Google nearstar map

[Anders]

I recently played around with the Google API and made this version of the near star map:

http://www.aleph.se/2320AD/Nearstar 2320.html

It is basically the same as the PDF I have on my site, but I added flags to denote the nationality of outposts and colonies (in many cases the flags are my own inventions).

I don't know if it is useful, but it is neat. Although it should be in 3D.

 

[BeRKA]

Yeah, that was neat.

 

[rfmcdpei]

I recently played around with the Google API and made this version of the near star map:

http://www.aleph.se/2320AD/Nearstar 2320.html

It is basically the same as the PDF I have on my site, but I added flags to denote the nationality of outposts and colonies (in many cases the flags are my own inventions).

I don't know if it is useful, but it is neat. Although it should be in 3D.

It's profoundly neat.

 

[Jame]

I like it. Dunno how you'd get it into 3D.

 

[Anders]

I trust that Google will one day make Google maps 3D

Glad you like it!

 

[Colin]

That's pretty cool.

 

[TWILIGHT]

oooh! Me like!

 

[Supplement Four]

Mucho neat.

Heck, Felix Ungar couldn't take that much "neat".

 

[bbzwbbzw]

I agree, that is awesome. I was working on a starmap myself but after seeing this, I'm shelving it!

 

[Anders]

I agree, that is awesome. I was working on a starmap myself but after seeing this, I'm shelving it!

Don't do that, the more the merrier! Besides, different maps are good for different things and bring out different takes on the setting.

I'm thinking the google zoomable map might be very useful for adding "microtext" with system information - not visible when you look at the big picture, but when you zoom in you can read the extra information. Or should that properly be done by hyperlinks?

 

[Beech]

I like it. Dunno how you'd get it into 3D.

Please tell me someone is having a go at putting this into Celestia, it is very possible (though way beyond my feeble capabilities).

 

[Perseus]

Impressive. How the heck do you do something like that?

 

[Anders]

Please tell me someone is having a go at putting this into Celestia, it is very possible (though way beyond my feeble capabilities).

You, sir, owe me a weekend!!!

I have downloaded and played around with Celestia, and it looks like it almost can do what we need it to do. Now I just need to figure out how to get it to not plot some of the stars in the ordinary catalogue (since they show up double; anybody got a key for getting the Hipparchos numbers for the Near Star II list, or a good way of getting Celestia not to load its star database?) and why my "nebula" showing stutterwarp routes does not show up as it should (it displays fine when plotted as a spacecraft). If that worked I would have something presentable. Then we could start thinking of adding the planetary systems too... and landmarks and space stations and...

OK, time for a break. Last night I dreamed of coordinate conversions and the CMOD file format

 

[Anders]

Impressive. How the heck do you do something like that?

It is simpler than it looks. You take a big image, use the program http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/software/googlemapimagecutter.asp
to produce a bunch of subimages (can be viewed at your own computer). Then sign up for the google maps API key at http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html
and insert it into the html file the program makes. Upload to your webserver, et voila - zoomable map!

Making the map I used in the first place was done in a few stages. First I took the near stars list and loaded into Matlab (general purpose engineering maths language; not really the right tool for the job, but I do nearly everything in it), where I calculated what systems were reachable (the algorithm is simple: mark all stars as uninvestigated and Sol to be investigated. As long as there are stars to investigate, take one, find all stars within 7.7 ly that have not already been investigated and add a link, mark them to be investigated and mark the star as already investigated). Then that program writes a GML file (a simple graph description language) that I read into yEd, my favorite (free!) graph program. It produced a nice PDF picture I then edited a bit more in Illustrator (the background etc).

None of this is hard. It just takes having the right tools at hand or a willingness to hack together tools that can do the job. If I did not have Matlab (expensive!!!) I would have done it in Python (free!) and perhaps have had to learn to use some graphics packages to do without Illustrator. But then again, I once spent a weekend around 1990 copying the contents by hand from the near star map into a text file on my Amiga so I could make simple graphics for my games...

 

[Perseus]

Cool. i'll have to give it a go. Stellarium is another package not unlike celestia that may be applicacble to what you want to do. It's also free.

 

[Anders]

Stellarium looks very nice, but it seems your location is fixed to the ground. It would be much more fun to be able to zoom of to Muphrid, find Thitonus, zoom there, and then on to Aurore (where it would be entirely possible to place a 3ds model of a star cruiser in orbit).

I have some early results up at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/2395099907/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/2393822721/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/2393822551/

The good: I can plot the stutterwarp network now, and even texture it arbitrarily. It runs surprisingly smoothly on my old graphics card even without me trying to do any 3d optimization.

The bad: I have an alignment problem that seems to be due to the difference in epoch in the Gliese catalogue and the Celestia coordinate system. If I cannot solve the epoch problem I can do a simpler map using lines between the stars, but it would irk me a lot after having done so much neat coding for the 3D network.

The not-yet-done: I need to figure out the Hipparchos number for the nearstars, and I don't want to do it by hand. If I have the number I can seamlessly (?) replace the Celestia stars with the nearstars. It is annoying having several Alpha Centauri at the same time!

After that, I would probably do a little bit of code to put double stars into orbit around each other.

After that, it would be time to consider making a database of 2300ad systems and locations, generating the solar systems files. At this point we could probably make it collaborative, so that everybody can start making additions.

And on the seventh day I would rest... until another neat idea comes along.

But if anybody has any idea of how to get my coordinate systems to align or how to map gliese to hipparchos, I would be very grateful!

 

[Beech]

At this point we could probably make it collaborative, so that everybody can start making additions.

This is extremely excellent work Anders, thankyou, I look forward to seeing your results.
Looks like I need to read the Celestia 'how to' again & if I can understand it this time get modelling for when we can all pitch in & help.

 

[Anders]

A progress report: My starmap and my interstellar pathways now align (I had forgotten to add Earth's axial tilt to a coordinate transformation). Stars show up with the right spectral classes - including the brown dwarfs! One can surf around between the systems based on their names. It is starting to look good.

http://www.TravellerRPG.com/CotI/Gallery/index.php?n=247

Next step: generate orbits for binary/ternary/quaternary systems. Some interesting science there. Once that is done it is time to start adding planets!

 

[SpaceBadger]

I like it. You say you have the same thing as a PDF on your site? What is URL for your site?

 

[Kilgs]

These also exist for Astrosynthesis. Check out evildrganymede's site and I have a published setting 2300 map for AS. I'm also working, from time to time, on the various clusters that are linked from Aleph's site.