General Question Orbital period

Trekkie

Starfleet Head of Ship Design
Addon Developer
Donator
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
350
Reaction score
89
Points
43
Location
Starfleet Ship Design Bureau
in the config file of an planet: what does define what the orbital period around the sun/Planet is? or is that decided by just the distance ?
 

Urwumpe

Not funny anymore
Addon Developer
Donator
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
37,588
Reaction score
2,312
Points
203
Location
Wolfsburg
Preferred Pronouns
Sire
in the config file of an planet: what does define what the orbital period around the sun/Planet is? or is that decided by just the distance ?


I have two valid answers for you:



  1. Of course it is.Orbit period only depends on semimajor axis and the mass of the central body that is orbited. All orbits around the sun with the same semimajor axis have the same period. (Keplers third law in essence)
  2. You can change it by giving a planet a custom ephemeris DLL that ignores Keplers Laws. You can then create a solar system that is absolutely bollocks and will really drive all guidance MFDs nuts. But you can do it.
 

martins

Orbiter Founder
Orbiter Founder
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
2,448
Reaction score
462
Points
83
Website
orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk
You can change it by giving a planet a custom ephemeris DLL that ignores Keplers Laws. You can then create a solar system that is absolutely bollocks and will really drive all guidance MFDs nuts. But you can do it.
Not just the guidance MFDs. In that situation, celestial bodies and vessels would follow different physics, so all bets are off. You'd experience all sorts of pseudo-forces, and probably wouldn't even be able to land on a planet.
 

Urwumpe

Not funny anymore
Addon Developer
Donator
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
37,588
Reaction score
2,312
Points
203
Location
Wolfsburg
Preferred Pronouns
Sire
Not just the guidance MFDs. In that situation, celestial bodies and vessels would follow different physics, so all bets are off. You'd experience all sorts of pseudo-forces, and probably wouldn't even be able to land on a planet.


Well, I wouldn't expect such a terrible fate... after all, a planet with high eccentricity should be fine for Orbiter, except its numeric limits for something like the newly discovered dwarf planet 2015 TG387.
 

Trekkie

Starfleet Head of Ship Design
Addon Developer
Donator
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
350
Reaction score
89
Points
43
Location
Starfleet Ship Design Bureau
Thanks! got it to work!

(i also used an "," instead of a "." so the mass would be really really really tiny lmao so i had all sorts of planets that would hung still in orbit with no movement at all)
 
Top