Angle of elevation in degrees of a star above the horizon, ranging from 0 degrees at the horizon to 90 degrees in the Zenith.
Asteroids:
The minor planets, most of which move around the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Several thousands of asteroids are known; the largest is Ceres.
Astronomical Unit (AU):
Mean distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is equal to 149,597,900 Km.
Azimuth:
Angle of a celestial object measured from the south point of the horizon westward to the meridian. Because of the earth's rotation, the azimuth of a body is changing all the time.
Cluster:
A collection of stars which are often associated.
Comet:
A member of the Solar System, moving around the Sun in an orbit which is generally highly eccentric.
Declination:
The angle measured in degrees perpendicular to the plane of the equator, ranging from -90 to +90 degrees.
Ecliptic:
A circle representing the apparent path of the Sun along the sky. Most planets move close to this plane.
Ephemeris:
A table giving the predicted positions of a moving celestial body, such as a planet or comet. PROCYON
X gives the coordinates for the epoch and equinox 2000.0
Galaxy:
System of stars; there are many kinds, and they differ widely in size and luminosity.
Greenwich Mean Time, time at the meridian of Greenwich. Also known as Universal Time (UT).
Julian Day:
(JD) The number of days, starting from noon on 1 January 4713 BC.
Latitude:
The angular distance of a celestial body from the nearest point on the Ecliptic.
LST:
Local Sidereal Time, hour angle of the vernal equinox.
Magnitude:
Scale for expressing the apparent brightness of a celestial object. A
fainter star has a higher magnitude. The naked eye in the city can view stars up to magnitude 5.
Messier Catalogue:
A compilation of Nebulae and Clusters created by the 18th-century French astronomer Messier.
Meteor:
A small particle which after entering the Earth's atmosphere burns up leaving a trail of light. The streak of luminosity is known as a Shooting Star.
Nebula:
A mass of tenuous gas in space together with what is loosely termed 'dust'.
New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters .
Phase:
The apparent changes in shape of the Moon and planets depending from what direction the light of the Sun hits the object and the viewing angle from Earth.
Planet:
A non-luminous body moving around a star. There are nine known major planets in our Solar System.
Planetary nebula:
A faint often circular nebula surrounding a star. They visually resemble a planet.
Radiant:
Point on the celestial sphere from which meteor of a given shower appear to radiate.
Right Ascension:
The angle measured eastward in hours along the equator between the meridian of an object and the meridian from a specific point in the constellation Pisces (vernal equinox). Ranging from 0 to 24 hours.
Vernal Equinox:
Point in the constellation Pisces that is reached by the Sun around March 21 and marks the beginning of the spring.
Universal Time (UT):
See Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT).
Zenith Hourly Rate, average number of meteors per hour during maximum (approximate rate of activity).
Constellations
Andromeda And
Antlia Ant
Apus Aps
Aquarius Aqr
Aquila Aql
Ara Ara
Aries Ari
Auriga Aur
Bootes Boo
Caelum Cae
Camelopardalis Cam
Cancer Cnc
Canis Major CMa
Canis Minor CMi
Canes Venatici CVn
Capricornus Cap
Carina Car
Cassiopeia Cas
Centaurus Cen
Cepheus Cep
Cetus Cet
Chamaeleon Cha
Circinus Cir
Columba Col
Coma Berenices Com
Corona Australis CrA
Corona Borealis CrB
Corvus Crv
Crater Crt
Crux Cru
Cygnus Cyg
Delphinus Del
Dorado Dor
Draco Dra
Equuleus Equ
Eridanus Eri
Fornax For
Gemini Gem
Grus Gru
Hercules Her
Horologium Hor
Hydra Hya
Hydrus Hyi
Indus Ind
Lacerta Lac
Leo Leo
Leo Minor LMi
Lepus Lep
Libra Lib
Lupus Lup
Lynx Lyn
Lyra Lyr
Mensa Men
Microscopium Mic
Monocerotus Mon
Musca Mus
Norma Nor
Octans Oct
Ophiuchus Oph
Orion Ori
Pavo Pav
Pegasus Peg
Perseus Per
Phoenix Phe
Pictor Pic
Pisces Psc
Piscis Austrinus PsA
Puppis Pup
Pyxis Pyx
Reticulum Ret
Sagitta Sga
Sagittarius Sgr
Scorpius Sco
Sculptor Scl
Scutum Sct
Serpens Ser
Sextant Sex
Taurus Tau
Telescopium Tel
Triangulum Tri
Triangulum Australe TrA
Tucana Tuc
Ursa Major UMa
Ursa Minor UMi
Vela Vel
Virgo Vir
Volans Vol
Vulpecula Vul
Solar System
Sun Su
Mercury Me
Venus V
Moon Mo
Mars Ma
Jupiter J
Saturn Sa
Uranus U
Neptune N
Pluto P
Object: Binary Stars
Calculates the orbit of a Binary Star and indicates
the position in the current year.
