Celestia 1.6.1 - Changelog

What's new in Celestia 1.6.1:

August 22nd, 2011

Bug fixes:
· Removed extraneous colons from nearstars.stc
· Fixed truncation of long label strings in East Asian locales
· Increased size of Goto Object dialog to prevent translated strings from being truncated
· Fixed i18n bug with scripting message
· Removed duplicate install of stars.dat.
· Fix code taking address of a temporary result.
· Fixed compile warnings in 1.6.1 caused by redfinition of UINT64_MAX
· Corrected encoding of cel URLs with non-ASCII characters
· Added check to prevent a crash when string decoding fails

Data file updates:
· Updated extrasolar planets data files.
· Updated solar system locations files.
· Updated numberedmoons.ssc file.
· Updated Galileo add-on.

Platform-specific changes:
· Linux: Add missing files from extras-standard to Makefiles.
· Windows: Fixed i18n bug [2753461]
· Windows: Save FoV value in bookmarks
· Windows: Added ecliptic line setting to View Options dialog box
· Windows: Fixed i18n bug in Windows Script menu
· Windows: Added link to new HTML help files to Help menu
· Windows: Fixed invisible context menu in fullscreen mode (ATI cards)
· Windows: Fixed menu bar overlapping top of 3D view (ATI cards)
· Windows: Save and restore locations to/from registry
· Windows: Fixed startup crash when using fullwidth utf-8 characters
· Windows: Increased Inno Setup compression settings
· Windows: Allow installer to be run without administrator privileges.

Internationalization:
· Additional string translations
· Globular clusters
· "Nebula" and "Open cluster"
· World capitals
· Removed r and R commands from localized help files
· Updated translations
· Additional languages
· Added Chinese Traditional translation
· Added Slovak translation
· Added Galician translation by Xabier Cancela
· Added Belarusian translation from
· Added Norwegian translation from FreewareTips
· Added Turkish translation
· Fonts
· Lighter weight Japanese fonts
· Updated simplified Chinese fonts
· Added Belarusian fonts

· Features
· Changed the name of 'Celestial' grid to 'Equatorial'
· Added Runar and Christian's HTML help files
· Added Solstice Mission extension for Cassini in 1.6.1 branch.

· Scripting
Celx scripting functions:
· Added seturl / geturl commands
· Added synchronizetime / istimesynchronized commands
· Added settextcolor / gettextcolor commands
· Added observer:orbit method
· Added celestia:runscript method
· Made orbitPeriod field available for stars via object:getinfo
Cel scripting:
· Added boolean occludable parameter to mark command
· Added settextcolor command
· Added mousemove Lua hook

· Code optimization and reorganization
· Fixes for gcc-4.5, and include -ldl for systems that need it.
· More granular setting of CFLAGS.

What's new in Celestia 1.6.0:

July 9th, 2009

Bug fixes:
· Fix to admit absolute directory notation in VT ImageDirectory
· Implemented encoding of special characters when saving cel URLs
· Fixed flickering of models with missing texture coordinates
· Fixed appearance non-ellipsoid star geometry in pre-OGL2 render paths
· Improved appearance of point stars when multisample antialiasing is enabled
· Fix for crash when viewing a star barycenter in an empty system
· Fixed off by one error assertion testing for number of lights used by shaders
· Windows: fixed UTF8 bugs in tour guide, star browser, and context menu
· Fixed crash bug that was triggerred by xyz and xyzv files with duplicate times
· Fixed bug that caused dim stars in orbits distant from the primary to not be drawn.
· Fixed strange appearance of cloud textures at times in the distant past/future.
· Fixed memory leak in multiview handling
· Fixed ambient light in the ARB shader path
· Fixed bugs in comet rendering (corrects overbright coma)
· Fixed code to compile without errors with gcc 4.3; fixed some warnings
· Fixed g++ compier errors in cmodfix tool
· Fixed search path for Lua scripts
· Fixed numerous bugs that occurred when an object's orbit center was different
· Fixed a bug in the celx function celestia:getscreendimension
· Fixed bug with returning Hubble type for galaxies
· Eliminated error-prone min/max macros; use STL functions instead
· Fixed discrepancy between apparent magnitudes shown in the 3D view and the star browser.
· Change "Day Length" string to the correct and more general term "Rotation Period"
· Show 'planetary companions' message for stellar barycenters (instead of just stars.)
· Improved location drawing so that location labels can be occluded by foreground objects.

