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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Arcanum on October 18, 2006, 09:29:43 pm

Title: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Arcanum on October 18, 2006, 09:29:43 pm
Something I felt like starting on.  Might turn out that distances just don't work out, but what the hell.  Distances should be proportional, and angular seperation as viewed from Sol should be correct.  Go figure as to why the hell the only jump node from Sol is/was to a system 210 light years away.

(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map1.jpg)

*braces for the NooBeam Cannon* :shaking:
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Dark Hunter on October 18, 2006, 10:16:32 pm
:welcome:

Welcome to HLP!  :yes: :yes: :yes:

Keep all body parts within the station at all times, because outgassing is rather painful. Do be sure to make use of the holy water-filled flamethrowers underneath all seats, in case of emergencies. If stronger weapons are required, ask a mod, admin, or our resident hyperintelligent shade of blue to open the secure lockers, which contain plasma rifles and shotguns. Keep a weather eye out for Carl in the vents: he doesn't suffer intruders easily, though a lunch thrown to him might placate him long enough to let you escape. Thank you and enjoy your stay! :yes2:  8) :yes:

Very cool opening project. Actual star distances taken into account... good idea.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Goober5000 on October 18, 2006, 11:09:48 pm
Excellent work! :yes: This is something many people would love to have as a reference.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Herra Tohtori on October 19, 2006, 12:35:02 am
First of all, this is an excellent idea. :yes:

Go figure as to why the hell the only jump node from Sol is/was to a system 210 light years away.

Because if it was closer, the pilots couldn't have had time to destroy the SSD Lucifer's reactors in time and the Earth had been destroyed. :D

Actually I think it's supposed to emphatize the fact how subspace is so alien compared to normal space that conventional distances have absolutely no meaning there, and jump nodes form more or less randomly between two star systems that can be wide apart. Go figure, perhaps the :v: was more interesting in mythology than creating scentifically logical game about space war. ;7
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Cobra on October 19, 2006, 12:38:23 am
Excellent work! :yes: This is something many people would love to have as a reference.

I wholeheartedly agree. :nod:

although I'm seeing a bit of trouble, though it could just be paranoia. I'm seeing a bunch of these star systems farther than Delta Serpentis as tiny little blips in my head. just my thought. :)

First of all, this is an excellent idea. :yes:

Go figure as to why the hell the only jump node from Sol is/was to a system 210 light years away.

Because if it was closer, the pilots couldn't have had time to destroy the SSD Lucifer's reactors in time and the Earth had been destroyed. :D

Actually I think it's supposed to emphatize the fact how subspace is so alien compared to normal space that conventional distances have absolutely no meaning there, and jump nodes form more or less randomly between two star systems that can be wide apart. Go figure, perhaps the :v: was more interesting in mythology than creating scentifically logical game about space war. ;7

Less **** to hurt our brains with. :D
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Mobius on October 19, 2006, 04:22:22 am
(http://www.hard-light.net/forums/Smileys/HLP/welcome2hlpbb.gif)

Can you make this for Beta Aquilae-Rigel?
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: karajorma on October 19, 2006, 05:29:34 am
Something I felt like starting on.  Might turn out that distances just don't work out, but what the hell.  Distances should be proportional, and angular seperation as viewed from Sol should be correct.  Go figure as to why the hell the only jump node from Sol is/was to a system 210 light years away.

Excellent. I've been using sources like the Internet Stellar Database for things like this but I've never really had to time to get a map and stick the node on it.

This is definitely something I'd like to see :yes:

The fact that it would stop people insisting that the node map is accurate when viewed from a certain angle is just a nice bonus :)
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: aldo_14 on October 19, 2006, 05:32:21 am
First of all, this is an excellent idea. :yes:

Go figure as to why the hell the only jump node from Sol is/was to a system 210 light years away.

