Re: superhero space navigation

Here, Leonard Erickson <shadow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 04:14:29 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Plotkin
<erkyrath@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Visual navigation should work well for planets out to Saturn, if the
person has even a rough diagram of where all the planets are vs the
background constellations.

If you're lost, head towards the sun. Now look towards the appropriate
constellation. The bright thing is a planet. (With the sun at your
back, everything is illuminated in full.)

Just realized while replying to another post that where the planet is
against the constellations depends strongly on where in the solar
system you are viewing it from. Even having the sun against your back
only simplifies things a bit.

That's why you go south first. When you're far enough in, the apparent
position of the planet only depends *somewhat* on where you are. E.g,
if you know you're about at Venus's orbital distance, the position of
Mars can only vary by about sixty degrees. Not much can be mistaken
for Mars within that circle of sky.

(There will be cases where, say, you see two planets over *there* and
you're not sure which is Mars and which is Jupiter. In which case,
head towards both of them -- keeping the Sun behind you -- until it's
clear which is closer.)

Plus you can refine that a lot if you work out *where* you are around
Venus's orbit, which will be trivial. ("The sun is that way and Pisces
is the opposite way...") I would not be scared to do this with just a
printout in my hand, no computer.

You mentioned a cluttered sky, but remember that it's cluttered
because everything is brighter. Planets are brighter too. If you're
inside Earth's orbit, the brightest things visible (after the Sun)
will be Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and maybe Mercury. The Sun's
position against the stars (plus your printout) will tell you
immediately which of those planets might be behind the Sun (or lost in
its glare).

(If you don't want the Sun blocking your view, go towards Polaris for a
while.)

Going from that to the direction to the planet you want is going to be
a bit ugly I think.

Not when you have your eye on it.

--Z

--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
When Bush says "Stay the course," what he means is "I don't know what to
do next." He's been saying this for years now.
.

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