You will be able to download software and various files created by me from this web-page. Before you do so, please read the TERMS & CONDITIONS that apply, reached by clicking that link. Downloading anything from this web-page signifies acceptance of these terms and conditions.
This application draws the orbits of a number of near-Earth objects (NEO), known comets and known asteroids, as well as the major (and a couple of minor) planets. The view is not really in 3-D, I will probably need to change the title of this section. The orbits can be viewed in "plan", i.e. looking down on the Solar System, or as an edge view, i.e. on the plane of the ecliptic. There are three distance views available: the inner planets to Mars, the outer planets to Jupiter, and a further view showing a couple of the very long period comets, such as Halley and Hale Bopp.
I have a large monitor (1920 wide by 1080 high). This means I designed the application to use much of it, in fact, the width of the application window is 1770, but the height is 1050 so only just fits. I could separate this large window into smaller ones, taking the controls and display options to windows that can be overlapped etc., like I did with the "Gravity" application, but it won't it do much for the height, which I guess will be the major sticking point. See the images below, which show that most of the height is the display. I may have to make this smaller, or incorporate a scroll bar, though I don't actually like that idea.
You can run it as a simulation, with all these objects moving along their orbits, but it isn't intended to be a long-running simulation. The orbits of these objects (other than the main planets) have been calculated at a point in time, and in no case are the detail Kepler elements for the way the orbits will evolve available. So as the simulation runs, the objects maintain their original orbits and are not subject to the gravitational forces of any other object in the solar system, which is OK in some cases and not in others.
I will freely admit to a few issues with this sim. The speed seems to be a bit flaky, when you select a slow speed it seems on occasion not to want to speed up again. There are a couple of others. The sim will work, though you may think: "Well, that's bad programming" on a number of occasions. By the way, all the orbits are computed on launch, and when complete, the window can be opened. I need to display a progress bar showing you that something at least is happening for the 8 to 10 seconds of apparent inactivity.
I haven't bothered with a Help or Manual for this application, as it is yet unfinished and I will, no doubt, make significant changes to it before I finally give it a version number. In the meantime, if you are interested in those Near Earth objects, you might think it worth downloading it as it currently stands.
WARNING : DOWNLOADING ANY FILE SIGNIFIES ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS! | ||||||
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File Download Link | Version | Filename | Filesize | Download Time* | Screen Size | Comment |
Near Earth Objects Executable | Draft (1.01) | "Orbits.exe" | 0.7MB | 8 secs | 1770W 1050H | Really only a draft version, it works but there are many improvements to be done to it (when I find the time!) Needs a large monitor, or the main form will only be partially visible. |
* The download time shown is approximate for connections with two speeds. The fastest would be fibre broadband, and corresponds to my current speeds with BT Infinity. The slower value was a non-fibre broadband connection I previously had with Talk-Talk. Both are based on the "upload" time for me to load the file onto my web-site using Filezilla [version 3.33.0]. You can easily test your own broadband speed by downloading the free application "Network Speed" from the Windows App Store.
The images below are grabs from the same Solar System, showing a plan and an edge-on view.
Unfortunately, I do not have any means of establishing the minimum hardware specification required to run my software. All I do know is the specification of my computer, on which the software was developed, tested and which runs satisfactorily.
Original Computer specification:
In May, 2018, I purchased a new PC with a significantly upgraded specification:
* I have tried to design my software to present a smaller window size than my monitor permits, as I am concious that many people will have a smaller monitor than listed above. I will provide the maximum window size I use with each application's details.
If you use the software on a PC with a different set up, let me know if you have any issues with running the application, and if it works and you have the time, please let me know what your specification is. It should work on all flavours of Windows from SP, Win7 to Win10. I did have a lot of memory in my original set up - well, 4 GB was a lot in 2010!
I need to include something for this, but it won't be a miles long "Agreement" that you see with most software these days. "File(s)", "Software" and "Application" have the same meaning herein. "You" are the person who downloaded the file(s) from this web-page, and these conditions also apply to anyone to whom you pass on the file(s).
Terms compiled and added to web-page 19th October, 2016.