Because if it was closer, the pilots couldn't have had time to destroy the SSD Lucifer's reactors in time and the Earth had been destroyed. :D

Actually I think it's supposed to emphatize the fact how subspace is so alien compared to normal space that conventional distances have absolutely no meaning there, and jump nodes form more or less randomly between two star systems that can be wide apart. Go figure, perhaps the :v: was more interesting in mythology than creating scentifically logical game about space war. ;7

:)  Well, subspace is an area of non-relativistic physics anyways, IIRC, and 'distance' may (I say may, it seems to certain it is) be a very different concept there.... like the difference between travelling across the surface of a block of swiss cheese versus travelling through airholes and tunnels in it.  I think it's reasonably safe to say the subspace nodemap should be viewed in the same was as a London Underground map when it comes to actual spacial location.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Colonol Dekker on October 19, 2006, 05:59:14 am
Thats the first time 've seen a Noob brace for impact :lol:
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Herra Tohtori on October 19, 2006, 10:58:25 am
By the way, if someone is interested, I made up a "London Underground" style nodemap on excel. File attached. IMHO it indeed clears the picture quite a bit.  :)

Arcanum, do you know how to convers sphere co-ordinates into cartesian co-ordinates? Because if you do, you can simply convert the locations of real stars into xyz-co-ordinates from declination, right ascension and distance. You can use equatorial co-ordinates because the distance between Sol and Earth is so small that you can approximate Sol and Earth to exist in same location.

If you don't know how, I can tell you. It's not really very complicated. In fact, since I have spare time, I tell anyway, even if you already know how to do it... :lol: Read if you want to.


Stellar locations are announced in spherical co-ordinates fixed to equator plane of Earth and Vernal Equinox (or Aries point).

Right Ascension (RA or Ra) tells us in which direction of the equatorial plane the object is. It is announced in hours, minutes and seconds, because of historical reasons as well as producing convenient calculations if local time is involved.

The right ascension zero point is fixed into Equinox; that's the point where RA co-ordinate has value 00h 00min 00.00sec. The point in the opposite direction has RA value of 12h 00min 00.00sec, and so on. To convert RA values into degrees, we define how much one hour, one minute and one second equal in degrees:

1 h = 360 degrees / 24 h = 15 degrees
1 minute = 15 degrees / 60 min = 0.25 degrees
1 second = 0.25 degrees / 60 s = 1/240 degrees

Declination (DE or Dec) announces the angle in which the star's direction elevates from equatorial plane. Declination is announced in degrees, arc minutes and arc seconds. But these minutes and seconds aren't the same minutes and seconds used in a clock... A minute in this context is 1/60 degrees, and correspondingly a second is 1/3600 degrees.


For example, Polaris has Dec value of nearly 90 degrees. An object near the equatorial plane would have Dec value of ~0 degrees. Objects on northern hemisphere of sky have positive declination, objects on southern side have negative declination.


Now that we know what RA and Dec values are and how they are used, let's take an example of how to convert RA, Dec and distance into cartesian co-ordinate values.

First of all, we point z-axis to north pole (near Polaris). X-axis we point at the Equinox point. Y axis is pointed so that it is normal to both x and z axes, and so that the co-ordinate system used is right-handed (default in modelling programs). I recommend using light years as units, they are rather convenient in this kind of task.

Okay, now how do we convert RA/Dec/Distance into convenient xyz co-ordinates?

When we have converted RA and Dec values into decimal degree values, we define the cartesian xyz co-ordinates with the help of these two angles and known distance S.

x = S * cos RA
y = S * sin RA
z = S * cos DE

Really simple, isn't it? This gives the exact co-ordinates of the star in an XYZ system used in all modelling programs, for exampl. Just throw a star object onto the program, feed in these values and the object is automatically moved into correct location. ;)

Example.

Beta Aquilae has following co-ordinates:
Right ascension   19h 55m 18.8s
Declination   +06° 24′ 24″
Distance 44.7 light years

First we have to convert RA and Dec values into simple, decimalic degree values to more easily calculate them.

