planetary orbit and realtion to earth???

[sn00p]

Im looking for a live source where i can visually see how the planets are ligned up at any particular time.

I.e i would like a LIVE-ISH view looking down on the solar system with the positions of the planets as they orbit the sun.... I wanted to see what relation we are with Mars and Saturn at the minute.... im pressuming with mars so hard to find in the sope at anything more than a ***** of light its almost on the opposite side of the sun almost at its mosrt furthest from us???.... i know there is wobble etc im looking to set my planets up correctly on my solar system model.

[Steve25]

Hi,

You could try 'Celestia' which is a program that will show you what you are after, and its free.

[EA2007]

try Voyager 4.5 from Carina Software

its semi-freeware i.e. you can use the majority of it for free but the full version (which you have to pay for) has a larger object catalogue. once you have downloaded and installed it it may ask you to register...i just click cancel and carry onto the program.

i have been using Voyager for the past 4 years now and its great.

once you have adjusted the settings to your time zone and location you can go to the 'tools' tab and click 'Solar System' near the bottom. this will give you an accurate portrayal of the solar system and you can advance the months and days ahead to see what things will look like.

it even show cometary orbits and asteroid orbits.

another useful feature is the 'Solar Neighbourhood' which can again be found in the 'Tools' tab, this shows the nearest 200,000 stars I think and you can zoom in and out and move around...pretty neat stuff.

[sn00p]

Hi,

You could try 'Celestia' which is a program that will show you what you are after, and its free.

Managed to download Celestia last night thanks for the the headsup... Im having trouble trying to view ^.... do you know how i need to set it up so i can kinda view like concentric rings.... or like looking down on a solar system model???

Danny

[cdd2455]

Hi

I use this online orrery:-

Solar System Live

Best Regards

Carl

[Steve25]

Managed to download Celestia last night thanks for the the headsup... Im having trouble trying to view ^.... do you know how i need to set it up so i can kinda view like concentric rings.... or like looking down on a solar system model???

Danny

You need to use the render selection in the tool bar at the top. There you will see an option for 'view options'. You need to tick the box for 'orbits' also orbit labels would be good (not sure if thats on by default).

Once you have done that you can then use the navigation selection in the tool bar and select 'goto object', enter the 'sun'. This should move you to looking at the sun. Then using your mouse wheel, if you have one zoom out, or use the 'end' key. You can then press and hold the right mouse button to change you view so you are looking down on the orbits of the planets.

Hope that helps.

[brantuk]

Try "Skyviewcafe" free planetarium software. It has the exact view you're looking for and you only have to click a tab to get it (once your location co-ords are put in). It also has several other interesting views and info. A little bit basic compared to todays offerings but tracks live and projects back/forward 2000 years. So you can see what Napoleon was looking at the night of Waterloo - or what you're gonna miss when a warp drive alien ship lands on earth lol