Trying to create a referenceEllipsoid for a fantasy exoplanet. How do I get a valid value for input number 1, 'name', that is not on the list of referenceEllipsoid values?

% Calculate referenceEllipsoid for the fantasy exoplanet Darodar; with

% SemiMajor Axis(aD) = 2400000 meters, SemiMinor Axis(bD) = 2392000 meters,

% Eccentricity(eccD) = 0.082, Flattening(fD) = 0.0033

aD = 2400000; % SemiMajor Axis of Darodar

eccD = 0.082; % Eccentricity of Darodar

nameEllipsoid = referenceEllipsoid('name') % Display Original Default Values

nameEllipsoid.SemimajorAxis = aD;

nameEllipsoid.Eccentricity = eccD

name = nameEllipsoid('kilometer');

aD = 2400000; % SemiMajor Axis of Darodar

eccD = 0.082; % Eccentricity of Darodar

darodarEllipsoid = referenceEllipsoid('darodar') % Display Original Default Values

darodarEllipsoid.SemimajorAxis = aD;

darodarEllipsoid.Eccentricity = eccD

Error using referenceEllipsoid (line 160)

Expected input number 1, NAME, to match one of these values:

'unitsphere', 'sphere', 'grs80', 'wgs84', 'everest', 'bessel', 'airy1830', 'airy1849', 'clarke66',

'clarke80', 'international', 'krasovsky', 'wgs72', 'wgs60', 'iau65', 'wgs66', 'iau68', 'earth', 'sun',

'moon', 'mercury', 'venus', 'mars', 'jupiter', 'saturn', 'uranus', 'neptune', 'pluto', 'Unit Sphere',

'Sphere', 'GRS 1980', 'WGS 84', 'Everest 1830 (1937 Adjustment)', 'Bessel 1841', 'Airy 1830', 'Airy

Modified 1849', 'Clarke 1866', 'Clarke 1880 (RGS)', 'International 1924', 'Krassowsky 1940', 'WGS 72',

'World Geodetic System 1960', 'International Astronomical Union 1965', 'World Geodetic System 1966',

'International Astronomical Union 1968', 'WGS 84', 'Sun', 'Moon', 'Mercury', 'Venus', 'Mars', 'Jupiter',

'Saturn', 'Uranus', 'Neptune', 'Pluto'

The input, 'darodar', did not match any of the valid values.

Answer 1

[Star Strider]

The only reference I can find for 'darodar' has to do with a spam referrer. (Perhaps choose another name?)

That aside, if 'darodar' is your exoplanet's name, you most likely have to create it as 'Unit Sphere' and then create valid data for it, using the approach I outlined in my answer to your previous question (that seems to be quoted here in part). You can probably save your 'darodar' exoplanet with all its data in a .mat file so you can just load it without recoding it each time.

darodar = referenceEllipsoid;
darodar.LengthUnit = 'meter';
darodar.SemimajorAxis = 2400000;
darodar.SemiminorAxis = 2392000;
darodar.Eccentricity = 0.082

darodar = 
referenceEllipsoid with defining properties:

                 Code: []
                 Name: 'Unit Sphere'
           LengthUnit: 'meter'
        SemimajorAxis: 2400000
        SemiminorAxis: 2391917.59055365
    InverseFlattening: 296.94115547254
         Eccentricity: 0.082

  and additional properties:

    Flattening
    ThirdFlattening
    MeanRadius
    SurfaceArea
    Volume

darodar.Flattening

ans = 0.0034

darodar.Flattening = 0.0033

Unable to set the 'Flattening' property of class ''referenceEllipsoid'' because it is read-only.

So apparently, it's not possible to set some of them.

EDIT -- (23 Apr 2026 at 23:47)

Added 'darodar' and its desired properties.

.