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author | toma <toma@283d02a7-25f6-0310-bc7c-ecb5cbfe19da> | 2009-11-25 17:56:58 +0000 |
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committer | toma <toma@283d02a7-25f6-0310-bc7c-ecb5cbfe19da> | 2009-11-25 17:56:58 +0000 |
commit | ce599e4f9f94b4eb00c1b5edb85bce5431ab3df2 (patch) | |
tree | d3bb9f5d25a2dc09ca81adecf39621d871534297 /kstars/README.ephemerides | |
download | tdeedu-ce599e4f9f94b4eb00c1b5edb85bce5431ab3df2.tar.gz tdeedu-ce599e4f9f94b4eb00c1b5edb85bce5431ab3df2.zip |
Copy the KDE 3.5 branch to branches/trinity for new KDE 3.5 features.
BUG:215923
git-svn-id: svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/trinity/kdeedu@1054174 283d02a7-25f6-0310-bc7c-ecb5cbfe19da
Diffstat (limited to 'kstars/README.ephemerides')
-rw-r--r-- | kstars/README.ephemerides | 78 |
1 files changed, 78 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/kstars/README.ephemerides b/kstars/README.ephemerides new file mode 100644 index 00000000..104deeaf --- /dev/null +++ b/kstars/README.ephemerides @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +KStars keeps track of thousands of comets and asteroids. +It uses orbital data published by NASA's Jet Propulsion +Laboratory (JPL); these data are known as "orbital elements". +Because these small bodies are easily perturbed as they +wander about the solar system, their orbital elements must +be updated regularly. Updating the elements will also add +any recently-discovered bodies. + + +How to update the orbital elements of comets and asteroids: + +-=( 1 )=- The Easy Way. + +Start KStars, then open the "Get New Stuff" Tool by selecting +"Download Data..." from the File menu, or by pressing Ctrl+D. + +If a new "ephemerides" package is available, select it and press +the Install button. Voila! + + +-=( 2 )=- Doing it Manually. + +It is possible that the ephemerides package is not completely +up-to-date. Fortunately, it's relatively simple to update the +files manually whenever you want. + +::NOTE:: If you find that the ephemerides package is woefully +outdated, and you follow this manual-install procedure, PLEASE +send your final comets.dat and asteroids.dat files to +kstars-devel@kde.org! Now is your chance to be a KStars Hero! + + +Step 1: The JPL Webpage + +Point your browser to the following URL: +http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sb_elem.html + + +Step 2: The Comets + +Under "ASCII Files", click on the "Comets" link, and save +this file as ~/.kde/share/apps/kstars/comets.dat (or as +$KDEDIR/share/apps/kstars/comets.dat for a system-wide install). + + +Step 3: The Asteroids + +Under "ASCII Files", click on the "Numbered Asteroids" link, +and save this file in a working directory as "asteroids.full.dat". + +This file contains about 100,000 asteroids, far more than we +want to deal with in KStars. I ship KStars with 2000 asteroids; +you may feel free to keep as many as you want (but be aware that +larger numbers will require more RAM and will use the CPU more). + +So, how do we pick which of the 100,000 asteroids to keep? I +think the most sensible option is to sort the list from biggest +to smallest, and then just keep the 2000 largest (or however +many you are keeping). However, there isn't a "size" column to +sort by! Ah, but there *is* an "absolute magnitude" column +(column 10). Absolute magnitude is a measure of the asteroid's +intrinsic brightness, which is a good indicator of its size. +Smaller numbers are brighter, so sorting the file such that the +magnitudes increase means that the biggest asteroids are at the +top of the list. + +Use the "sort" command to sort, and the "head" command to cut +out the first 2000 lines, like this: + + % sort -n -k 10 asteroids.full.dat | head -n 2000 > asteroids.dat + + [[ WARNING: There is (at least) one asteroid with spaces in its + name ("van de Hulst"), which messes up the columns for that object. + You may want to rename this object before sorting.]] + +FInally, copy "asteroids.dat" to ~/.kde/share/apps/kstars/ (for +single-user install) or $KDEDIR/share/apps/kstars/ (for system +install). |