Celestia Forums

Added XYZV-trajectory for the Hyperion in the date range from 04.10.1957 to 28.11.2099.

I assume that the addition of XYZV trajectories is to make the orbits of planets and moons more accurate, is that correct?

SpaceFanatic64 wrote:I assume that the addition of XYZV trajectories is to make the orbits of planets and moons more accurate, is that correct?

Much more accurate. No more "collisions" between spacecraft and celestial bodies.
If everything is done correctly, the errors do not exceed several tens of kilometers.

For example, if you simulate certain Cassini flybys of Saturn's moons, they will be quite inaccurate. Cassini collides with Titan several times, flybys of other moons are too far away and do not contradict actual flybys. With xyzv trajectories, you have much better accuracy.

There are a few things that I've been wondering about in terms of their inclusion, such as Elektra's third satellite and the many new names of moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

Edit: Nevermind, it looks like Elektra's third moon has already been added, but I know that a few months ago some Jovian and Saturnian moons received names.

SpaceFanatic64 wrote:but I know that a few months ago some Jovian and Saturnian moons received names.

Ten new names for Saturn's moons already have been added. Nobody assigned new names for Jupiter's moons.
Or do you have any information?

There were some new names on Wikipedia that I hadn't noticed in the current version, but maybe they've been added already. I do at least hope though that Didymos and Dimorphos will be updated.

SpaceFanatic64 wrote:There were some new names on Wikipedia that I hadn't noticed in the current version, but maybe they've been added already.

I need specific examples to check.

SpaceFanatic64 wrote:I do at least hope though that Didymos and Dimorphos will be updated.

We can only update physical and orbital parameters. Haven't seen any official models from NASA.

Here are the missing names for Saturn's moons that weren't in the current update:
Gridr (Saturn LIV/S/2004 S 20)
Eggther (Saturn LIX/S/2004 S 27)
Angrboda (Saturn LV/S/2004 S 22)
Beli (Saturn LXI/S/2004 S 30)
Gerd (Saturn LVII/S/2004 S 25)
Gunnlod (Saturn LXII/S/2004 S 32)
Skrymir (Saturn LVI/S/2004 S 23)
Alvaldi (Saturn LXV/S/2004 S 35)
Geirrod (Saturn LXVI/S/2004 S 38)
Thiazzi (Saturn LXIII/S/2004 S 33)

(EDIT: Disregard the top; they have already been added, but the bottom still applies).

A few other unnamed moons have also received labels.
S/2004 S 29 = Saturn LX
S/2004 S 34 = Saturn LXIV
S/2004 S 26 = Saturn LVIII

The Jovian moons are still up-to-date so no changes need to be made to it.

SpaceFanatic64 wrote:A few other unnamed moons have also received labels.

All new numbers also have been assigned. We just didn't announce it separately.

SpaceFanatic64 wrote:The Jovian moons are still up-to-date so no changes need to be made to it.

Okay, but I'm not ruling out that by the time we get to that, something may have changed.

Added XYZV-trajectory for the Titan in the date range from 04.10.1957 to 28.11.2099.
Added 50 new locations. The total number is 284. Eliminated all collisions with "Cassini".

Why hundrets of .xyzv files instead of some SPICE (.bsp) kernels (can also be generated with Horizons)?
.bsp files are more accurate than .xyzv files.

EarthMoon wrote:Why hundrets of .xyzv files instead of some SPICE (.bsp) kernels (can also be generated with Horizons)?
.bsp files are more accurate than .xyzv files.

This format is much easier to work with.

Oh, ok

Added XYZV-trajectory for the Rhea in the date range from 04.10.1957 to 28.11.2099.
Added 97 new locations. The total number is 147.
Hypothetical rings has been updated and connected to the GUI.

Why all .xyzv trajectory data from 1957 Oct 04 to 2099 Nov 18, not from e.g. 1900 Jan 01 to 2100 Jan 01?

On 1957 Oct 04 Sputnik 1 launched, but what will launch/happen on 2099 Nov 18?

EarthMoon wrote:On 1957 Oct 04 Sputnik 1 launched

Exactly. We got into all this to eliminate all errors with the spacecraft flybys. That is why trajectories have been working since the beginning of the Space Age. Before it occurs errors are not so noticeable.

EarthMoon wrote:but what will launch/happen on 2099 Nov 18?

2099 Nov 28. On this day closes the last orbit until 2100 year for Iapetus - the outermost synchronized moon in the Solar System. To simplify the work, we took the resulting template and began to apply it to all inner moons. The secret is extremely simple.

Added XYZV-trajectories for the Dione, Helene and Polydeuces in the date range from 04.10.1957 to 28.11.2099.
Added 16 new locations. The total number is 93.

Added XYZV-trajectories for the Tethys, Telesto and Calypso in the date range from 04.10.1957 to 28.11.2099.

Added XYZV-trajectory for the Enceladus in the date range from 04.10.1957 to 28.11.2099.
Added 1 new locations. The total number is 85.