Star accuracy

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Topic author
Seb
Posts: 44
Joined: 12.09.2004
With us: 20 years 2 months
Location: Wiltshire, UK

Star accuracy

Post #1by Seb » 16.10.2013, 15:09

I always prefered Celestia because it has always proved accurate in the past; however, I was reading about Barnard's star, and compared it to Celestia. Positions were so far off I can not recognize the same pattern of stars surround it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard's_Star

Also, This star is apparently traveling 90 km/s, getting closer to us; Celestia fails to know/simulate this. The directions and speed of many stars are known; does Celestia use this information?

I'm using windows version 1.6.1, is there a more up-to-date version that is more accurate?

Seb

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Hungry4info
Posts: 1133
Joined: 11.09.2005
With us: 19 years 2 months
Location: Indiana, United States

Re: Star accuracy

Post #2by Hungry4info » 16.10.2013, 15:18

Barnard's Star has a large proper motion. It moves an amount similar to the diameter of the Moon every century or something like that. Celestia also does not include many stars beyond the Hipparcos catalogue, which may account for the discrepancy you're facing.

No, Celestia does not model proper motions.
Current Setup:
Windows 7 64 bit. Celestia 1.6.0.
AMD Athlon Processor, 1.6 Ghz, 3 Gb RAM
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics


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