As shown before, it goes like this:

RA = 19 * 15 degrees + 55 * 0.25 degrees + 18.8/240 degrees = 285 + 13.75 + 0,07833... degrees = 298,8283 degrees = ~298,8 degrees
Dec = 6 degrees + 24/60 degrees + 24/3600 degrees = 6,4067 degrees = ~6,4 degrees

x = S * cos RA = 44.7 ly * cos 298,8 deg = ~ 21.53 ly
y = S * sin RA = 44.7 ly * sin 298,8 deg = ~ -39,17 ly (note the negative value, it is important to remember to put it in...)
z = S * sin DE = 44.7 ly * sin 6.4 deg = ~ 4,98 ly

x = 21.53
y = -39,17
z = 4,98


These are the co-ordinates of Beta Aquilae. Convert all the other existing star co-ordinates in similar fashion and you get an accurate model of relative locations of stars.

 :cool:

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Goober5000 on October 19, 2006, 02:11:44 pm
You know, this reminds me of a FRED mission someone posted ages ago that had all the stars represented as Pharos buoys.  It didn't have the jump node lines, and it wasn't particularly pretty, but it let you see the relative positions.

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Dark RevenantX on October 19, 2006, 11:31:15 pm
May this beam give you a jolt to make you work faster:

(http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/803/sbfwai3.png) (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Hippo on October 19, 2006, 11:39:09 pm
I am going to kill you.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Colonol Dekker on October 20, 2006, 08:26:16 am
Angry Angry Hippos, Fun for all the family  :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Hippo on October 20, 2006, 11:03:55 am
You too.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Colonol Dekker on October 20, 2006, 11:10:51 am
Great now i've incited Water-Horse vengeance,. . . . . . My life is at an end :(

*HELP ME I@VE GOT A WATER HORSE MAD !!*

*runs and hides behind Aldo and Krajorma*  :lol:
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Arcanum on October 20, 2006, 12:34:52 pm
 :D
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map3.jpg)

Off the screen lower left from Beta Aquilae is Antares, at 600 lys, and off the upper left Deneb, at 3200 ly
(There seems to be some disagreement in the astronomic community as to the precise distance to Deneb.  I saw values ranging from 1600 ly to a whopping 7400, which is nearly a third of the distance to the center of the galaxy.  I opted to use the value at wikipedia.)

And for kicks:
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map5.jpg)

The sphere is the center of the galaxy, 26,000 ly away.  The circle represents Sol's galactic orbit.

Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Dysko on October 20, 2006, 02:13:17 pm
ROSS 128 IS SO NEAR???????  :shaking:

Should I start worrying?  :nervous:
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Dark Hunter on October 20, 2006, 03:09:29 pm
Not unless the Shivans know how to generate a Sol-Ross 128 jump corridor...  :nervous:
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Snail on October 20, 2006, 03:22:22 pm
Inferno campaign idea spawns....
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Arcanum on October 20, 2006, 08:48:09 pm
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map7.jpg)
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map8.jpg)

So far so good, the only thing really borked is Deneb, which is about four times further away than anything else so far.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Iron Wolf on October 20, 2006, 09:03:11 pm
wheres gamma draconis?
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Hippo on October 20, 2006, 09:13:45 pm
It appears he's only showing the systems that are identifyable on a starmap.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Polpolion on October 20, 2006, 09:35:05 pm
By the way, if someone is interested, I made up a "London Underground" style nodemap on excel. File attached. IMHO it indeed clears the picture quite a bit.  :)

Arcanum, do you know how to convers sphere co-ordinates into cartesian co-ordinates? Because if you do, you can simply convert the locations of real stars into xyz-co-ordinates from declination, right ascension and distance. You can use equatorial co-ordinates because the distance between Sol and Earth is so small that you can approximate Sol and Earth to exist in same location.

If you don't know how, I can tell you. It's not really very complicated. In fact, since I have spare time, I tell anyway, even if you already know how to do it... :lol: Read if you want to.


