The Future of AS

AdamQuark

I was wondering; with the SIMBAD database available, are there any plans to include dynamic displays for things like variable stars, pulsars, contact binaries, etc.?

It would be cool to be able to put in the various types for stars and have the display show it and the data for the stars update automatically - like for variables.

brothercool

Don't count on it. Ed has made it perfectly clear that AS is a mapping software and not a sim, and that he and/or NBOS have no desire to make a program with features that we users actually want.

I've all but given up on AS ever being what I truly want it to be.

Ed_NBOS

End users want a lot of things... but unfortunately I can't deliver them all. Astro is mapping software. I'm a map geek - that's what I do and where my interests are. If you want simulation software, it'd probably have to be written by people who have a specific interest (and background) in writing simulations.

If I understand what Adam is asking, it sounds like what he's asking about is having a way to connect a body in Astro with some external data source that could be periodically updated. That indeed would be pretty slick.

AdamQuark

Yes, it's been a long time. But, real life put a hole in my starship and I'm just now getting some atmosphere pressure built up.

Yes, that is along the lines of what I'm looking for. But, also something to account for dynamic motion on the part of the stars. Child objects are already dynamic via their orbits, and it'd be nifty neaters to put in something similar for the proper motion of stars.