Home

Near Earth Objects (NEO) Representation

 
 

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST!

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.

Near Earth Objects in 3-D

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!
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.

Orbits Side View Orbits Plan View
Go to top of page.

System Requirements

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!

 

Terms & Conditions - Downloading from this web-page means ACCEPTANCE!

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).

  1. I provide NO WARRANTY WHATSOEVER that the software will work as described. I have tested it carefully and exhaustively, but I do not warrant that it will perform correctly. You use my software ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK! I will not be liable in any way for any damage or loss of data that might occur to your computer or your data by using my software. If you do not accept this or any other condition listed here, then please DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANY SOFTWARE FROM THIS SITE.
  2. You can freely download the software and other files for which I provide links on this web-page. Having down-loaded them, you are free to share the files with your friends, as long as they are unchanged from the files that were down-loaded. You are not permitted to make any charge for any files down-loaded from this web-page. You are not permitted to provide this software to any commercial company, for inclusion on a web-site or magazine CD, or any other purpose.
  3. You must not reverse engineer any application downloaded from this site.
  4. You must not edit any Manual or Text file downloaded from this site, unless you are permitted to do so in the Manual for the software, as an accepted option for using the software.
  5. As stated above, these conditions apply equally to anyone who down-loaded the file(s) from this web-page, and to anyone who obtained the file(s) from that person or anyone else. It is a condition of downloading that these terms and conditions are made known to anyone to whom the file(s) are subsequently passed. It can be noted that a link to this web-page appears on the About form of any of my applications.
  6. I virus-check my files before presenting them on this site for download. Nevertheless, you are strongly urged to submit and scan the down-loaded file(s) using your own proprietary virus checker before you launch it. This is especially vital if you obtained the file(s) from somewhere other than this web-page.
  7. If I am advised of a "bug" by someone (using this contact form) who has used the software and had a difficulty, I will endeavour to put it right as soon as possible. I will then make a revised version available for download on this web-page. If I am unable to fix a fault, I reserve the right to remove the software from this page, and withdraw the permission for users to use it.

Terms compiled and added to web-page 19th October, 2016.