Stellar locations are announced in spherical co-ordinates fixed to equator plane of Earth and Vernal Equinox (or Aries point).

Right Ascension (RA or Ra) tells us in which direction of the equatorial plane the object is. It is announced in hours, minutes and seconds, because of historical reasons as well as producing convenient calculations if local time is involved.

The right ascension zero point is fixed into Equinox; that's the point where RA co-ordinate has value 00h 00min 00.00sec. The point in the opposite direction has RA value of 12h 00min 00.00sec, and so on. To convert RA values into degrees, we define how much one hour, one minute and one second equal in degrees:

1 h = 360 degrees / 24 h = 15 degrees
1 minute = 15 degrees / 60 min = 0.25 degrees
1 second = 0.25 degrees / 60 s = 1/240 degrees

Declination (DE or Dec) announces the angle in which the star's direction elevates from equatorial plane. Declination is announced in degrees, arc minutes and arc seconds. But these minutes and seconds aren't the same minutes and seconds used in a clock... A minute in this context is 1/60 degrees, and correspondingly a second is 1/3600 degrees.


For example, Polaris has Dec value of nearly 90 degrees. An object near the equatorial plane would have Dec value of ~0 degrees. Objects on northern hemisphere of sky have positive declination, objects on southern side have negative declination.


Now that we know what RA and Dec values are and how they are used, let's take an example of how to convert RA, Dec and distance into cartesian co-ordinate values.

First of all, we point z-axis to north pole (near Polaris). X-axis we point at the Equinox point. Y axis is pointed so that it is normal to both x and z axes, and so that the co-ordinate system used is right-handed (default in modelling programs). I recommend using light years as units, they are rather convenient in this kind of task.

Okay, now how do we convert RA/Dec/Distance into convenient xyz co-ordinates?

When we have converted RA and Dec values into decimal degree values, we define the cartesian xyz co-ordinates with the help of these two angles and known distance S.

x = S * cos RA
y = S * sin RA
z = S * cos DE

Really simple, isn't it? This gives the exact co-ordinates of the star in an XYZ system used in all modelling programs, for exampl. Just throw a star object onto the program, feed in these values and the object is automatically moved into correct location. ;)

Example.

Beta Aquilae has following co-ordinates:
Right ascension   19h 55m 18.8s
Declination   +06° 24′ 24″
Distance 44.7 light years

First we have to convert RA and Dec values into simple, decimalic degree values to more easily calculate them.

As shown before, it goes like this:

RA = 19 * 15 degrees + 55 * 0.25 degrees + 18.8/240 degrees = 285 + 13.75 + 0,07833... degrees = 298,8283 degrees = ~298,8 degrees
Dec = 6 degrees + 24/60 degrees + 24/3600 degrees = 6,4067 degrees = ~6,4 degrees

x = S * cos RA = 44.7 ly * cos 298,8 deg = ~ 21.53 ly
y = S * sin RA = 44.7 ly * sin 298,8 deg = ~ -39,17 ly (note the negative value, it is important to remember to put it in...)
z = S * sin DE = 44.7 ly * sin 6.4 deg = ~ 4,98 ly

x = 21.53
y = -39,17
z = 4,98


These are the co-ordinates of Beta Aquilae. Convert all the other existing star co-ordinates in similar fashion and you get an accurate model of relative locations of stars.

 :cool:


Wow! That's a lot of math...

I saw some triganomic ratio stuff in there, but I have no idea what you were doing with it, and I don't feel like actually reading the post.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Arcanum on October 20, 2006, 09:44:10 pm
No, I'm only showing the stars I've plotted so far.  8)
To my knowledge, the only FS star system that doesn't exist in the real world is Vasuda.  (Overlooking the fact that  star systems are substantially different in-game from what we already know about those stars.  For example, in reality Capella is a four-star system, one pair yellow giants and one pair of red dwarfs.)
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Herra Tohtori on October 20, 2006, 10:14:53 pm
It appears he's only showing the systems that are identifyable on a starmap.

