celestial navigation

[Highwayman-Ed]

Now that we're getting better night time lighting, I'd like to make a request for the night sky to actually reflect the night sky.

 

With the new lighting, the starts in the sky are much more noticeable, but it's also evident that they're just a lot of pin pricks in the sky. we already have the moon phases modeled correctly, it would be great to see the stars shown in the same way, and look up to see Orion, Ursa Major, or the North Star.

[AeriaGloria]

Do you know they aren’t? I always thought they were already in the right places and it was possible

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=2131103

[Highwayman-Ed]

Sorry, I should have been more elaborate. All of the stars in the current DCS sky are all of the same intensity. If you look up at the night sky on a clear night in DCS, there are thousands of pinpricks of stars but they're all the same, thus trying to identify constellations is all but impossible.

 

If you step outside in the real world on a clear night, you'll notice that some stars are faint, whilst others that typically make up the visible constellations are very clear and bright. I'd like to see this in DCS.

[Livers]

I agree. I tried yesterday to identify anything, and failed.

[Northstar98]

Yeah DCS has an accurate star map position wise, but in terms of relative intensity it makes things like identifying constellations particularly difficult, and like you said it would only need to be changed for the most visible stars/stars in the major constellations.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Northstar98

[Northstar98]

What celestial navigation without sextant, almanac, tables, plotting maps...?

 

Eh, at the moment all stars are equally visible, making identifying constellations and individual stars very difficult.

 

Even without precise instruments or charts, being able to find Polaris can give you a rough direction, combine that with speed and time and we've basically got all we need for very basic and crude navigation, so long as we know our starting position.

 

Obviously it's very crude, but it's a start, and depicting the night sky more accurately gets a plus in my book.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Northstar98

[Andrew8604]

If for nothing else than to look realistic. The stars do not look natural, currently. Like you say, all of the same intensity. I too could not make out any constellations. The night sky just doesn't look familiar. Also, the stars twinkle even from in flight. From my few flights at night in a real jet, the stars do not seem to twinkle.

 

 

From a stationary position, twinkling stars are cool. From in flight, no twinkling. At least that's what I think. You guys share your observations from real night flights.

 

 

And, not just correct intensity (magnitude) but subtle color as well.

 

Also, accurate position and phase of the Moon for date and time. And, for the planets: Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Mars...the rest aren't generally visible.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Andrew8604
Clarify my points