On 2/8/2017 8:08 AM, Cousin Ricky wrote:
> I have extracted some of the data fields from the Yale Bright Star 
> Catalogue and converted them to SDL.  This catalog contains all 
> nighttime stars of magnitude 6.5 and brighter (roughly all nighttime 
> stars visible to the naked eye), plus a few dimmer ones.  The 
> BrightStar5 module includes more data fields than the include file 
> Rarius published a while back, including catalog designations and color 
> data.  Macros are included for star coloration and Bayer designation 
> labels.  You can also seek individual stars by Bayer, Draper, Flamsteed, 
> or SAO designations.
> 
> Rarius stated that the catalog is in the public domain.  I could not 
> determine the intellectual property status from the published sources, 
> and in the process of trying to find out, I ended up having a very nice 
> phone conversation with one of the authors, Dr. Warren!
> 
> The 5th edition of the catalog, as it stands, is in a preliminary state. 
>   (The primary author died in 2007.)  There is no projected date for 
> final publication.
> 
> POV-Ray 3.7.1 beta 2 will crash hard with this module.  Think Bayer 
> designations, and if you've been following p.beta-test, you'll know 
> exactly why it crashes.  Some of the 3.7.1 alphas (including some 2015 
> vintages) also crashed, but 3.7.0 works fine.  The latest master passes, 
> so everything should be fine when beta 3 is released.
> 
>
http://lib.povray.org/searchcollection/index2.php?objectName=BrightStar5&contributorTag=Cousin%20Ricky

> 

The fuzzy circles don't look so great. I don't know if anything can be 
done to improve them however. In video games, stars are often reduced to 
1 pixel. But I don't think in POVray there's an easy way to make a star 
exactly 1 pixel big. Maybe with some trigonometry?


Mike

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