Can it be done?

[W0RLDBUILDER]

Is there a way to have a planet that breaks up when it gets close to the sun, then pull itself back together after it is far enough from the sun to avoid its tidal forces and heat? I'm looking for a way to make that happen every time it orbits, not just a few times. Is it possible with the current version of Celestia?

[selden]

Maybe, depending on how you want it to actually look. Each piece could be a separate object with its own orbit around a common barycenter (ReferencePoint).

[W0RLDBUILDER]

It doesn't have to be too good. As long as the planet breaks up as it nears the sun, then pulls itself back together, I have no problem with that.That would work. I have a planet called "Phoenix" in this star system I'm building and I want it to be in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Where do I have to tell Celestia to put it so it's in the galaxy?

[selden]

I have a planet called "Phoenix" in this star system I'm building and I want it to be in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Where do I have to tell Celestia to put it so it's in the galaxy?

In your STC which defines the Star, specify RA, Dec and Distance such that it's in the LMC.

Info about what goes into an STC catalog file is available in the Celestia WikiBook at
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Celestia/STC_File

An overview of creating a simple system is in the first couple of sections of
http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/~seb/celest ... intro.html

[W0RLDBUILDER]

I already know that stuff. I'm looking for an RA/Dec/Distance range that works for stars. If DSOs and stars used exactly the same system for defining RA/Dec/Dist, I could just copy/paste the R/D/D from the LMC. But seeing as the two use different systems, my star will be on the opposite side of the universe.

[selden]

To convert from RA in Hours (used in DSC files) to RA in Degrees (used in STC files) multiply by 15: 1 hour = 15 degrees.

[W0RLDBUILDER]

Thanks, that helped.