On Mon, Aug 29, 2016 at 10:32:21AM +1000, Tim wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 27, 2016 at 12:06:15PM -0400, Christopher Sean Hilton wrote:
> > In this case what rules should the Scout service use when designating
> > a primary and far companion?
> >
> > One could rank by luminosity or magnitude because from a
> > distance the Scouts would discover the brighter star earlier?
> >
> > One could rank by Stellar Mass because the heavier star would
> > effectively "wobble" as a result of it's lighter companion.
> >
> > One could rank by social / population factors because most people are
> > going to want to jump into the system as close to the mainworld as
> > possible.
>
> The real world mainly uses luminosity, with a few caveats.  It is very
> strongly correlated with mass though there are numerous exceptions.
> Population seems to be rather too variable to be a basis for such a
> designation.
>

Regarding luminosity, that's what I figured. Regarding population,
perhaps I'm not being clear. If we ignore Jump Shadowing for a second,
The question becomes which makes more sense to list in the grand
survey:

     Example System A 0000
     K5 V
         0 YS00100-B
         ...

         Far Companion: 2000Au
         M5 V
             0 A665987-C  Mainworld
             ....

or:

     Example System B 0000
     M5 V
         0 A665987-C  Mainworld
         ....
         Far Companion: 2000Au
         K5 V
                 0 YS00100-B
                 ...

The K5 V is the more luminous, more massive of the two stars but for
reasons that the referee must determine, the population center orbits
less luminous, less massive M5 V. In most cases players looking at the system will
almost certainly want to chart a course to the mainworld.

> I expect every star in the galaxy to have been catalogued thousands of
> years before even the First Imperium.  Even most of the planets and
> their orbits would have been identified.  Certainly that would hold
> for every system within a thousand parsecs of Traveller's charted
> space.
>

The way I see it, maybe during the First Imperium, but otherwise I
agree.

--
Chris

      __o          "All I was trying to do was get home from work."
    _`\<,_           -Rosa Parks
___(*)/_(*)____.___o____..___..o...________ooO..._____________________
Christopher Sean Hilton                    [chris/at/vindaloo/dot/com]