The Sun and Moon both spin around with the globe absolutely correctly (not space science guy)
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Yeah, very cool!
We have some folks doing celestial navigation in the sim.
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Yeap. This seems to be quite accurately simulated in game. If you are curious you can check this short video. It explains the Earth rotation and the reason for seasons.
Cheers
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More accurately, the Earth is spinning around the Sun because the starscape surrounding the system shifts around as well.
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LOL you don’t have to but thanks, I work with a flat earther … the best was him arguing how the moon conveniently matches it’s rotation to it’s circumnavigation so we only see one side … “uh dude, that’s true of every discovered moon except one and that one is gaseous” … 
Edit: also again not space science guy
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Flateathers, eventually, they come around 
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Now all we need is changing seasons which are in the pipeline so that will be fun
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Bijan and REX have great payware currently
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I know but also very bugged at the moment
I own both, and Rex AccuSeasons is fantastic! well implemented, great interface / options.
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Yeah, I figured this out pretty early on after the sim launched when I was making nighttime high-altitude flights in the 787 and realized the phase of the Moon and constellations matched the real world.
A few months ago, there was a similar thread when some folks were discussing this and tried to replicate the August 2017 North American solar eclipse - it was very close but because it’s a flight sim not an astronomy sim, it wasn’t perfect. There was not real totality, let alone visual solar corona. But it was pretty good nonetheless.
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I’m not sure if the map updated with that and the atmosphere for the Top Gun update of if it was there before. It reminds me a bit now of Kerbal Space Program. Although the night sky still has a flat look to it.
Now we just need Auroras! Or at least I would like auroras in the sim.
There is a Periscopic Sextant out of a DC3 I spotted on Ebay just recently …
At night I find the moon grounds me to to time and orientation in both the sim and reality. Even if I fly around the globe.
Agreed. Seasons would be great. This is my first year with the sim, and I know when autumn comes I’m going to really wish they implemented fall colors.
I’m sure Rex AccuSeasons is fantastic when flying around US Northeast and Midwest in the Fall.
What would be a real winner is how does it look in mid October if you start a flight in, say Maine or Minnesota and end up in some place like Houston, TX, which should still be very much green in mid October in real life.
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That would be a good test, it downloads the updated files everyday (or how you set the schedule) and adjusts based on location so in theory it should transition.
So does this operate such that it runs as a standalone program that generates files that feed into the sim when it starts? Anyone with the program installed want to test out the routing? Maybe in the Tomcat or Darkstar so it goes fast.
A really good test would be Calgary to Houston in the fall. Quite variation, but still all places that are somewhat affected by seasons at different times of the year.
Correct, it installs the software, and then you pick, do you want to automate it (so it’s real time) or, you can just pick a season, and then there are variations to the season.
When you pick a season, it downloads that season and injects it. If you automate it, a scheduled task is created and every time it runs (based on schedule) it pulls down the updated files for the day. So I have it set to run at login so every time I login to my PC it updates and I’m current / good to go.
If you wanted to test the fall, could set it to fall and then fly YYC to Huston.
So if the stars and the moon move correctly what about the planets?
Do they follow the correct path including going retrograde as set out in an ephemeras ? Mercury in particular should be whizzing about all over the place.