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Does anyone have any advice on placing other kinds of things within a sector, such as the Helix Nebula or the Coal Sack? To be honest, I have no foggiest idea how to go about converting RA/DEC and distance into X, Y and Z coordinates.
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Posted this under your other post, but it also applies here. Check out Project Rho. It has a lot of this type of math worked out.
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/starmaps/
For larger areas, like nebulas that span multiple light years, you might use Spheres of Influence, or maybe even subsectors to mark the map.
That was pretty much the plan... unless I can find a way to put an actual image of the nebula centered on that spot. For the Coal Sack, I'd figured I'd just use a sphere of influence with a very dark grey color.
You can assign a blazon image to a marker on the map. That will let you show an image. It can't scale, but may suffice.
It might... but for a nebula, I'd probably want an image that could cover several light years on the map. I might be able to do that in the image file, since I can't scale it as a blazon.
Can I safely assume that the image will "rotate" to face the viewer, no matter which direction he's looking from?
Yes, it'll always face the viewer.
Yeah, this one isn't working either. I tried using the Helix Nebula as an example. The largest photo I can find of it is 6000x4000, and that barely shows up at all. I need something that will cover 2.5 ly for Helix, and no picture I can find is anywhere close. Based on what I'm seeing with 6k x 4k, I'm guessing I'd need a photo something like 10 times that size.