Planetary magnitudes Calculator - update

[scalbers]

Nice to see your script on the web. The syntax is understandable enough so that I could almost add to it. In my code, the V(1,0) for almost all known satellites are included from recently updated web pages by the JPL Solar Systems Dynamics group. I assume phase functions using something like the following strategy - icy satellites use the ones given for Ganymede or Callisto, rocky satellites use the ones given by Mercury or the Moon. A body like Titan perhaps could use a similar phase function as Jupiter or another gas giant.

Would a script such as this be usable in the core Celestia software when it displays the info about the target object (along with size, temperature, etc.)?

[Malenfant]

Nice to see your script on the web. The syntax is understandable enough so that I could almost add to it. In my code, the V(1,0) for almost all known satellites are included from recently updated web pages by the JPL Solar Systems Dynamics group. I assume phase functions using something like the following strategy - icy satellites use the ones given for Ganymede or Callisto, rocky satellites use the ones given by Mercury or the Moon. A body like Titan perhaps could use a similar phase function as Jupiter or another gas giant.

I guess we could use the phase functions for existing satellites for some others (eg Europa's for the icy moons of Saturn, or for Triton?), but I'd be wary of this. For example, IIRC Uranus' satellites are a lot darker than those of Jupiter or Saturn (and they're a different composition too - more methane and ammonia ice iirc?) so their functions may be quite different.

I wanted to just use the values that we knew for certain (well, as best as we can find out anyway) rather than guess at others we don't know.

Would a script such as this be usable in the core Celestia software when it displays the info about the target object (along with size, temperature, etc.)?

I asked Toti about this and he basically thought it would be nice to include someday. I think this code could certainly be included in Celestia's core if the display could show up in place of the star magnitudes when looking at these specific planets, but I wouldn't really like to see it generalised just yet...

[symaski62]

Planetary magnitudes Calculator

zut ! planetary.celx