What do you mean? :nervous:

Gamma Draconis is a real star and very much identifiable on a star map. It's the brightest star of the constellation Draco. Its co-ordinates are:

RA 17h 56m 36.4s
Dec. +51° 29' 20.3''
Distance 148 ly

That would place it about... Almost same direction as Vega, less than ten degrees northeast (or "up" and "right") from it (viewed from Earth), but it's six times further into space. :)


There are, however, fictional systems in FS2. Here's a list of them:

Vasuda
Laramis
Ikeya (there's many comets partially named by astronomer Ikeya, and one asteroid, but no star or star system.
Shivan Nebula (although there have been propositions about which nebula it could be, most notable candidates being Lupus Nebula [SN1006 Supernova remnant] and Crab Nebula [SN 1054 Supernova remnant], although it could be some other place altogether.)
Binary System beyond said nebula - even less clues as to whereever this may be.


I don't recall any other fictional canon systems. Others should be based on real life counterparts.

Then there are multiple non-canon worlds that aren't real star systems:

Delphi
Tau Sigma (I've always wondered if this was actually supposed to be TAu Ceti, which would've been a real star...)
Tanis Australis
Gehenna Cygni (although if the spelling is b0rked.. Gamma Cygni would be a real star.)
Transcend's dark nebula

Then there are many uncharted systems seen in passing during some of the "Escape Enemy through multiple jump corridors" campaign... :D


@thesizzler:  :lol:

It's a simple co-ordinate transformation from sphere co-ordinates used in astronomy, into cartesian (XYZ) co-ordinates used in modelling programs. Its almost simplest possible example of space vector calculations, and it really isn't as intimidating as someone might think.

It's not really that much math, I just felt like explaining how the co-ordinates are converted first into degrees, then into X-Y-Z values.

Feel free to disregard that post, though.  :p

EDIT: Moved Laramis to correct group... :snipe:
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Mefustae on October 20, 2006, 10:20:04 pm
No, I'm only showing the stars I've plotted so far.  8)
To my knowledge, the only FS star system that doesn't exist in the real world is Vasuda.
I think we have an identity for that star, if i'm not mistaken.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Herra Tohtori on October 20, 2006, 10:27:13 pm
No, I'm only showing the stars I've plotted so far.  8)
To my knowledge, the only FS star system that doesn't exist in the real world is Vasuda.
I think we have an identity for that star, if i'm not mistaken.

You are mistaken. :p

There's not much canon information about Vasuda, except that the system's planets (or at least Vasuda Prime) were pwned by SSD Lucifer.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Axem on October 20, 2006, 10:32:29 pm
Then there are multiple non-canon worlds that aren't real star systems:

Laramis
Delphi
Tau Sigma (I've always wondered if this was actually supposed to be TAu Ceti, which would've been a real star...)
Tanis Australis
Gehenna Cygni (although if the spelling is b0rked.. Gamma Cygni would be a real star.)
Transcend's dark nebula

Laramis is non-canon?
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Herra Tohtori on October 20, 2006, 10:36:57 pm
No it isn't. I'm too tired.

It's supposed to be on the upper group of fictional systems along with Vasuda, Ikeya, Shivan Nebula and Binary System. :sigh: Thanks for pointing it out.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Dark Hunter on October 20, 2006, 10:54:36 pm
Then there are multiple non-canon worlds that aren't real star systems:

Laramis
Delphi
Tau Sigma (I've always wondered if this was actually supposed to be TAu Ceti, which would've been a real star...)
Tanis Australis
Gehenna Cygni (although if the spelling is b0rked.. Gamma Cygni would be a real star.)
Transcend's dark nebula

Plus 90% of the star systems in ITDOH.  :D
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Goober5000 on October 21, 2006, 07:21:18 am
You misspelled Tania Australis and Gienah Cygni, which are real stars. ;)

Assume Tau Sigma is Tau Ceti, and Vasuda is Beta Hydrii (informal forum consensus), and see what those look like.  Also, it would be cool if you could put both the Lupus and Crab Nebulas on the map, with lines to each.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Iron Wolf on October 21, 2006, 11:11:34 am
You misspelled Tania Australis and Gienah Cygni, which are real stars. ;)

Assume Tau Sigma is Tau Ceti, and Vasuda is Beta Hydrii (informal forum consensus), and see what those look like.  Also, it would be cool if you could put both the Lupus and Crab Nebulas on the map, with lines to each.