Data file updates:
· Implemented data base globulars.dsc with all known 150 globulars around the Milky Way
· Renamed galaxy database deepsky.dsc into galaxies.dsc
· Implemented SIMBAD compatible cross-listing for globular clusters
· Updated Iapetus texture based on a new Ciclops map from Oct 2008
· Significant update of the database on binary orbits, including SIMBAD compatibility of barycenter nomenclature and alternative names
· Updated the near stars catalog
· Updated texture for Mercury; includes imagery from MESSENGER
· Updated textures for some Saturnian moons: Tethys, Dione, Mimas, Enceladus, and Rhea
· Added CHARM2 catalog of measured stellar radii
· Added model of asteroid Itokawa
· Regenerated star catalog using the new reduction of the HIPPARCOS data
Cassini updates:

· Updated Cassini trajectory to include extended mission
· Switched to using xyz+velocity files for a more accurate trajectory
· Separated Cassini mission into cruise and orbital phases
· Improved appearance of Huygens separation from Cassini

· Added IAU rotational elements for most major solar system bodies
· Made visible the orbit and label for Pluto-Charon barycenter
· Correctly centered Galileo spacecraft
· Rebuilt cross-indices from SIMBAD data
· Added alternative names for many solar system bodies (e.g. preliminary designations for asteroids in addition to proper names.)
· Updated extrasolar planet catalog with discoveries made up to Apr 2009
· Changed class of Pluto, Ceres, Eris, ... to dwarf planet
· Changed class of small outer planet moons to minormoon
· Included new and updated solar system body features from the IAU
· Added provisional rotation period for Eris

Tools:
· Added Perl script globulars.pl used to extract the globular data from scientific publications and as documentation
· Added spice2xyzv tool for extracting xyzv files from a pool of SPICE kernels
· Added Perl script to build cross-indices
· Added Perl script to generate CHARM2 catalog
· Added Perl script to build star database

Platform-specific changes:
· BSD: Fixed tm_zone handling
· Linux: Install scripts at during "make install"
· Linux: Added workaround for broken include_x11 define from acinclude.m4
· Linux: Updated admin directory to KDE 3.5.10, regenerated acinclude.m4
· Linux: Added the missing menu entries related to globulars for KDE version
· Linux: Added globular and grid selection options in GTK interface

Internationalization:
· Added Polish translation
· Added Lithuanian translation
· Added Romanian translation of constellation names
· Mac OS X: Japanese localation of eclipse finder added
· Added Chinese localization
· Localize surface names in alternate surfaces menu
· Prevented English name 'Milky Way' from being displayed when a translated version is present.
· Extended localization to DSO and star names

Features:
· Added light from secondary sources (i.e. "planetshine")
· Implemented depth sorting for markers so that they are correctly occluded
· by foreground objects.
· Implemented code package rendering globular clusters
· Implemented new cel URL version with observer position and orientation stored
· in frame coordinates (for forward compatibility)
· Added a long term (+-5000 centuries) precession model for Earth based on
· work by Jan Vondrak
Improved celestial coordinate grids:
· Added new grid types: ecliptic, horizontal, and galactic
· Made grid resolution adapt to the field of view
· Positioned coordinate labels at edges of field of view
· Added animated selection indicator
· Switches to direction pointer when the selection is off screen
· Changes color when the selected object is occluded
· Implemented more flexible system for reference marks and added new
reference marks:
· Planetographic grid
· Terminator
· VisibleRegion
· Enabled display of the phase angle for the currently selected object
· Improved eclipse rendering: correctly calculate depth and umbra radius
· for eclipses.
· Improved star handling code so that stars can be placed more than 16k light
· years from Earth.
· Switched to using sd prefix for hot subdwarfs per arXiv:0805.2567v1
· Added symbols for locations

