Skyculture "Ruanui sky : Tahiti and Society islands"

[ThibaudGS]

Description

A new skyculture was added "Ruanui sky : Tahitit and Society islands".
This skyculture contains stars and constellations used in traditional polynesian astronomy in Society Islands (Tahiti, Bora bora...).
The main book reference we used was "Ancient Tahiti", therefore these stars are mainly the stars taught by Ruanui, an old lady from Bora bora whose knowledge was translated in the Book "Ancient Tahiti" by Teuira Henry.

This skyculture was missing, and our working group is proud to add this relevant addition to the Stellarium software, so that the polynesian population, but also a larger audience, can access this traditional knowledge.

The working group was composed of tahitian experts in polynesian astronomy (Christine Briant, Libor Prokop, Regis Plichart) and cultural tahitian associations ("Fa'afaite i te ao maohi", "Te Fare Hiroa no Vavau").

Fixes # (issue)

Screenshots (if appropriate):

Type of change

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• This change requires a documentation update
• Housekeeping

How Has This Been Tested?

This code has been tested on a computer version of Stellarium 24.1
We tested : star names, constellations names, constellation ships, constellation illustrations (with seasonal rules), planets names

Test Configuration:

• Operating system: <Name, version number>
  Windows 11

• Graphics Card: <Manufacturer (likely Intel, NVidia, AMD?), Model (HD, Geforce, Radeon..., with model number), driver version?>
  Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz 1.50 GHz
  NVidia GeForce

Checklist:

• My code follows the code style of this project.

• I have performed a self-review of my own code

• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas

• I have made corresponding changes to the documentation (header file)

• I have updated the respective chapter in the Stellarium User Guide

• My changes generate no new warnings

• I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my feature works

• New and existing unit tests pass locally with my changes

• Any dependent changes have been merged and published in downstream modules

[github-actions]

Great PR! Please pay attention to the following items before merging:

Files matching skycultures/**:

• Did you remember to update skycultures/CMakeLists.txt file respectively to changes in sky cultures?
• Did you remember to define classification parameter in sky cultures (see index.json file)?
• Did you remember to define license parameter in sky cultures (see description.md file)?
• Did you remember to define region parameter in sky culture (see index.json file)?

This is an automatically generated QA checklist based on modified files.

[alex-w]

Since version 25.1 we have a new format for storing the data of sky cultures and conversion tool from old format to the new one.

At the moment I have a few questions:

• Having the people of Tahiti and Society islands specific writing system or it uses a latin alphabet?
• Could you share an English names for planets also?
• Could you share an English names for stars also?
• What meaning names like "A5/T5" or "A2b" - is it really names or just some designations?

[ThibaudGS]

Hello Alex-w,

Thank you for your reply !

Where can I find the conversion tool ?

Here are the anwsers :

• The people of Tahiti use a latin alphabet with some special letters like "ā" and the use of apostrophe
• I could share a translation for the planet and star names in english, but where do I put it ? Is it in a new file ? I choose the Hawaian skyculture as an example, and I can't find the translations for the stars and planets.
• "A5/T5" and "A2b" are some designations used to distinguish some stars that may have different names depending on the reference used.

Thank you for your help !

[gzotti]

Please see User Guide chapter 9.

[ThibaudGS]

I updated the file for the planets names, using the user guide. For instance Saturn look now like this :
Saturn "Fetūtea" _("Pale star")

But I fail to find a way to do the same with stars. According to the user guide, the code for a star should look like this :
102098|_("Ta'urua-i-te-ha'apāra'a-manu") 1

Where can I put the english translation for the native name of a star ? I agree it would be very interesting as the translation is often a complete sentence.

Thanks a lot for your help !

Thibaud

[gzotti]

Please update to current version 25.1 and then use the User Guide that comes with version 25.1, chapter 9, to find all instructions, and take skycultures that come with 25.1 for examples. Convert your work with the converter that comes with version 25.1, then continue work on the converted result. Note that 25.1 does not show all cultural names on screen yet, but 25.2 (scheduled for June) will.

[ThibaudGS]

Thank you qzotti, i'm working on it

[sushoff]

better examples are the Siberian, Chinese and Greek (Almagest) - I think, they are the most complete (in terms of foreign characters, translations etc.)

Good luck!

[gzotti]

@ThibaudGS any updates? Are you planning completion ready for 25.2 or later? To see most new settings affecting name labelling, use a https://github.com/Stellarium/stellarium-data/releases/tag/weekly-snapshot

[ThibaudGS]

Hi Gzotti ! sorry for the delay. I follow the guide 25.1 and I have a few new files to create, using Chinese skyculture as an example. I'll do my best but I don't think I can deliver for the 25.2 release. What is the deadline ? Thank you again for your help !

[gzotti]

If you can provide at least a first version by Friday, it could go into master, let translators do their work for a week, and be in 25.2. Extensions are possible later. If it's not meaningful yet, aim for 25.3.

[ThibaudGS]

Thank you again gzotti, I think a first version by friday is possible !

[ThibaudGS]

Hi ! I finished the corrections ! Both files "index.json" and "description.md" are working on my computer (Stellarium 25.1). Both illustrations are in the "illustrations" folder, and it's working.
I didn't delete the old files, because we can still see them in Samoan ou Chinese skyculture, which I used as examples. But I guess theses old files are useless now.
I hope i'm on time for the 25.2 :)

[gzotti]

It seems this is based on a very old (pre-25) master. And it has not been developed in a separate branch as we recommend in the wiki. I cannot review this by just checking out and compiling, as it uses the old skyculture classes. I could messily copy files around, but we want to keep a structure.