Those are the frontrunners for what the Nebula beyond gamma draconis is thought to be, right?
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Flipside on October 22, 2006, 09:40:34 pm
I'm wondering if Sigma Ceti isn't a hypothetical Binary partner of one of the larger stars in Cetus to be honest, we already have Beta Ceti, which is one Deneb (Alpha Sygni is another), and a couple of Giant class stars, considering that Tau Ceti is a metal-poor star and therefore unlikely to have inhabitable planets.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Goober5000 on October 22, 2006, 10:40:22 pm
Those are the frontrunners for what the Nebula beyond gamma draconis is thought to be, right?

Yes.  I was responding to Herra Tohtori's post above:

Shivan Nebula (although there have been propositions about which nebula it could be, most notable candidates being Lupus Nebula [SN1006 Supernova remnant] and Crab Nebula [SN 1054 Supernova remnant], although it could be some other place altogether.)
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Herra Tohtori on October 23, 2006, 01:33:22 am
I'm wondering if Sigma Ceti isn't a hypothetical Binary partner of one of the larger stars in Cetus to be honest, we already have Beta Ceti, which is one Deneb (Alpha Sygni is another), and a couple of Giant class stars, considering that Tau Ceti is a metal-poor star and therefore unlikely to have inhabitable planets.

Errr...

Deneb is Alpha Cygni, not Alpha Ceti, and Beta Cygni is a different star altogether... But Beta Cygni itself is a threefold binary star, consisting of brighter and dimmer component at long distance from each other, and the brighter component itself is a close binary system.

Cygni is the genetive form of Cygnus (aka Swan, constellation), whereas Ceti is corresponding form of Cetus (Whale).

Tau Sigma, while sounding cool, is pseudo-astronomian name for a star, since the Greek letters are used (usually) to indicate the brightness of the star in certain constellation, viewed from Earth. So the brightest star of constellation of Centaurus has the name "Alpha Centauri"... second brightest star in Cygnus is called Beta Cygni and so forth.

However, there are a few inconsistensies to this naming scheme... for example, Gamma Draconis is not the third brightest star of Draco, but instead it is the brightest. This is most likely just a confusion from older ages, since Alpha Draconis (Thuban) used to be the pole star (at times around 4000-2000 BC) and was most likely named Alpha Draconis because of this ancient importance as well as its traditional Arabic name Thuban, which is the same name as the name of the constellation in Arabic (Thuban = Basilisk or Dragon). But I digress...

So, Tau Sigma can not be a proper star designation since there is no constellation Sigma. Furthermore, there is no star called Sigma Ceti appearing in either canon or non-canon Freespace 2.

Perhaps we should ask Blaise, what system Tau Sigma is supposed to be. Tau Ceti could be one possibility, but as you said, TAu Ceti is a metal-poor system and I don't really see any real point in keeping mining colonies on a metal-poor area of space. Unless they are mining for example tritium from comets or the like... Obviously it could simply be called Tau Sigma with no connection to any real star whatsoever. Over-analyzing is a common mistake in this kind of threads.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Flipside on October 23, 2006, 11:44:42 am
Actually, I was almost right with Beta Ceti, it's common name is Deneb Kaitos..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Ceti

As for the other part, yeah, I was tired and remembered to check for spelling, forgot to check for sense. ;)
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Goober5000 on October 23, 2006, 02:54:31 pm
Perhaps we should ask Blaise, what system Tau Sigma is supposed to be.

