1. Simulation Curriculum Corp.
  2. Community
  3. General Forum Discussion
New post
1

Minor Body Orbit Data Update Changes Observed Object Names (Solution: Update Minor Body Orbit Data)

Hello,

I would like to report an issue with how SkySafari handles minor body database updates.

Whenever I update “Minor Body Orbit Data,” the asteroid and comet names in my Observations and Observing Lists change incorrectly. It looks like the app reassigns object names to IDs after each update instead of preserving the original identification.

Here’s a real example:

  • With the minor body data updated on 25-Apr-2025 23:02:56 CEST, I observed asteroid (4) Vesta.

  • After updating Minor Body Orbit Data on 26-Apr-2025 11:24, the previously observed object changed to (43) Ariadne.

  • After another update on 27-Apr-2025 23:50:07, it changed again, now showing as (45) Eugenia.

I also observed a similar name and object change issue for comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN), which I had added to my observing list. After updating the Minor Body Orbit Data, the entry changed to a completely different comet.

This makes it impossible to reliably track my actual observations of asteroids and comets over time, as all historical observation data becomes invalid after a simple database update.

It seems that SkySafari matches observations and lists based on internal object IDs, but reassigns these small bodies IDs when the Minor Body Orbit Data is refreshed.

Details: SkySafari 7 Pro, latest version on iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1.

Could you please confirm if this is a known issue and if a fix is planned?

Thank you very much for your support!

Peter

Date Votes

15 comments

  • Avatar
    Keiron Smith Official comment

    DevOps reference: https://starrynight.unfuddle.com/a#/projects/7965/tickets/by_number/3721

  • 1
    Avatar
    Dean

    I would like to confirm that I have also seen this renaming occur. Of the 7 items in the “My Favorites“ list, one name changed immediately after a Minor Body Orbit Data update.
    The asteroid 2024 UD48 was changed to 2024 UR38.

    SkySafari Pro 7.5.3 (1128)
    iOS 17.7.2

  • 1
    Avatar
    Dean

    Today I find that asteroid 2024 UR38 has changed again (after a Minor Body Orbit Data update). Now it’s renamed as 2024 UK37 in my “My Favorites“ list.
    Each of the past renamed asteroids can still be searched for and plot as individual objects on the sky chart.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Dean

    Day three:
    The name has changed again. Was 2024 UK37, is now 2024 UA33.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Dean

    Why is my comment from April 29 still pending approval?

  • 1
    Avatar
    psap

    I stumbled upon the February post that seems to describe a similar problem with Observing List: https://support.simulationcurriculum.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/29824816645655-Observing-Lists-get-corrupted.

  • 1
    Avatar
    psap

    Just following up after a week — would appreciate confirmation if this issue is being looked into. As the other users have confirmed the same problem, it is reproducible. Thanks in advance!

  • 0
    Avatar
    psap

    Following up after two weeks — would appreciate confirmation if this issue is being looked into. As the other users have confirmed the same problem, it is reproducible. Thanks in advance!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Hi Peter, 

    Is this still an issue in SS7 pro 7.6.1?

    In Help > scroll to the bottom > what is the SS7 version number?

    Thanks!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Dirtbagpook

    Hi Keiron,

    I believe it is still the case. I am testing in SkySafari Pro v7.6.6 on iPad Pro Gen 3 w/iPad OS 18.7.1 & iPhone 14 Plus w/iOS 18.7.1. I am using Starry Night Pro v8.1.1.2079 to view the Observation Log, but not edit the entries.

    This would explain why my recent Comet Lemmon & Comet Swan entries change to another comet of the same name. 

    For example, I observe and record an observation of C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) [eg: Date & Time begin/end, Observation List, Comments, Seeing, sometimes Limiting Mag & Equipment used], and before I close the New Observation, I ensure it is the correct comet. Several days later, when I view the list of observations (via Toolbar>Observe>Observations), the entry is no longer C/2025 A6, but C/2007 S2 (Lemmon). The object entry in Starry Night & LiveSky is simply ‘Lemmon’.

    Searching for C/2025 A6 via Toolbar>Search returns zero hits for C/2025 A6 (& C/2025 S2). The A6 entries do show up via Toolbar>Observe>Observations then search from there. It is very slow with 9,200 Observation records.

    Same issue for Comet C/2025 R2 Swan entries. It is now listed as P/2005 T4 (SWAN).

    Feel free to reach out if you need more information.

    Best,

    Mark Force

  • 0
    Avatar
    Steven Longley

    I have successfully (until about 2 weeks ago) been able to use SS8 Pro to check which star fileds nebulae star clusters etc that ISS(Zarya) is passing through, so that I can capture images with my telescope of such 'events'.

    Now I caanot find any satellites aper from a few Cosmos satellites and a good few Satrlink satellites.

    Curiously even if I turn off Show Satellites, there appears to be a line of orbit where Satrlink satellites appear as white dots. Where there are many in anarea the lines seems to bloat. It looks like the Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder -  a visual recording of the sun's intensity and duration using a glass sphere that acts like a magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto a specially treated paper.

    I have these same issues on ipad and iphone 17 Pro Max IOS 26.4.

    I have uninstalled and reinstalled SS8 Pro several imes. I have had to re-do most of the settings, although my Longitude/Lattitue/Height seem to have either been retained or collected from other apps/apps on my devices. Each time I update Minor Body Orbit Data, I get over 1,578,000 solar system objects update (over 235Mb of data).

    However whenever I search ISS or Zarya I do not get the space station but several other objects which contain the pattern 'iss' or for Zarya features on Mercury and Venus. If I search for 25544 the NORAD ID (also known as the Satellite Catalog Number or SATCAT) for the International Space Station. the list that I get has an asteroid a variable star and a spiral galaxy but no space station.

    Current Satellites has no entries at all.

    Please help resolve this, the alternative (Stellarium) in nowhere near as useful/reliable/accurate or as easy to use as SS* was until about 2 weeks ago.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Thanks, Stephen, developers will fix this asap.

  • 0
    Avatar
    paul blake

    Ditto for SkySafari 6pro on macOS desktop.  All was OK on 10May2026... updated minor body data on 12May2026 and all satellite data is gone.  As noted above, searching for ISS shows other objects containing iss, but not the space station. 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Steven Longley

    Hi after my posting on 12th May 2026 re ISS search and data not working .

    This afternoon 17th May 2026 I was using SS8 on my iPad and searched for the International Space Station.

    I did a refresh or Minor body data.

    Zarya still shows only features on Mercury and Venus

    However when I search for ISS or 25544 I now see the ISS with its path shown, it now seems to be working as before.

    The Starlink satellites are no longer clustered along the ecliptic.

    I have re-installed SS8 so many times, so I'm not too sure when it was resolved.  

    I checked on my iPhone, it was not showing ISS for ANY of the searches I have been using..

    I uninstalled and re-installed SS8.

    My iPhone now shows search results for ISS in the same way that my iPad does, ISS and 25544 work but Zarya does not)

    Thank you for your efforts 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    One of the data files became corrupted, developer fixed it on Friday.

    Thanks for your reports and patience.

    Clear skies!

Please sign in to leave a comment.