tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post7639518721902741638..comments2024-03-24T14:47:00.370-07:00Comments on Approaching Pavonis Mons by balloon: Tales of Known SpaceAl Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01517967406876572177noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-74699396178169213822020-02-19T11:16:26.202-08:002020-02-19T11:16:26.202-08:00Thanks! I wish I had known that there were widgets...Thanks! I wish I had known that there were widgets out there to do those calculations.Al Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01517967406876572177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-7230660507982548202020-02-17T12:50:23.501-08:002020-02-17T12:50:23.501-08:00I really enjoyed reading this article; it set thin...I really enjoyed reading this article; it set things out for me in an understandable manner and I liked the model you built to illustrate. I enjoy your novels and have been a sci-fi fan for over 50 years. And I really geek the Nostromo. I posted on my site about this article of yours to share with my readers. Cheers! https://thenostromofiles.com/2020/02/17/the-nostromo-files-investigates-an-aid-to-interstellar-navigation/TheNostromoFileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05708332589024870907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-32966447935868622772019-12-20T05:19:24.901-08:002019-12-20T05:19:24.901-08:00Honestly, these days it takes real courage to set ...Honestly, these days it takes real courage to set your sci-fi stories within the light-speed limit.<br /><br />Well done, Alastair.William Donelsonhttp://www.taj-mahal.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-20830229820595058642019-12-18T04:04:52.721-08:002019-12-18T04:04:52.721-08:00They used NASA data to generate stars that we do a...They used NASA data to generate stars that we do and don't know about. So all the stars that we know about you can go and visit and they're all accurate down to the mass and temperature. Even the exoplanets too.Sondervalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-63912272361723359352019-12-17T05:32:59.707-08:002019-12-17T05:32:59.707-08:00I know it's a bad habit, but I always used Exc...I know it's a bad habit, but I always used Excel for this (not always, it was Lotus 1-2-3 originally). My data source was Gliese catalogue data someone kindly put up on the Internet for download by ftp. <br /><br />Nowadays I'd use exoplanet.eu. I'm using it at the moment (Excel again!) but strictly for mass, radius, bulk density and temperature, no consideration for now of how far they all are from each other. Del Cotternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-70958433143705728832019-12-17T04:39:10.913-08:002019-12-17T04:39:10.913-08:00I wouldn't know - I've never played it or ...I wouldn't know - I've never played it or seen it.<br /><br />If it just generates random stars and positions, that should be fine for a game provided it isn't pretending they relate to real ones. One of the attractions of doing the Merlin stories (and others) was precisely not having do to this sort of calculation.Al Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01517967406876572177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-31805455469185238032019-12-17T04:02:26.909-08:002019-12-17T04:02:26.909-08:00I wonder how accurate the stellar forge in Elite:D...I wonder how accurate the stellar forge in Elite:Dangerous is?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13865249418945620361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-68017692103345562822019-12-16T14:53:41.150-08:002019-12-16T14:53:41.150-08:00That would be neat. Simbad, now there's a blas...That would be neat. Simbad, now there's a blast from the past...Al Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01517967406876572177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-28532071138188914282019-12-16T12:28:50.500-08:002019-12-16T12:28:50.500-08:00Hmm, now I want to write a version of this that ta...Hmm, now I want to write a version of this that takes star names/designations as input, queries Simbad for RA/Dec and parallax, and then calculates the distance.Ori Vandewallehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17804391682393947159noreply@blogger.com