Fwd: ESA Summer of Code in Space 2011

[todd rme]

On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 4:46 PM, Torsten Rahn <tackat at t-online.de> wrote:
> On Wednesday, 6. July 2011 17:51:41 Mario Fux wrote:
>> FYI. Especially KStars?!?
>
> Hi,
>
> I've just filled out and sent the application form for Marble.
> I've also added an ideas page already, since it's mandatory:
>
> http://community.kde.org/SoCiS/2011/Ideas
>
> Projects need to have some relevance to space (whatever that means) so I
> suggest that the KStars project does the same  and adds its projects to the
> idea page :-)
>
> Best Regards,
> Torsten

I have a few suggestions:

--- KStars ---

View stars from other planets besides Earth.  This would probably need
to combine geographic and rotation data to let you view the sky as
seen at a given location, date, and time (in Earth date and time) on
another planet, and ideally at an arbitrary location in space.

Milky Way star map view: Using paintings of the Milky Way, let users
view where a star or other object is relative to Earth.  It should be
possible to compute this using the Earth's position, the angle of the
star relative to Earth, and its distance.  There is a windows-only
program that does this called Where is M13:
http://www.thinkastronomy.com/M13/index.html

--- Step ---

Improved handling of gravity and easy creation of orbital simulations.
 Step makes it possible to create orbit simulations, but it is very
hard.  It should be possible to just enter the distance, mass of the
objects, and the period and have it automatically set up a correct
orbit.  The project would also probably involve setting up example
orbits.  Here is a big list of orbit simulations:
http://burtleburtle.net/bob/physics/

--- Marble ---

More planet maps: currently Marble has maps of Earth, the Moon, Venus,
and Mars.  However, maps of other planets and moons are available.
Ideally this would also involve rendering of rings for the gas giants.

Solar storm rendering: Use Marble to show images of Earth with the
Van-Allen radiation belts in place.  Use it to animate the effects of
solar storms hitting, including projections of the electrical effects
onto the globe.  Ideally render aurorae.  This would be more of a
demonstration for use in classrooms rather than an integral feature of
Marble, although having a rotatable map of the Earth with the
Van-Allen belts in place might be a cool feature.  It would probably
require the opengl backend.   If time permits, add the same thing for
other planets (this of course would be limited mostly to the gas
giants).

Interactive solar system map: Render all the planets in the solar
system at once.  Give the users sliders to set how close the size and
distance scales are to real-life.  Let the user set the date and time,
show or hide orbit trails, show or hide moons, jump to particular
objects, and so on.  This could either be a separate view for Marble
or another program built off of Marble.  This might also require the
OpenGL backend.

--- Marble/KStars --

Real-time planet maps in KStars using Marble: When viewing a planet,
and when Marble maps for that planet are available, use Marble to
generate a realistic map of the planet for the scale, angle, date, and
time you are using.

Local map in KStars using Marble: Use marble to display a local map on
the ground instead of the current flat green ground.

KStars stars for Marble: Use kstars to generate and render the
background starfield in Marble.

--- Akonadi ---

Near-earth object calendar plugin.  Puts near-Earth object passings on
your calendar.  This would need to query an online database of
near-Earth objects to get detailed information.  I think kstars
already has access to such a database.   A plasma widget similar to
the offical NASA JPL near-earth object Apple and Yahoo widgets would
also be possible: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/download.cfm

Solar/lunar eclipse calendar plugin: puts the dates and locations of
solar and lunar eclipses on your calendar.  This could probably be
computed rather than downloaded.


These are just suggestions, they are not all necessarily feasible or desirable.

-Todd