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- 1 - THE MOON 2.03 Astronomical software by Renzo Del Rosso, Marco Menichelli and Alessandro Pieri (Associazione Astrofili Valdinievole). This is a Shareware program and can freely be copied and distributed. Registration is the only requirement, so that it is possible to evaluate the program diffusion. It is strongly forbidden to use the program or part of it for commercial purposes without the preventive written authorization of the authors. The non-integral diffusion of the software is forbidden. The program is written in Microsoft Quick Basic 4.5 language. Runtime Microsoft Brun45 module is required for the correct operation. Microsoft is a registered trademark of "Microsoft Corporation" THE MOON is composed of various modules linked together; this modules can be used either by beginners or by advanced amateur astronomers. It is possible to visualize the moon surface with the option of zooming in minor details; it is furthermore possible to obtain information about the main lunar seas, mountains, craters. Another part of the program provides information about the lunar motion, the main historical events, the most important phenomena. The third part, the most complex, is devoted to advanced amateur astronomers: precise data for lunar ephemeris can be obtained, it is possible to compute eclipses, the terminator position and retrieve all the information needed for the preparation of a good lunar observation. The last part includes some utilities that could be useful to the amateur astronomers and to the normal user. It is possible, in fact, to transform from equatorial to horizontal coordinates and vice versa, to calculate the Calendar Date from the Julian Day and vice versa, the difference between two date and the date of Easter. - 2 - INDEX Introduction....................................... Page 3 Main menu.......................................... Page 4 Graphics........................................... Page 6 Information........................................ Page 7 The instantaneous ephemeris computation............ Page 8 The lunar phases................................... Page 8 The terminator..................................... Page 9 The visibility of the moon......................... Page 10 The solar and lunar eclipses....................... Page 11 Various utilities.................................. Page 12 - 3 - INTRODUCTION The whole package is composed of 7 archives, compressed with ARJ 2.30 packer. The archives are called: MOON203A.ARJ, MOON203B.ARJ, MOON203C.ARJ, MOON203D.ARJ, MOON203E.ARJ, MOON203F.ARJ, MOON203G.ARJ. Contents of the archives are: MOON203A.ARJ: LUNA.HLP, DATI.LUN, MOTI.LUN, MARIMONT.LUN, CRATERI.LUN, INIZIO.LUN, COORDGEO, LUNA.DOC, HISTORY.LUN (only in Italian), ELENCO.MAR, ELENCO.CRA, POSIZ.LUN, LOCALITA.ITA. MOON203B.ARJ: BRUN45.EXE, ECLIPSE.EXE, ECLISS.EXE, FASE.EXE, FENOMENI.EXE, LUNA.EXE, LUNACFG.EXE, ZOOM.EXE, ALTAZ.EXE. MOON203C.ARJ: MAPPA.EXE, MAPPA2.EXE, MOTI.EXE, TERMINAR.EXE, NOTIZIE.EXE, SIMUL.EXE, MENU.EXE, SOLLUNA.EXE, TERMINA.EXE, VISIBILI.EXE. MOON203D.ARJ: MOON00.EXE, MOON__01.EXE, MOON__02.EXE, MOON__03.EXE, MOON__04.EXE, MOON__05.EXE, MOON__06.EXE, MOON__07.EXE, MOON__08.EXE, MAPCGA.EXE, MAPVGA1.AAV, MAPVGA2.AAV, MAPVGA3.AAV. MOON203E.ARJ: MOON__09.EXE, MOON__10.EXE, MOON__11.EXE, MOON__12.EXE, MOON__13.EXE, MOON__14.EXE. MOON203F.ARJ: MOON__15.EXE, MOON__16.EXE, MOON__17.EXE, MOON__18.EXE, MOON__19.EXE, MOON__20.EXE. MOON203G.ARJ: MOON__21.EXE, MOON__22.EXE, MOON__23.EXE, MOON__24.EXE, MOON__25.EXE, LUNAVGA1.AAV, LUNAVGA2.AAV, LUNAVGA3.AAV, ECLISSI1.AAV, ECLISSI2.AAV, ECLISSI3.AAV. Create a directory on your Hard Disk (for example c:\moon); go into this directory and insert the disk with the 7 archives in drive A:, the type ARJ E A:* <Enter>. - 4 - In this way you will copy in the new directory all the files unpacked and ready to be executed; a backup copy of the program will always be available on the diskette. The minimal configuration required for using this program is: 2.5 Mbytes of free space on HD; MCGA or higher graphics card; 640 KB RAM. The program was written and tested using the 3.30 DOS. It support also the 4.01 and 5.00 DOS versions, but operation with versions earlier than 3.30 is not guaranteed. First of all configure the program by running the LUNACFG module. After entering the observation site, choose the graphic card (VGA or MCGA) and whether or not the mouse is going to be used. The program starts when you type LUNA followed by the <Enter> key. The LUNA module