Object: Variable Stars
Calculates the next minimum or maximum of a
Variable Star. For Algol: Flashing cursor shows
current phase/magnitude.
Object: Starname
Seeks a star specified by (part of) Name (e.g.
Procyon).
Object: Messier
Enter (part of) a name or number of a Messier
object. Pictures of the Mesier objects are only
shown in the Pro version
Object: NGC
In the Light version only 100 objects are shown.
The entire database with more than 7000
objects is only available in the Pro version. Enter
the NGC number.
Object: Planets
Shows the position of a Solar System or the user-
defined object and the phases of the planets.
Object: Minor Bodies>
Cascade: Asteroids or Comets. Choose Asteroid
or Comet and subsequently enter the name of a
Comet or Asteroid.
Show: Jovian Moons
Displays a twin-view of Jupiter and his moons.
The positions of the Moons at other times are
displayed by using the cursors as indicated.
The arrow indicates the direction of the Earth.
Show: Solar System
Shows top view of our Solar System. The arrows
indicate the vernal equinox.
Show: Saturn View
Shows Saturn with rings and moons. Use 0-9 to
zoom in and out. a and b repesent the long and short axis of the ring.
Show: Event Base
The Zoom function focuses on the region of
interest. Feel free to explore and expand this
Database.
Show: Graphs
Shows Graphs of the Magnitude, Diameter (") and
Declination of the classic planets and the Visibility
of Mercury and Venus.
Show: Invert View
Inversion facilitates observation of faint stars.
Show: Circular Sky
This option shows a cirular presentation of the sky. The orientation of the presenation can be chosen. as well as 2 x zoom. Scrolling of the sky
map to reveal another part of sky is obtained by pressing the Arrow keys. To identify an object first stop scrolling by pressing Esc. Subsequently, tap on the object of choice.
If the constellation lines, names or the ecliptic have been checked in Edit : Show Options, they will be presented in the Sky map.
Edit: Date/Time
Change the Date/Local Time or SummerTime.
Edit: City
Enter a city of your choice. This routine uses the extensive database of the World application. Searching this database might take some time.
Edit: User Location
Manually edit a location.
Edit: Preferences
Use this option to set your preferences. High Precision is only available in Pro version. When the Zoom window is 21
or larger (maximal 45
) the constellation lines are shown (if the option Constellation lines in Show Options is checked
Edit: Show Options
Sets the items you want to see. Mirror Image
allows to choose between Normal and
Mirror Image presentation. Mirror Image shows
the Jovian and Saturnian Moons as viewed
through a telescope with a Zenith Prism. See the Constellations card of this Help file for the
abbreviations of the Constellation Names. The default presentation of the sky is South-oriented. By checking North View the sky will be shown North-oriented.
Edit: Graph Options
Sets the names of the individual Planets you
want to include in your Graphic Presentations.
Edit: Screen Update
Repettitive updating of the screen with the chosen interval
Find: Constellation
This options reveals the stars belonging to the
same constellation and is only available in the Pro
version.
Find: Identify
Identifies a specific object using pen-touchiing.
Tap the object and information will appear.
Find: Track
Plots the path of a Comet or Asteroid using any
user-made database (made in DATA with the
extension .trk) with a series of positions
(e.g.Halebopp.trk).
Line 1 in such a database has to be the R.A.
[0.00h-23.59h]
Line 2 in such a database is reserved for the Dec
[-90
Find: Position
Shows the position (RA, Dec) of a User-defined object. A user-chosen name is optional.
Find: Mars Meridian
Calculates the Central Meridian (C.M.) of Mars.
Shows the position of the C.M. on the Mars map
and after pressing a key the currently visible part
of Mars.
Find: Red Spot
Shows when the Jovian Red Spot passes the
Central Meridian. Because the position of the Red
Spot is variable, the longitude can be updated using
Preferences Ctrl-O). For the latest position of the
Red Spot see Sky & Telescope magazine
(May 2001 value is 76 degrees). This
option is only availablble in the Pro version.
Find: Zenith View
Shows the stars between 50 and 90 degrees
height
Find: Ephemeris
Display compiled data of Solar System objects.