Add-on features:
· Added SemiAxes property for ssc objects, which allows triaxial ellipsoid geometry for solar system objects like Haumea and Mimas.
· Added new boolean properties for ssc/stc/dsc objects: Visible and Clickable
· Added new classes for solar system objects: dwarfplanet, minormoon, surfacefeature, component, and diffuse
· Implemented Modify and Replace dispositions for star catalogs
· Added SPICE rotation model, allowing the orientation of an ssc object to be controlled by a SPICE frame.
SPICE orbit improvements:
· Allow multiple kernels to be specified for a SPICE orbit
· Automatically calculate start and end times when possible
· Added Timeline, which allows multiple frame, trajectory, and rotation models for a single ssc object.
· Implemented CustomRotation, the rotation model analogue of CustomOrbit
· Added support for InfoURL for stars (already exists for deep sky objects and solar system objects)
· Improved SampledTrajectory to handle files with positions and velocities
· Added LabelColor property for locations
· Implemented new Topocentric frame (a simplified two vector frame for placing objects on the surface of a planet.)
· Added support for premultiplied alpha blend mode in cmod files
· Extended FixedPosition to support spherical coordinates as well as cartesian coordinates.
· Added FixedAttitude rotation model, with more intuitive paramters for orientation
· Added new SurfaceObject type for ssc files--like an ordinary body except with different default frames that make it easy to position an object on the surface of a planet.
· Added CloudShadowDepth property for atmospheres
· Improved control over mesh scaling with NormalizeMesh and MeshScale properties for ssc objects.
· Added new locations types: eruptive center, insula (islands), and tholus (domical hills and mountains)
· Added support for comment headers in xyz and xyzv files

Code optimization and reorganization:
· Reimplemented observer frames in terms of Celestia 1.5.0 frames
· Improved performance of complex frames by caching last calculated orientation
· Added velocity method for all classes derived from Orbit
· Added angularVelocity method for rotation models
· Optimized solar system rendering by maintaining a bounding sphere hierarchy
· Switched to using 2 64-bit integers for storing high precision coordinates; simplifies code and improves performance of operations using high precision coordinates (dramatically on 64-bit systems)
· Optimized creation of render lists

Scripting:
Celx scripting functions:
· object:addreferencemark, object:removereferencemark
· object:visible, object:setvisible, object:catalognumber
· object:setorbitcolor, object:orbitcoloroverridden, object:setorbitcoloroverridden
· object:orbitvisibility, object:setorbitvisibility
· object:locations (returns an iterator over all the locations associated with an object)
· new phase object type (for timeline phases)
· permit any X11 color name
· observer:makeactiveview
· showconstellations, hideconstellations, setconstellationcolor
· getlabelcolor, getlinecolor
· getsystemtime, ispaused
· gettextureresolution, settextureresolution
· windowbordersvisible, setwindowbordersvisible
· Split celx scripting support into several modules
· Cel scripting
· splitview, deleteview, singleview, setactiveview
· setgalaxylightgain
· setradius
· setlinecolor
· setlabelcolor
· settextureresolution
· Made the package library (except loadlib) available for celx scripting regardless of the ScriptSystemAccessPolicy setting
· Added an "AddonPath" value that is available to a ScriptedOrbit or ScriptedRotation when it is created.
· Pass control modifier to Lua keyboard handlingfunctions

Miscellaneous:
· Bound P and M keys to toggle dwarf planet and minor moon labels
· Bound U and E keys to toggle globular clusters and globular cluster labels
· Group reference mark menu items in a separate submenu
· Changed star name lookup priority in stc parser: check proper names before cross indices.
· Eliminated R and Shift+R key bindings for changing texture resolution
· Added new leap second 31-Dec-2008 23:59:60

Cleanup:
· Removed obsolete 'LabelledStars' section from standard celestia.cfg
· Updated README: removed obsolete sections, reorganized credits, added information application to 1.6.0
· Purged out of date controls documentation
· Reorganized spacecraft add-ons in standard package

What's new in Celestia 1.5.1:

March 7th, 2009

· Added fonts for Russian, Chinese, and Japanese
· Updated translations
· Fixed date formatting for non-UTF8 locales
· Fixed crash for dates prior to JD -1.5 when local format is used
· Fixed star rendering for Macs with ATI graphics hardware (worked around a driver bug in point sprite support.)
· Fixed star glare clipping bug
· Fixed bug that caused some stars to be drawn untextured
· Fixed faster/slower options in the Windows time menu to adjust time by 10x instead of 2x
· Fixed translation of time acronyms DST and STD
· Use localized versions of start script, guide, demo, license, and controls file from locale directory
· Made Lua os functions available from celx scripts when access policy is "ask"