Celestia Forums

Celestia 1.6.1
Windows 7 32 bits
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
driver version 6.1.7600.16385

Saturn's rings cast no shadows on the surface, neither are shadowed by the planet. I saw the same bug in an older computer with Win7-32, thought I don't remember its video card info. Is it a normal problem for this version?

Jairo Amaral wrote:Is it a normal problem for this version?

No, it isn't. You should see all the good stuff with your system. Are you aware that:

1. Ring shadows, as well as shadows on rings, need a proper render path to be active? Try ctrl-v to cycle through all the available, and choose the best one (OpenGL 2.0, I dare say).

2. Shadows ON rings can be toggled on and off through a visualization option? Check those, in the corresponding menu.

Regards,

Guillermo

--- edit ---

The ctrl+v solved it. I've even enabled a bluish tone on Saturn. I thought I knew a thing or two about Celestia. Thank you all.

Jairo Amaral wrote:The ctrl+v solved it. I've even enabled a bluish tone on Saturn.

I'm glad. You have also enabled, in this way, a lot of other good stuff: specular reflections, cloud shadows, terrain shadows, nightside illumination... You'll like it.

I have seen that the shadows moving, one time it is on the top of the planet, middle or low down on the planet

kristoffer wrote:I have seen that the shadows moving, one time it is on the top of the planet, middle or low down on the planet

I'm not sure if you're thinking this is a problem or if you're glad to see Celestia showing things properly. The planet and its rings are tilted relative to the Sun. At the spring and fall Equinoxes, the rings are edge on toward the Sun. At the summer and winter Solstices, the rings are at their maximum tilt, either to the north or to the south, depending on the season.

Cassini has been at Saturn long enough to be able to observe these changes as well.

Ring shadows in southern hemisphere
Ring shadows near equinox
Ring shadows in northern hemisphere