will be started by any other command relative to the other modules. The first screen is an image of the Moon with the program logo. Pressing any key, a window is opened in which some recommendations are given; press <PgDn> to continue to the second window; once you have read its contents press the <ESC> key. If the program is correctly registered, the identification of the user appears and it is possible to start working freely. Otherwise the program informs you that the registration is not correct and some routines are not fully functional. If you do not have a VGA card or if you declared during the configuration that you are using an MCGA card, the images appear only in the zooming program, in the terminator visualization and in the section relative to the internal structure of the Moon. The explanations given in this document will be relative to the VGA card but they will also be, in general, applicable to the minimal configuration. At the beginning, two function keys will be active: the <F1> key, to obtain help about the usage of the program, and the <F2> key that will immediately get you back to the main menu. Other function keys will be used later for specific program functions. - 5 - THE MAIN MENU The main menu is a made up of pulldown menus that can be opened by pressing any key or the left mouse button. All the functions, except for very few special cases, are accessible via <Hot Keys>: it is not necessary to press <Enter> to confirm the choice. This makes the program faster to use. When a pulldown menu is opened the available keys are indicated in white, while the unavailable choiches appear in color. If you press any key, the pulldown menu relative to the various computational procedures, the most commonly used, will appear. At this point we can move with the arrow keys to the other menus: these are (from the left to the right): The "EXIT" menu, which allows the quitting from the program, to access the on-line Help and to exit to the Dos shell. The "Graphics" menu, giving access to the graphic features, with the opportunity of zooming on the lunar surface, of obtaining data on seas, mountains and craters. The "Data" menu, allowing access to the reference section of the program, with the data on the lunar motions and on the main phenomena, in addition to historical information and trivia. The "Calculation" menu, giving access to the main computation program. Such program is divided into several modules among which are the eclipses computation, the ephemeris computation and the calculation of the terminator line position. Normally, with the exception of few special cases, the mouse left button, will correspond to the <Enter> key , while the right button has the same function as the <ESC> key. - 6 - GRAPHICS After choosing the <G> pulldown menu from the main menu and after confirming the <ZOOM> option, you enter the module dedicated to graphics. The Moon appears now divided into 25 sectors: the sector in the top-left corner is colored in red. With the cursor keys is it possible to choose one square and confirm the choice with <Enter>. An enlarged view of the sector will then be shown. The available Hot Keys are displayed. Besides the arrow keys to move the cursor, and the enter key to zoom, the <F1> key is available for the on-line help, the <ESC> key to go back to the previous menu, the <F9> to list the lunar seas, mountains and valleys, the <F10> to list craters and the <F2> key to go back to the main menu immediately. This key is very important since it allows to interrupt any computation at any moment. It is useful especially with not so fast computers, to be able to abandon calculations which might be taking too long. With the <F9> and <F10> keys the lists of seas, mountains, valley and craters are shown. If we select one of them with the cursor key and we confirm it with <Enter>, or select with the arrow pointing to the desired zone and confirm with the left mouse button, the lunar sector with the chosen feature is immediately displayed. As explained before, from the graphic menu it is possibile to zoom in one of the 25 sectors into which the Moon is divided. In almost all the sectors, various geological formations, worth of detailed examination, can be found. When you select a sector and confirm with the <Enter> key, an enlargement of that area appears. In addition to the <F1> and <F2> keys, the usage of which has already been discussed, and the <ESC> key to return to the previous menu, another key is available: the <F10> key. While pressing this key, a window is created in which