Careful, Blaise Russel didn't create Derelict.  He did the remake, but the original was made by Agatheron and Kellan.

I think the only people who might know would be the Derelict/Warzone/BWO old guard, such as Ace and IceFire.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Arcanum on October 25, 2006, 08:38:57 pm
added:  Gamma Draconis, Crab Nebula, Vasuda/Beta Hydri, Adhara (Epsilon Canis Majoris), Procyon

I haven't figured out how to create a cylinder between two points in the program I'm using, so the node lines are being a bit irritating to make.  Also I reluctantly decided to quarter Deneb's distance; it's still a tad further away than anything else so far, but it's a little easier to work with now.

(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map09.jpg)
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map10.jpg)
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map11.jpg)

One note on the nebula:  after some research, I decided that the Crab Nebula was more plausible than the Lupus Nebula.
   The two nebulas are results of two distinct mechanisms.  SN1006 (Lupus) is believed to have been a type Ia supernova, since the nebula does not contain a neutron star/pulsar or such, and because ancient astronomers described it as appearing, dimming, then increasing intensity again.  These kinds of supernovae are only created by white dwarfs (old stars) which have come too close to a particular critical mass. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova#Type_Ia)  SN1054 (Crab), was the result of a core-collapse supernova, characteristic of massive stars.  However, there's an interesting twist:

"Theoretical models of supernova explosions suggest that the star that exploded to produce the Crab Nebula must have had a mass of between 8 and 12 solar masses. Stars with masses lower than 8 solar masses are thought to be too small to produce supernova explosions, and end their lives by producing a planetary nebula instead, while a star heavier than 12 solar masses would have produced a nebula with a different chemical composition to that observed in the Crab.

A significant problem in studies of the Crab Nebula is that the combined mass of the nebula and the pulsar add up to considerably less than the predicted mass of the progenitor star, and the question of where the 'missing mass' is remains unresolved."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula)

...which is exactly what you would expect if a supernova was artificially triggered!  Capella A is only 2.7 solar masses.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Goober5000 on October 25, 2006, 10:33:38 pm
:lol: That's going in the wiki. :D
Title: FINISHED
Post by: Arcanum on November 05, 2006, 02:11:42 pm
 :wakka:
(humungo FS2 spoilers, btw)
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map_full01.jpg)
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map_full02.jpg)
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map_full03.jpg)
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map_full04.jpg)
(http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map_full05.jpg)

and for the grand finale:
whopping 3200x2400 lossless png goodness (http://home.comcast.net/~sorceror25/node_map_full06.png)


All canon systems and jump nodes are represented.  A star's color represents its spectral class (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification), and its size roughly indicates its size class: Supergiants are x4, Bright Giants x3, Giants x2, and Subgiants x1.5 the size of Sol, a yellow dwarf.  Fictional systems (Ribos, Ikeya, Laramis, Vasuda) appear in purple and are arbitrarily located except for Vasuda, which is speculatively located at Beta Hydri.

Jump node lines are current as of the end of the FS2 campaign.  Green means open, red means closed, and teal means a Knossos portal.

I might add some non-canon nodes/systems later, and I'm planning to upload the model file once I get some file conversion issues resolved.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Unknown Target on November 05, 2006, 02:24:50 pm
Wow, awesome :D

But you don't really need to worry about showing off FS2 spoilers on the forum. Generally everyone has played the game through at least once. But definitely very, very cool :D
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Ferret on November 05, 2006, 03:15:11 pm
lol look at all dem fukken stars

This is a seriously awesome and having access to the model itself would be especially handy.
Now... If it was converted to a .pof, then in conjunction with the cutscene SEXP's, that could be rather interesting....
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on November 05, 2006, 03:31:45 pm
lol look at all dem fukken stars

