Project Planet
How to Make Your Planetary System
    As this semester comes to a close, you will demonstrate your understanding of planets. You will need to invent a system of planets orbiting an assigned star. Each of your planets will be given characteristics consistent with real planets. There is web site that can help you in designing your planets. You will use the program called Celestia to illustrate your planetary system. You will have to prepare what is called an ssc file which will have data about each of your planets. This file has a very specific format which must be followed if Celestia is to use it properly.

Your system must include, at least,
• 3 terrestrial planets
• 3 jovian planets
with appropriate moons
• An asteroid belt with at least 4 minor planets
• 1 outer ice planet similar to one of the larger Kuiper objects
• 2 comets

   You and your partner will present this planetary system in an oral presentation in the second week of January. Your ten minute presentation will demonstrate your use of the Celestia program, as well.

   A unique formal paper from each student describing your planetary system will be due at the time of your final exam in January, 2011.


    An explanation of Orbital Elements.

    Here is the Celestia Calculator to plan your solar system, and SystemMaker to make your first draft of your .ssc file. Unzip this file and save it in a folder called System Maker. Let me know if you need help getting System Maker to work. For those of you running Windows Vista, you must make this fix to get the program to run.

Here is the guide to creating an ssc file.

   Here are some special planet-building related resources to help you.


Designed and maintained by Frederick R. Higgins. Updated October 21, 2010