If you are doing any science fiction worldbuilding, and want to use some real data about real stars, check out the Internet Stellar Database. It really is an excellent product, and has a ton of data all in one location.
What Is It?
The Internet Stellar Database (stellar-database.com) is a resource created and semi-maintained by Roger M. Wilcox. It was started back in 1988, and has grown in information and capability since then.
Containing information on over 45,000 objects, the ISDB is a great worldbuilding tool. Each stellar entry contains a wealth of information that is perfect for fleshing out realistic star systems, especially ones based on actual stars.
Each star has information about its composition, brightness, age, size and other useful data. It even has a list of other names that the star may be known by.
You can search for stars by name or by a range from given galactic coordinates. The first is great when you know what star you want. The second is really handy for finding out what stars are near one you have an interest in.
How To Use It
The best way to use the ISDB is to just go to the site, enter a star’s name or designation–and just read the information. To me, the most useful information is the data about the physical characteristics of the star, the star’s location, plus the data about any companions.
The star’s location is very important–that can be used for finding out the distance between that star and any other. How long does it take to travel from Earth to Delta Pavonis? The distance is 6.2 parsecs, so multiply 6.2 parsecs 1.8 light years/parsec, and divide by the speed of your ship. If the speed is 2 light years per week, then 6.23.26/2 = 10.11 weeks, or 10 weeks, 1 day. Pretty useful.
The data about the star is important, too. What type of star is it? How big is it? How bright? Even data about how old the star is can be used in worldbuilding. The Cepheus Engine (and even Traveller) rules can make great use of this information to build realistic star systems. GURPS Space does an even better job of using that information to create realistic worlds.
The data about companions is also important for systems with multiple stars. GURPS Space makes use of that data to help create planets and other objects where they should be–and not where they should not.
I am using a ton of this data, along with GURPS Space, to refine my star systems and define my planets for the Far Jewel universe.
What the Future Holds
But with all of this goodness, the ISDB is at risk. Roger is pretty open that he will not maintain the site forever, and even encourages others to copy the database and run it themselves. This is not a bad thing, but can take some work.
To that end, I have been playing with the data myself, and am looking to build a copy on the farjewel.com site. I don’t have a date for when this will be done–my coding foo is average, at best. I’m working on a number of other efforts, too, so I’m not sure how long this will take. I will get it done when I get it done.
One thing I do want to add to the system is a simple way to calculate the distance between stars. I also think some other features are needed to improve searchability. As Roger says, fancy graphics don’t improve the content of the site, but some improvements of the interface would definitely help.
No matter what, I recommend you take a look at the ISDB. As you can see, it’s a great resource, and is a perfect tool for science fiction gaming. Poke around, and let me know what you think!
Marko ∞
(Originally published on farjewel.com, on 12/3/2018.)
