Comets - Page 2

Growltigga · #11 January 24th, 2002, 04:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
The orbital period of a comet is comparable to the orbital period of a planet.
[ 24 January 2002: Message edited by: suicide_junkie ]

not sure this is striclty correct, the rotational period of an orbital body depends on too many variants to generalise

<everybody reaches for their boys' book of astronomical information>

Suicide Junkie · #12 January 24th, 2002, 04:46 PM

Most comets have periods comparable to the outer planets. 30+ years.
If the periods were any shorter, then the comet would have come too close to the sun too many times, and would have boiled off into a dead rock long ago.

Growltigga · #13 January 24th, 2002, 04:58 PM

alright SJ, I do not have my astromony textbook here with me abroad so you being clever, you tell me how comets will manifest themselves in SEIV Gold - the public have a right to know

Suicide Junkie · #14 January 24th, 2002, 05:16 PM

quote:
you tell me how comets will manifest themselves in SEIV Gold

Uhm, as an entire starsystem, Last I heard...

They will possibly be converted into stationary system objects like asteroid fields & planets

Growltigga · #15 January 24th, 2002, 05:55 PM

As an entire star system? I think I am going to have to wait and see how they do this

Suicide Junkie · #16 January 24th, 2002, 06:06 PM

Just download the Gold Demo, and see for yourself.

Growltigga · #17 January 24th, 2002, 06:11 PM

nope, I refuse to download the gold demo just in case I don't like what I see - I'll will buy the game and then, hopefully, be pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed, either way, I will have spend the best part of �50 buying it so will have to live with it

Mephisto · #18 January 24th, 2002, 06:38 PM

"Comets" are stationary objects and fill a whole system. In fact they are no longer called "comets". The descriptions are as follows:

Name := Comet 1
Description := A massive planetary fragment is passing through this system.

Name := Comet 2
Description := A massive gas giant core is passing through this system.

Name := Stellar Core Fragment 1
Description := A hyper-dense core fragment is passing through this system.

Hope this helps.

[ 24 January 2002: Message edited by: [K126]Mephisto ]

Growltigga · #19 January 24th, 2002, 07:01 PM

[quote]Originally posted by [K126]Mephisto:
[QB]"Comets" are stationary objects and fill a whole system.

Cheers Mephisto

BTW did you see me at the airport the other day? I was the green belching one standing the corner with the dumb redhead holding the sign saying "Get out of my swamp"

Hard to miss really

[ 24 January 2002: Message edited by: Growltigga ]

MegaTrain · #20 January 24th, 2002, 09:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Growltigga:
not sure this is striclty correct, the rotational period of an orbital body depends on too many variants to generalise

<everybody reaches for their boys' book of astronomical information>

Not really: The gravitational attraction is determined by the mass of the 2 objects (the sun/star and the comet) and the distance between them, and the only other relevant information would be the current speed/direction of the comet. I don't have the formulas in front of me, but that should be enough to determine the orbit/period.

The only thing special about a comet is that it tends to be a fairly small (low mass) object, it tends to have an extremely elliptical orbit (as opposed to nearly circular like Earth's), and it puts out a cool trail when it comes near the sun so it's easy to see. The formulas should all work the same for planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and even manmade sattelites.