SkyNew
Giant planet
A banded gas giant hanging in the sky at any size, lit from one side, with a storm oval and optional rings.
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Added
- 23 October 2026
- Films
- Not used in a film yet
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| az | number | 180 | 0 to 360 deg | compass direction of the planet's centre: 0 north, 90 east, 180 south |
| alt | number | 30 | -90 to 90 deg | height of the planet's centre above the horizon |
| size (Can change over time) | number | 20 | 0.01 to 120 deg | angular diameter across the equator; the Moon is 0.52, a Jupiter at the Moon's distance about 20Can change over time |
| sunAz (Can change over time) | number | 290 | 0 to 360 deg | compass direction of the Sun, which sets the phase (the film's Sun is not known to this block)Can change over time |
| sunAlt (Can change over time) | number | 20 | -90 to 90 deg | height of the Sun above the horizon, which sets the phaseCan change over time |
| sunDistance (Can change over time) | number | 5.2 | 0.05 to 60 AU | the planet's distance from the Sun: sunlight falls as 1 over its square (Jupiter 5.2, Saturn 9.6)Can change over time |
| albedo | number | 0.5 | 0.05 to 0.9 | how much sunlight its clouds return (Jupiter 0.5, Saturn 0.5, Neptune 0.4) |
| zoneColour | color | #dccfb6 | – | colour of the light zones, the high pale clouds |
| beltColour | color | #a08466 | – | colour of the dark belts, where the cloud deck sits deeper |
| stormColour | color | #b8684b | – | colour of the great storm oval |
| bands | integer | 14 | 4 to 40 | how many belts and zones lie between the poles |
| turbulence | number | 0.55 | 0 to 1 | how ragged and wavy the belt edges are, and how much swirl fills the clouds |
| contrast | number | 0.6 | 0 to 1 | how strongly the belts differ from the zones |
| storm | number | 0.6 | 0 to 1 | size of the great storm oval; 0 for none |
| stormLatitude | number | -22 | -70 to 70 deg | latitude of the great storm oval |
| rotation | number | 1 | -30 to 30 deg/s | how fast the clouds turn, the belts at slightly different speeds |
| rings | bool | false | – | draw rings in the style of Saturn's C, B and A rings, with the Cassini gap |
| tilt | number | 18 | -90 to 90 deg | how far the planet's pole leans to the right on the sky (rings lean with it) |
| opening | number | 24 | -90 to 90 deg | how far we look over the ring plane: 0 edge-on, 90 from above the pole, negative from below |
| ringAlbedo | number | 0.6 | 0.05 to 1 | how bright the ring ice is under full sunlight |
| oblateness | number | 0.07 | 0 to 0.2 | polar flattening: 0 a ball, Jupiter 0.065, Saturn 0.098 |
| atmosphere | number | 0.5 | 0 to 1 | strength of the thin hazy glow at the limb, brightest near the lit edge |
| softness | number | 0.3 | 0 to 1 | how gradually daylight fades into night at the terminator |
| seed | integer | 7 | 0 to 999 | changes the pattern of clouds, ovals and ring ripples without changing the look |
Use it in a film
film.js
elements: { 'giant-planet': { az: 180, alt: 30 } }Use it from your agent
Ask your agent to put it in a film. It finds the element by name.