfPericenter 324.9
MeanAnomaly 249.3
}

RotationPeriod 170 # plausible guess
}

"Wolf 630 BC" "Wolf 630" # fully specified orientation
{
Class "invisible"

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 1.71727
SemiMajorAxis 1.29
Eccentricity 0.043
Inclination 69.7
AscendingNode 0.1
ArgOfPericenter 44.0
MeanAnomaly 325.6
}

Obliquity 70 # orbits of BC are thought to be
EquatorAscendingNode 0 # nearly coplanar with A[BC]
}

"Wolf 630 B" "Wolf 630/Wolf 630 BC"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M3V
Radius 300000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 2.965522
SemiMajorAxis 2500000 # estimated from masses 0.34+0.30
Eccentricity 0.026
}

RotationPeriod 170 # plausible guess
}

"Wolf 630 C" "Wolf 630/Wolf 630 BC"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M4V
Radius 250000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 2.965522
SemiMajorAxis 2700000 # estimated from masses 0.34+0.30
Eccentricity 0.026
ArgOfPericenter 180
}

RotationPeriod 100 # plausible guess
}

"Ross 775 B" "Ross 775"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M3V
Radius 300000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 0.146 # 53.2dys
SemiMajorAxis 0.22 # estimated from masses 0.26+0.26
}

RotationPeriod 170 # plausible guess
}

"XI Boo B" "XI Boo"
{
Texture "gstar.jpg" # K4V
Radius 500000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 151.505
SemiMajorAxis 32.9
Eccentricity 0.512
Inclination 81.97
AscendingNode 270.36
ArgOfPericenter 338.81
MeanAnomaly 215.37
}

RotationPeriod 450 # plausible guess
}

"Gliese 667 B" "Gliese 667"
{
Texture "gstar.jpg" # K5V
Radius 490000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 42.15
SemiMajorAxis 12.6
Eccentricity 0.58
Inclination 136.6
AscendingNode 305.4
ArgOfPericenter 3.6
MeanAnomaly 205.8
}

RotationPeriod 400 # plausible guess
}

"268 Cet C" "268 Cet"
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M7.5V
Radius 100000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 60
SemiMajorAxis 15
Eccentricity 0.75
Inclination 82 # "nearly face-on orbit"
AscendingNode 310 #
}

RotationPeriod 5 # plausible guess
}

"Giclas 203-47 B" "Giclas 203-47"
{
Texture "bstar.jpg" # white dwarf
Radius 6000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 0.04 # 15 days
SemiMajorAxis 0.1 # estimated from masses 0.3+0.5
Eccentricity 0.07
}

RotationPeriod 0.5 # plausible guess
}

"Mu Cas B" "Mu Cas" # fully specified orientation
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # M subdwarf
Radius 70000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 21.43
SemiMajorAxis 1.40
Eccentricity 0.61
Inclination 25.4
AscendingNode 336.4
ArgOfPericenter 136.6
MeanAnomaly 47.0
}

RotationPeriod 5 # plausible guess
}

"Alula Australis B" "Alula Australis" # fully specified orientation
{
Texture "gstar.jpg" # G0V
Radius 760000 #

Emissive true

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 59.878
SemiMajorAxis 21.2
Eccentricity 0.398
Inclination 14.1
AscendingNode 192.1
ArgOfPericenter 188.7
MeanAnomaly 29.6
}

RotationPeriod 260 # plausible guess
}

"Alula Australis C" "Alula Australis" # fully specified orientation
{
Texture "mstar.jpg" # ~M3V from calc mass 0.4
Radius 300000 #

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 1.832
SemiMajorAxis 0.48
Eccentricity 0.53
Inclination 137.0
AscendingNode 298.1
ArgOfPericenter 7.9
MeanAnomaly 133.8
}

RotationPeriod 250 # plausible guess
}

"Alula Australis D" "Alula Australis/Alula Australis B"
{
Texture "browndwarf.jpg"
Radius 70000

Emissive true

Color [ 1 0.7 0.7 ]

EllipticalOrbit {
Period 3.98
SemiMajorAxis 9000000
Eccentricity 0
}

RotationPeriod 5 # plausible guess
}

[granthutchison]

According to your site, Celestia lacks support for stars orbiting each other. How are Rigel Kentaurus A and B handled then?

They're fixed in their relative positions as defined in Hipparcos ... no orbital motion.

Grant

[granthutchison]

you're right grant.....but in my nearstars.stc there isn't procyon B, nor achird B....

The appear in stellarcompanions.ssc, which is part of the same add-on.

Grant

[Solomoriah]

Okay, here I go again. One of the add-ons I downloaded is the 61 Cygnus A black hole. Is there (believed) to be such a thing, or is the placement at 61 Cygnus fictional?