If a developer really wants to demonstrate Sun/Moon position accuracy in their flight simulator, then they should simulate solar and lunar eclipses. Total and annular solar eclipses in particular would require very accurate calculations!

If you want REALLY accurate heavens, use this: :smile:

 

http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/

One aspect of the flight sim hobby I enjoy is taking pictures - screen captures - of different airplanes and situations. Like the PBY-5 Catalina Black Cat on a moonless night patrol or a B747 with a full moon background. I would lke to see accurate moon phases in XPlane.

Getting the phases right is a very simple thing, the maths isn't hard if you want to look it up.

 

    I remember typing some of this in to a vic 20 about 30 years ago converted from a book called something like 50 astronomical calculations for your TI calculator.   Something like that anyway.

 

    Similarly for the stars.   I couldn't say where they would put this on the to do list, probably way down but once again if they wanted to a good programmer could get the sky glowing with stars in their proper place in a day or so.   The databases are easily available in a readable format and the maths is extremely simple - just copy down the equation from the book or internet.   I looked at doing it for the oculus rift for a virtual planetarium.   

 

    The hardest part for me was learning the graphics engine that I wasn't familiar with, the maths was a doodle.  They know their own engine and the maths is still a doodle.

 

    Still, it has to be important to them.   For me in a sim it's not that important other than being cool so I understand why it's not there.

I definitely notice. If it isn't right, then it telegraphs amateur or lazy developer effort. If you insist on accurate weather and terrain, why wouldn't you want accurate skies also?

And, as I have posted at another thread, and HiFlyer and other mentioned too, it's not just the Moon, but rather the Sun set / rise times and the lighting near those times of the day that is out of sync with reality in X-Plane but very well done, for instance, if FSX, MS FLIGHT, ELITE.

 

Strictly speaking, only FSX (and the derived P3D/Flight) and Orbiter have correct moon phase and placement. Or, put it another way, every other flight simulator (X-Plane, Elite, FlightGear, DCS, etc.) has the correct moon phase and placement, but only for some unspecified year in the past or future.

 

Infact, moon phase/position in a specific day changes every year, and only FSX/P3D/Flight and Orbiter allow to choose the simulated year.

Infact, moon phase/position in a specific day changes every year, and only FSX/P3D/Flight and Orbiter allow to choose the simulated year.

 

In fact ELITE does take the year into account :-)   I myself had that doubt, long ago, and was informed by the devs that it'll correctly calculate according to year of the date in your computer is set to! 

 

Since you have the demo, try skipping to February 29 this year :-)  - your February will end on the 28th!

 

Along the years I have checked and all is indeed correct, including Moon and Sun rise / set times... Moon phase, so it had to take the year into consideration, and indeed it does ;-)

 

I have an ELITE v8.6  review scheduled for SimReviewsHouse, but have been busy with other stuff... I'll make sure I had the coments about the accuracy of that simulator regarding this subjects :-)

In fact ELITE does take the year into account :-)   I myself had that doubt, long ago, and was informed by the devs that it'll correctly calculate according to year of the date in your computer is set to! 

 

I didn't know that, that's nice! Although I think it's more practical if you can choose the year inside the simulator, like in FSX/P3D/Flight.

 

 

Although I think it's more practical if you can choose the year inside the simulator, like in FSX/P3D/Flight

 

Yes of course, that is certainly the easiest and more intuitive way, and one of the reasons I am almost sure this subject will not get fixed at least before X-Plane 11 :-)

Yes of course, that is certainly the easiest and more intuitive way, and one of the reasons I am almost sure this subject will not get fixed at least before X-Plane 11 :-)

 

We shall see..................