: I think that Mr. Loftus has outdone himself with the Sol charts, and I'm sure
: they will be useful to a few people writing about those time periods. I
: was writing something a few months ago, and needed to know the distance
: between Mars and Pluto circa July 2558, and I wish there had been
: something like this then. I use a program called Celestia (no relation to
: the pony) and it's pretty good.

: However, I'm a bit unsure why Pluto was left off the charts. I know it's not
: considered a planet anymore, but it does have a UNSC presence on or around
: it, including the Democritus RSO and the Kelvington Research Station.
: Knowing where Pluto is, I think, would be pretty useful.

Thanks, and true, Pluto was left off. The chart was big enough to squeeze the inner solar system in legibly. Pluto's orbit would've been a little problematic. I could still tell where it was in relation to Mars if you still needed it. I too use Celestia...it's a wonderful resource.

The idea for doing the charts came out of my gameplay of Halo 2 Anniversary with Cortana's line, "Whispers, sir, near Io. We have probes enroute." We know that Regret's fleet was made up of the 15 or so remnant ships from the Unyielding Hierophant disaster so I wondered if Jupiter was actually situated between Tau Ceti and Earth. Turns out it was not. The Covenant overshot and exited slipspace near Jupiter, then backtracked to Earth.

It was just a fun little experiment.