@10110111, @alex-w what is the best command sequence for bringing this on top of current stellarium/master? I am not sure, it may be enough if ThibaudGS states on his system, in ThibaudGS/master:

git pull --rebase
(then build, check that all still works and)
git push --force

(this assumes his master just derives from stellarium's master. )

Or maybe in the git website here, locate the "Update branch" button and select "Update with rebase"?

[ThibaudGS]

Ok, thanks. I wait for the instructions.

[10110111]

The branch can be simply rebased. Then the CMakeLists.txt file inside the sky culture should be copy-overwritten by skycultures/CMakeLists.txt.template, and this change committed. Also, the list of SCs in skycultures/CMakeLists.txt (the ADD_SUBDIRECTORY commands) should be updated to include the new SC.

After this git push --force will overwrite the history on the server and in this PR.

Maybe something else, but I didn't check further.

[ThibaudGS]

I tried to understand how to rebased the branch, but it is my first time in Github and I don't understand...
Is it something I have to do on my Windows system with the Windows command ? Or is-it something I can do on this website ?
My apologies for my poor level in Github.
Wouldn't it be easier for me to do it again from the beginning, based on the 25.1 ?

[ThibaudGS]

Ok, I deleted the files

[Atque]

There's a small typo in one of the constellations.

Line 70 of index.json
"common_name": {"english": "Vortex ocean in wich to lose crime", "native": "Moana-'ohu-noa-'ei-ha'amoe-hara"}

"Vortex ocean in wich to lose crime"
should be
"Vortex ocean in which to lose crime" (missing an H in which).

[gzotti]

Yes, there are a few such minor issues. Instead of describing each in long sentences, I can fix them in a post-merge cleanup. Or if you want, you can send a pull request.

@ThibaudGS I wonder, are the figures of Orion (with shield and raised club), Gemini, Auriga, Perseus, Hydra, Crater, Corvus, Pisces, Cygnus really seen like "in the West", just with different names (which mostly don't seem to fit to those figures)? It looks strange to me. Other than that, technically it's OK now for me. @alex-w ? @sushoff ?

[alex-w]

Western stick figures for the local constellations looks strange for me too. Is it western influence or unknown stick figures for these constellations?

[ThibaudGS]

I corrected the Typo "wich" in index.
I added the two missing english translations on constellations.
About the stick figures, the explanation is that the main source for the tahitian constellations is the book "Ancient tahiti", Teuira Henry, 1928. In this book, a direct link is made beetween the western constellations and the tahitian ones, for the names. But there is no information about the traditionnal "form" tahitian people might have seen in these constellations. Our working group decided to keep the western stick figure, as it is the closest choice to respect the source "Ancient Tahiti".
If a consensus arise in the future about these figures among Tahiti traditionnal astronomers, we will make the update on the skyculture.

[ThibaudGS]

The only consensus find to diverge from western figures was : "Hiro's kite" and "Maui's hook" (for the Scorpio) and the "Cluster of four" (for the Crux)

[alex-w]

So, OK for me, but with typofixes after merge...

[sushoff]

I corrected the Typo "wich" in index. I added the two missing english translations on constellations. About the stick figures, the explanation is that the main source for the tahitian constellations is the book "Ancient tahiti", Teuira Henry, 1928. In this book, a direct link is made beetween the western constellations and the tahitian ones, for the names. But there is no information about the traditionnal "form" tahitian people might have seen in these constellations. Our working group decided to keep the western stick figure, as it is the closest choice to respect the source "Ancient Tahiti". If a consensus arise in the future about these figures among Tahiti traditionnal astronomers, we will make the update on the skyculture.

Is it possible to create stick figures in the area that resemble the term to which the Tahiti name refers?

I'm asking because stick figures are not historical: no other culture but the Chinese one had stick figures. Also the European/ American and all other stick figures have been invented in the 20th century. Thus, I consider it justified to create historical stick figures in the way that they resemble the shape - e.g. check the "Greek (Almagest) culture for reference: there are no stick figures in the historical Greek culture and specifically no ones in the Almagest or illustrated copies of it - for the whole two millennia of its tradition.

The stick figures in Stellarium, thus, resemble the shape of the constellation in antiquity, conciously and carefully reconstructing what the star designations describe (e.g. "the eye of someone" coordinates x,y)

Could you try to do sth.. similar, so that your stick figures fit the Tahiti name? Please! :-)

[ThibaudGS]

I can try to do it. Unfortunately some of the tahitian names are difficult to illustrate, like "Forest of parental yearnings". Maybe I can at least try to make it look different from the western stick figure (in particular for constellations like Orion which are very recognizable). What is the deadline for this work ?... I guess quickly so it can fit in the 25.2

[ThibaudGS]

I changed slightly the stick figures in index file. Mostly to make it different from the western visual, in a very minimalist way. A more elaborate work would need discussion with my working group which may take a long time. The next step for this skyculture will be to find illustrations for all the constellations, with the help of more people from tahitian community. I'm sure that the stick figures will be more approprietly modified when this (exciting !) work will be done, for a future extension of Stellarium.

[ThibaudGS]

Hi ! What should I do now ? Are we still in time for the 25.2 ? Thanks for your help ! :)

[ThibaudGS]

Thank you !! Mauruuru roa ! Now that the branch is merged, do I have something to do ?

[gzotti]

A few of the names are hard to comprehend and translate. Is the "Parent eater of rock" a fish (Loup de Mer)? Is it then just a "parent (older specimen) of the fish species 'Loup de Mer'"? If this item has any significance in Ruanui culture, the description.md would be the place to write about it. (The same applies to actually all constellations. A minimum of indigenous stories around the constellations would increase the value of this contribution. )