K% indicates Moon Phase
(0 % is New Moon; 100 % is Full Moon).
For other items see Dictionary.
When we take a long look at the sky on a clear, starry night, have you not been awed by the vastness and the beauty ? The distant star and galaxies appear to be fixed and unchanging, but actually you are observing a small portion of a dynamic and revolving universe.
PROCYON XL is a Universe in the Palm of your Hands... It is the most extended Astronomy software for the Psion Series 3a/c, 5/5mx and now the 7. This small program is packed full of information including the Yale Star Catalogue, all Messier objects and the NGC Catalogue, Graphs and Tables, and much, much more!
CPROCYON
XL is available as a Light version (freeware) and a Pro version (shareware).
Compared to the Light version the PROCON
XL Pro version has a number of extra features:
The Yale Star database is extended from magnitude 4.0 (Light) to magnitude 5.0 (Pro) (1600+ items);
The completel NGC Catalogue of Deep Sky objects (7800+ items) is available;
The Reference-star Database with stars to magnitude 6 is available in Zoom-window;
More than 750 Minor Planets and Comets;
Pictures of all 110 Messier Objects;
Constellation names in Main-view;
Jovian Red Spot visibility option;
Constellation Identification;
Constellation Names in Normal and Zenith View;
Lunar Eclipse Graph.
After registration you will receive a file named 7PROCYON.KEY. In addition you'll need the Procyon Auxiliary-pack (http://www.sussenbach.myweb.nll)..
Installation of both files upgrades the Light version to the Pro version. Without these the current program will work as a Light version.
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All PROCYON XL files should be placed in a subdirectory named \SYSTEM\APPS\PROCYON. Procyon will search for these files on the Internal Disc C: and then on the D: disk. PROCYON.INI will be used to store your personal Preferences. If you have registered Procyon, you have received a file 7PROCYON.KEY which should also be placed in the above mentioned subdirectory. RMRAlarm.opx should be placed in a \SYSTEM\OPX directory
UPDATING FROM
PREVIOUS VERSIONS
Since each versions contains new options, you'll have to delete PROCYON.INI after installing. PROCYON
XL will prepare a new INI file when the program is closed
IMPORTANT
Note that PROCYON
XL uses the English/American decimal separator, viz. a dot. If you use a continental version of Series 5 with the comma as decimal separator you have to change that into a dot!
Start the program!
After proper installation the PROCYON
XL icon is shown in the Extra's bar. Press and the show starts.
If you want to make a screen dump of a specific scene, press Shift-Ctrl-Fn-S and give the file a name. The file is now saved in the root of the C: disk. Now start Sketch and choose File, More, Merge in and choose EPOC Picture as the file type. Having done this the file can be saved as a Sketch file. Now you can drag the file using Psiwin to your computer and it will automatically be converted to a bitmap file that can for instanc be used with your Word processor.
Special: Info
Useful Information.
Special: About
Info about PROCYON XL and its Designers.
Special: Rise/Set and Twilight
Rise/Set displays the times of Rising and Setting of the Sun and Planets. Twilight (only available in the Pro version) displays the start and finish of Civil Twilight (Sun 6
below the horizon), Nautical Twilight (Sun 12
below the horizon) and Astronomical Twilight (Sun 18
below the horizon). When the Sun does not go deep enough this is indicated by ---
Special: Symbols
Summary of the Symbols used.
Special: Rebuild
Initiates a Rebuild of the screen.
Special: Zoom
To Zoom in on the region of interest press the Fn
button and tap on the object of interest.
The program will draw the stars of the main screen including the constellation lines when the Zoom window is 21
or larger and the Show Constellations Lines option is checked.
If the Constellation Names option is checked, the full names of the constelations will appear in the Zoom window.
Subsequently, the stars of the Reference catalogue till magnitude 6 are drawn.
Wait till the counter indicates that 100% has been drawn. For more information on an object drawn in the Zoom window just tap.
(for the stars of the Refstar catalogue no further information will be given)
Zooming in on the User-defined object is possible when the Zoom window is smaller than 20
. It is very useful when the Zoom window is smaller than 5
e.g. with a Solar Eclipse (see Event base) or a detailed map of a the region where a Solar System or Messier or NGC object is located.
Special: Help
Shows this file
Special: Quit
Gosh... Just try it.
You may currently be usr
ing the Light Version of PROCYON
XL. This version is free for non-commercial use, but we would appreciate if you could send us a
postcard saying whether you like this program or not. Also suggestions for extensions of the program are welcome.
