Bug in Orbits
Posted: 11.02.2002, 23:17
by Mikeydude750
When I accelerate time by a lot, and the time gets far enough, the orbits go all funky, and the planets then crash into the Sun.
Is this a calculation bug, or are we really going to crash into the sun in 100000 years?
A description with images
Posted: 12.02.2002, 17:53
by bruckner
If you want to take a look at how the bug looks like and how to reproduce it, go to
http://80.59.168.209/celestia_bugs.html.
Bruckner
Posted: 12.02.2002, 20:24
by chris
Looking at bruckner's bug report, it's clear that the calculations Celestia uses for the orbits of the major planets are unstable over thousands of years. There are a couple of possible workarounds. My least favorite is setting a minimum and maximum time . . . What I'll probably do is just use purely elliptical orbits for the planets if the time is outside a certain range.
--Chris