Nightshade Legacy

double_txt and variable_txt what do they do?

Asked by Zenpi314

The files double_txt.dat and variables_txt.dat in the data folder, what do they do?
How can you ask for those database from within the program?
Also, is it possible to edit the hipparcos.fab file? And what program do you need to properly read it?
I would like to add some double star info to the hip file.
One more. Is the info that is posted inside the viewport when you select a star, pulled from the hipparcos file?

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Rob Spearman (rob-digitaliseducation) said : 		#1

Those data files contain the lists of double and variable magnitude stars using their Hipparcos numbers. Currently there are 8824 doubles listed and 1930 variables. This information shows up in the info text when a star is selected, although the "**" denoting a double star is not intuitive.

All other star data comes from the hipparcos.fab file. This is just a minimized binary version of the Hipparcos catalog. The conversion utility is missing from the source code, I will need to add that to the repository. Do you really need to recreate this?

Rob

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Zenpi314 (zenpi314) said : 		#2

Thanks Rob.
I do not really need to recreate it, but I made a sky-culture in which the star names have my list of about one hundred double stars. I want to do the same for variables. It would be nice if I can modify the hipparcos catalog to include magnitude, separation, and position angle on the double stars in question, and similar info for the variables. So I can in an instant see which doubles are currently visible and by selecting them I can get more info on them. Nothing that will make or break my world, but a nice little project to add to an already awesome program.
Thanks again for the quick reply and the wonderful support.
Can I find the conversion utility myself somewhere? It is hard to find info on '.fab' files.

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Zenpi314 (zenpi314) said : 		#3

Almost forgot.
I also want to do something similar for extrasolar planets.
Or do you guys (and gals) have something in the works for that ;)

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Rob Spearman (rob-digitaliseducation) said : 		#4

If you check out trunk from launchpad using bzr, look in the util directory for the conversion utility. The .fab format is completely custom for Stellarium/Nightshade and the extention was named after Fabien, the original Stellarium author.

It would be preferable to have double star details as separate data to keep the hipparcos data file as small as possible.

We need to implement labelling through scripts to support extrasolar planets and other data more easily. But currently not being worked on.

Rob

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