If you really like this program or use it regulary you might consider registering:
Regsoft US$ 30 www.RegSoft.com 4584
Regnet US$ 35 www.swregnet.com/1703p.htm 1703
With the key-file system there is no need to re-install the program, which can be a lengthy process considering the size of the complete Pro version. Just add the '7PROCYON.KEY' file to \SYSTEM\APPS\PROCYON
The following files are absolutely required to run Procyon:
PROCYON.APP (Main Program).
7YALE.DBF (Yale Bright Star Catalogue).
7MESSIER.DBF (Messier Nebula).
7PROCYON.MBM
RMRAlarm.opx in a \SYSTEM\OPX directory
The following files are all optional:
7BINARY.DBF (Binary Stars Database);
7VARIABLE.DBF (Variable Stars Database);
7EVENT.DBF (Event Base);
7MPLAN.DBF (Asteroids en Comets);
7MILKWAY.DBF (Milkyway Outline);
7CONS.DNF (Constellation names).
The Saturnian moons option is based on emperical formulae. All calculations are performed with 16 digit precision. We've done our best to achieve the most optimal performance in such a 'small' program. If you find any bugs, irregularities, just have smart ideas how expand the program or have even better algorithms, please contact us!
Thanks to all the testers (in particular John Davies and Uli Kudicke) and contributers out there, who have supplied ideas, support, bug-reports and other useful stuff.
If you got any questions, suggestions, want more technical information or just want to congratulate us, we can be reached at:
--------- Snail Mail ---------
John Sussenbach
Park Arenberg 42
3731 ET De Bilt
The Netherlands
Pedro van Can
Wilgenlaan 14
6241 BJ Bunde
The Netherlands
------- Electronic Mail ------
j.sussenbach@hccnet.nl
psion@home.nl
---- Procyon Homepages----
http:www.sussenbach.myweb.nl
http://members.home.nl/psion/procyonx.html
Clear skys end enjoy the program when clouded-out!
Pedro van Can, John Sussenbach, July 2001
Moon: Phases.
Displays the Moon Phase and additional
information.
Moon: Zoom Map
Tap regionof interest and an enlarged section of the Moon will appear with the name of the Mare. Tapping a detail in the Zoom Map will reveal the name and position of the nearest registered object
Moon: Craters and Mares
Choose a Moon feature and press OK. A map of the Moon will appear with the position of the chosen object indicated
Moon: Full/New Moon
Displays the dates of Full and New Moon.
SE: Solar Eclipse, LE: Lunar Eclipse
To show eclipses, navigate to dates marked as a
lunar eclipse and press. Then press Shift-Ctrl-L
to show the eclipse
Moon: Lunar Eclipse
Only in Pro version. Shows during a lunar eclipse
the position of the Moon relative to the Earth
shadow. For dates of Lunar eclipses use first
option Full/New Moon (Ctrl-Shift-P). Navigate to a
date with the indications LE . Press Enter and
subsequently press Shift-Ctrl-L.The line
represents the path of the Moon (only in the Pro
version at High accuracy).
Menu: Object=
Menu: Show=
Menu: Tools=
Glossary;
Registration0
o Tech Info0
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Menu: MoonN
For several years already PROCYON
is the most extensive Astronomy program for the Series 3a/3c and 5t/5mx. With the release of the Series 7, many requests came to port the program for the new Psion machine. Here we release the first version of the program for the Series 7 and call it PROCYON
XL.
PROCYON XL: The Next Generation
With this version we start a new generation of PROCYON that takes advantage of the larger size of the Psion 7 screenas well as its color support.
For further news on the development of the program consult our homepages:
http://www.sussenbach.myweb.nl
http://members.home.nl/psion/procyonx.html
The Light version of PROCYON
XL is freeware, but the Pro version with many extras is shareware and can be obtained by registration (see Registration).
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PROCYON XL0
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Installation0
Menu: Edit=
Menu: Find=
For several years already PROCYON
is the most extensive Astronomy program for the Series 3a/3c and 5t/5mx. With the release of the Series 7, many requests came to port the program for the new Psion machine. Here we release the first version of the program for the Series 7 and call it PROCYON
XL.
PROCYON XL: The Next Generation
With this version we start a new generation of PROCYON that takes advantage of the larger size of the Psion 7 screen as well as its color support.
For further news on the development of the program consult our homepages:
http://www.sussenbach.myweb.nl
http://members.home.nl/psion/procyonx.html
The Light version of PROCYON
XL is freeware, but the Pro version with many extras is shareware and can be obtained by registration (see Registration).
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