the main craters, seas and mountains appearing in the enlarged image are listed. Near each of these names you see a letter or a number. By pressing the corresponding key (upper or lower case), a new window will provide information about the crater, the sea or the mountain chain that has been chosen. It is possible to press the key corresponding to the letter or to the number of the feature we are interesting in also from the zoom graphic page. Another possibility consist in clicking with the mouse on the letter or number from the zoom graphic page. - 7 - THE INFORMATION MENU It is possible to enter this menu after opening the DATA pulldown menu from the main menu. When you make this choice, the available functions are: <M> - for displaying information about lunar mountains and technical data about the Moon. - for displaying historical information, trivia and other details about the Moon. - for displaying explanations of the main phenomena occurring on the Moon. If you think of some useful addition to this module, please send us a short note; we shall consider its inclusion in the next release of the program. - 8 - THE INSTANTANEOUS EPHEMERIS CALCULATION From the main menu, after entering the "Calculation" pulldown menu, you have the following options: <E> - for the calculation and visualization of eclipses. - for the calculation lunar phases and for the calculation of the monthly apogee and perigee distances. - for calculation of present solar and lunar ephemerides. <S> - for the simulation of eclipses. <T> - for the calculation and visualization of the lunar terminator. <V> - for the calculation of the monthly ephemerides, both for the Sun and for the Moon. By pressing the key, you are prompted to enter the date, the time and the coordinates of the observing site. This is necessary for the calculation of the apparent equatorial coordinates, of the distances (in A.U.), of the Sun and Moon apparent semidiameter, of the illuminated fraction, of the phase angle of the Moon and of the local sidereal time. The range of validity of the calculations is from 4713 BC to 6500 AD. THE LUNAR PHASES The program can perform the calculation of the lunar phases and of the perigee and apogee distances during a month included in the period between January 1900 and December 2200. After a few seconds, the program will show the minimum Earth-Moon distance and the day, hours and minute in which this occurs. The same is possible for the maximum distance. The lunar phases and the time in which they occur will be shown. All the times are computed in UT. - 9 - THE TERMINATOR This module performs the calculation of the terminator position on the lunar disc, taking into considering also the inclination of the solar rays due to the inclination of the lunar rotational axis and of its orbital plane. To enter this module, just press the <T> key from the pulldown menu opened pressing of <C> key in the main menu. It is sufficient to confirm or modify the day, time and the observation site coordinates. The program takes a few seconds for the calculations. Now, the image of the Moon will appear: the terminator will be drawn and the dark zone will be cancelled. - 10 - THE MONTHLY VISIBILITY From the "Calculation" pulldown menu it is possible to enter the environment for the computation of the visibility table of the Sun and the Moon for the whole month. For this purpose press the <V> key. The program will prompt for choosing between the Sun and the Moon, for the month and the year of interest, for the coordinates of the observation site and, if the output is to be sent to a file, for the name of such file. After a few seconds (the time necessary for computing the data for the whole month), a table will appear, in which the following information is contained: - for the Sun: the time of rise, the azimuth, the time of meridian transit, the time of sunset, the azimuth, the beginning of the astronomical twilight in the morning, the end of the astronomical twilight in the evening and their duration. - for the Moon: the time and azimuth of rise, the time of meridian transit, the time and azimuth of setting, the illuminated fraction of the lunar disc. With the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys and cursor keys it is possible to control the data scrolling within the window. - 11 - ECLIPSES Pressing the <E> key the eclipse menu will be activated: this menu is easily recognizable because the graphic page shows a solar eclipse. Pressing the <E> key one more time, the program is started. It can compute the occurrence of