This is a seriously awesome and having access to the model itself would be especially handy.
Now... If it was converted to a .pof, then in conjunction with the cutscene SEXP's, that could be rather interesting....
:eek2: That... that is the craziest idea I have ever heard. And yet, it sounds awesome.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Iron Wolf on November 05, 2006, 03:38:01 pm
Holy crap... the crab nebula far, far away!
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 06, 2006, 07:34:17 am
Lol CApella reminds me of the MCP from Tron when it dies  :lol:
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Janos on November 06, 2006, 04:31:32 pm
hahahahahaha that's so goddamn complicated and illogical it causes headache

pretty cool nevertheless
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: S-99 on November 06, 2006, 05:40:50 pm
This is completely sweet. Maybe some type of implementation of this nodemap into the real game would be awesome as ****? :) Actually vasuda prime I think does exist, but it's just not called vasuda prime in the real world and has some other name for the star system. Worth doing a search on the forums because i'm pretty sure there was a topic about it.
I can already imagine it, the 3d nodemap in game where you see a little picture of the aquitaine traveling to delta serpentis in a mission breifing, or something else.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Trivial Psychic on November 07, 2006, 10:53:41 pm
I think that someone arbitrarily suggested that Vasuda might be called Beta Hydri, hypothetically.  That name kinda stuck, even though there is no evidence of what system it really is.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Ace on November 08, 2006, 01:13:43 am
One thing: if the "nebula beyond Gamma Draconis" was a known nebula, it'd be named that.

Also for Tau Sigma- Sigma isn't necessarily a constellation seen from Earth ;)
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Herra Tohtori on November 08, 2006, 02:38:56 am
Also for Tau Sigma- Sigma isn't necessarily a constellation seen from Earth ;)

...thus it is fictional and unrecognizable. No one has proposed anything else.

Of course, there's actually a worse logical consistency in that name than Sigma not being a (known) constellation. In this particular naming system, a star's name consists of a Greek letter and the Latin genetive form of the constellation where the star is. The greek letter is usually defined so that Alpha is the brightest visible star of particular constellation, beta is next brightest and so forth. It's the still often used Bayer designation of stars.

The trouble is that Sigma is one of Greek letters as well as Tau. Tau is the 19th letter, and Sigma is 18th. Obviously it could mean that star can be found by number "1819" being it's designation - but where? There are *many* number-based star catalogues.

Anyway, IF "Sigma" was a constellation seen from eg. Beta Aquilae, the Bayer designation of the star would then be "Tau Sigmae"...


Bahh. Useless speculation. We don't know what star it is and that's it. Of course we can try and deduct where Tau Sigma could be. For example, It could be triangulated (inaccurately) to between Altair, Tania Australis and Phi Eridani... but the trouble is, subspace nodes are not the shortest way from A to B in real space, if you see my meaning. Same goes to Vasuda: It could be guesstimated to be somewhere between Antares, Alpha Centauri and Deneb. But as we know, the nodes are criss-crossing each other *badly* especially in core of the GTVA space, so this kind of designation is by no means reliable - but it is just one way to deduct locations of imaginary stars. There are other ways too.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: Fragrag on November 09, 2006, 12:58:06 pm
You know, all this astronomy is just whooshing past my head.
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on November 09, 2006, 01:11:18 pm
Of course we can try and deduct where Tau Sigma could[/] be. For example, It could be triangulated (inaccurately) to between Altair, Tania Australis and Phi Eridani... but the trouble is, subspace nodes are not the shortest way from A to B in real space, if you see my meaning. Same goes to Vasuda: It could be guesstimated to be somewhere between Antares, Alpha Centauri and Deneb. But as we know, the nodes are criss-crossing each other *badly* especially in core of the GTVA space, so this kind of designation is by no means reliable - but it is just one way to deduct locations of imaginary stars. There are other ways too.
Seems somebody forgot the "i" in [/i].
Title: Re: 3D "real world" scale node map
Post by: bizzybody on November 10, 2006, 12:24:56 am
The Ikeya system? So that's where all that knockdown/flatpack furniture comes from... ;) (Yes, I know the company name is Ikea, but still...)