any solar or lunar eclipses for the years included between 4713 BC and 6500 AD. For each eclipse it provides the date of the event, the time in E.T. of the central phase, the magnitude and the emisphere from which the eclipse is observable. Those who have a graphic card available can select the event to be visualized directly on the screen. The graphic representation of the eclipse visibility from a certain location can be obtained by entering the observation time (hour, minutes of civil time) in addition to the geographical coordinates and the altitude above the sea level of the observation site. The disks of the Sun and of the Moon will be drawn to scale, as they appear in the sky for an observer. At the border of the screen it is possible to read the horizontal coordinates of the two bodies. It is then possible to change the visibility of the event from different locations. For small corrections the function keys can be used, from <F3> to <F8>, suitably combined with <Ctrl> and <Alt> keys. By pressing the <Ctrl> <F9> keys (only for solar eclipses) an automatic latitude scan is performed on the given meridian, searching for a location from which the eclipse is visible. For lunar eclipses the center of the graphic screen is occupied by two concentric shadow disks that are properly scaled representations of the shadow and the twilight zones due to the Earth. With the <F1> key it is possible to obtain information about the data input and the available choices. In the case of total or annular solar eclipses occuring in the period included between 1000 AD and 3000 AD, it is possible to have the totality path of the eclipse on the surface of the Earth drawn on a world map and to have all the related information shown, simply by pressing the <T> key. From the main menu it is also possible to access the eclipse simulation environment. This module is similar to the previously described one. It does not have temperature, pressure and altitude values and the time step for the simulation must be provided. The simulation can be suspended by pressing any key, and restarted with the space bar. - 12 - The program for the simulations and the visualization of eclipses may, in some cases, give inaccurate results, because of the graphic routines they access. Modifying the time of totality by fractions of a minute, a Sun scythe may reappear and then disapper again. VARIOUS UTILITIES From the main menu, after opening the "Various" pulldown menu, you have the following six options: <H> - Transformation from equatorial coordinates to horizontal ones. <Q> - Transformation from horizontal coordinates to equatorial ones. <G> - Calculation of the day, month, year, and hour, minute and second from the Julian Day. <J> - Calculation of the Julian Day from the calendar date, including hours, minutes and seconds. <D> - Difference between two dates. <E> - Calculation of the date of Easter. * * * * The program was written by: RENZO DEL ROSSO: graphic section and windows management on the screen. MARCO MENICHELLI: section relative to all ephemeris, eclipses and general calculations. ALESSANDRO PIERI: text management, help menus, zoom and visualization routine. The authors are members of the "Associazione Astrofili Valdinievole" (Valdinievole Amateur Astronomers Association) that has its headquarters by the "Biblioteca Comunale" (Civic Library), Piazza Martini, I-51015 Monsummano Terme Italy. The phone number is +39 572 53663 and it is possible to contact the authors on Friday evenings from 9.00 pm until 11.00 pm. - 13 - To register your copy, please follow the istructions in the ORDER.FRM file. If necessary it is possible to communicate with the authors at the e-mail address: Renzo Delrosso @p116.f1.n332.z2.fidonet.org (2:332/1.116) Marco Menichelli @p7.f102.n332.z2.fidonet.org (2:332/102.7) Renzo Del Rosso - Marco Menichelli - Alessandro Pieri Monsummano Terme (PT, Italy), June 20th, 1993 * * * * Particular thanks to Maurizio Serrazanetti (Gruppo Astrofili Persicetani), Mauro Zarroli (Circolo Culturale Astrofili Trieste), Lorenzo Bechini and Massimo Giuntoli (Associazione Astrofili Valdinievole) for their contribution to text drafting. To Paolo Rovella for the image digitalization and for the help given in image management. To Flavio Castellani, Alberto Battarelli, Giuliano Pinazzi and Maurizio Serrazanetti for the corrections they have proposed to improve the program. To Alberto Battarelli for the translation of this manual. To Massimo Macucci (Associazione Astrofili Valdinievole) for the translation of all the other files.