home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Loadstar 163
/
163.d81
/
t.universe
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
2022-08-26
|
21KB
|
772 lines
C O R K Y ' S U N I V E R S E
Programs and Text by Corky Cochran
[FENDER'S PREMUMBLE:] I asked for
some small, elegant programs and sure
enough, Corky Cochran of Ontario CA
responded with several useful and
interesting astronomy programs. So,
fool that I am, I bunched five of
them together to make a large
program. The five are actually in
separate PRG files linked together by
a small presenter. All five are quite
similar; you enter data and see
information on the screen. You may
only return to the UNIVERSE presenter
after running an 'experiment'. From
the presenter you may return to
LOADSTAR.
You [must] run the presenter
(b.universe) to see the programs.
Corky's working on some more programs
like this, so keep an eye out for
them on a future LOADSTAR. Also, just
to be safe, KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES!
[L U N A R L O C A T O R]
[{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}]
Inspired by Roger Sinnott, Sky &
Telescope Magazine, April 1994
LUNAR LOCATOR will tell you
everything you wanted to know about
the moon. But first you have to enter
the date you want the lunar
information for. For the year, use
any year you wish, but if it's before
October 15, 1582, then it's the
Julian calendar you are using. So to
enter the date 1 B.C. you input 0,
for 100 B.C. it's -99 years. You will
also be asked for the month and day.
If you enter something you didn't
want to, you will be given a chance
to change your inputs.
Then the program will display the
following information about that
date:
(1) How old the Moon is in days (0-
29).
(2) What phase the Moon is in for
the input date.
The Moon is said to be in the waxing
phase from New to Full, while it's a
waning Moon from Full to New.
(3) The Moon's distance from Earth
in radii, from a perigee (closest) of
56 Earth's radii, to an apogee
(farthest) of 64 Earth's radii. This
is calculated using an average of
60.3 radii. Earth's radius is 6378.14
kilometers in length.
(4) The Moon's distance from Earth
in kilometers. This is a ballpark
figure; the program averages the Moon
distance for its calculations. It's
not off by more than a couple hundred
kilometers.
(5) The Ecliptic latitude in
degrees. As the Moon orbits Earth,
its orbit varies from 5 degrees above
the ecliptic to -5 degrees below.
(6) The Moon's celestial longitude,
or where it is in orbit (from 0-360
degrees).
At this point you can try another
date or return to the UNIVERSE
presenter.
[ECLIPSES]
If the Moon is full or new and
the Moon crosses the Ecliptic at
these phases it's eclipse time!
Either a solar or lunar eclipse will
happen somewhere on Earth, as is
displayed on screen.
The degree of eclipse depends on
two things: the Moon's distance from
Earth, and how close to zero is its
ecliptic latitude. In other words, if
the Moon is in its new phase, and
crosses the ecliptic at or near zero
degrees, you get a solar eclipse. The
same is true for the full Moon and a
lunar eclipse. The distance and
latitude will determine the type of
solar or lunar eclipse you see: an
annual, (Sun only) Total, partial
(both), or penumbra (Moon only). Your
local newspaper or TV News should
have a report as to the exact type it
will be. Periodicals such as the Old
Farmer's Almanac or Sky & Telescope
magazine can be helpful as well.
[NOTE:] There will be NO solar
eclipses seen from the USA until
August 2017 -- 2024 for Canada.
Will there be an eclipse
somewhere on Earth soon? (HINT: Feb.
26, 1998, Aug. 21, 1998, both
solar).
All of these things can be
determined quickly with LUNAR
LOCATOR. I hope you enjoy having the
power to find out all of this
information about the moon on a
particular date.
[C R A T E R M A K E R]
[{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}]
Inspired by John Kennewell, Sky
& Telescope Magazine, November 1996
This program is dedicated to the
memory of the late and great Eugene
Shoemaker (April 28, 1928-July 18,
1997). He died in central Australia
in a head-on vehicular crash. He was
doing research on impact craters, one
of his many loves in life. His wife,
Carolyn, who was with him, has
luckily survived.
They were the co-discoverers of
Comet Shoemaker-Levy, the one the
broke up into 20 pieces and struck
Jupiter, as well as 31 other comets
and 800 asteriods. He was the man who
taught the Apollo astronauts what to
look for while they were on the moon
-- what rocks to look for and
collect. He also helped on TV to
describe what the astronauts were
finding in their visits to our Moon.
Recently there have been several
TV movies and much speculating about
objects striking the Earth. Even in
the scientific community the amount
of material that can plummet to Earth
is just now being realized. Over the
last few years, three large objects
have come very close to our home
planet. One passed between the Earth
and Moon!
There is now a project among
astronomers known as Near-Earth
Asteriod Tracking. It uses an Air
Force satellite-tracking telescope to
search and catalog all the objects
that make close passes by Earth.
Eleanor F. Helin of JPL recently
reported that 10% of the sky has been
searched thus far and 5000 asteriods
have been identified. These asteriods
are about 1000 meters in size, and of
these, seven are a future threat to
planet Earth.
There are another 800 of smaller
size that were cataloged. Helin has
spent 25 years searching for
asteriods throughout the solar
system. After all, the most plausible
theory on the extinction of the
dinosauars was that it was caused by
an asteriod around 6 miles in
diameter striking Earth 65 million
years ago. In 1972 a very large rock
was seen tearing through the
atmosphere across Canada and the
western part of the U.S. In 1908
something exploded over Tunguska,
Russia, laying waste to an area of
100 square miles.
But an object that can do real
damage to the Earth has some
limitations on its size and speed.
For instance, if an object is below
50 meters or so in diameter, or it's
made of very light material such as
ice mixed with pebbles (as most
comets are), it probably won't
survive its trip through the
atmosphere. Or if its speed on entry
is very high, it will likely burn up
or explode in the atmosphere. The
high and low parameters to enter in
this program are listed below:
Object's Size - Must be larger than
49 meters and less than 9999 meters.
Density - Must be at least 2000
kilograms per cubic meter and less
than 9999. (Earth's crust is 2600
kg's/cu/m on average.)
Velocity - Must be at least 5
kilometers per second and less than
999.
Angle of descent - Ranges from 20 to
90 degrees. Below 20 degrees the
object would pass through, or bounce
off of, the atmosphere. 90 degrees =
a vertical dive.
The program won't allow
parameters outside these limits. You
will be allowed to correct any
mistakes you have entered.
The following information on the
OBJECT will be displayed:
Volume - Expressed in cubic meters
Mass - Expressed in metric tons
Kinetic Energy - Expressed in
joules
Explosive Power - Expressed in
kilotons
Below this will be the data on the
CRATER itself. Two figures are given
for both diameter and depth:
Actual diameter - How big a hole was
punched out (in kms)
Apparent diameter - How large it
seems (in kms)
Actual depth - How deep the punch
was (in kms)
Apparent depth - How deep it seems
(in kms)
Material Ejected - How much was
blown out (in cubic kms)
Ejecta Spread - How far from point
zero the ejecta was blown (in kms)
A short message will be displayed as
to how much damage the impact would
cause, along with a cross section of
the crater in question.
The reason for the differences in
actual and apparent sizes is caused
by the material thrown up and out
from the impact. It collects deeper
at the edges. This material will
follow the shape of the crater,
adding to its width. Also, this
material adds height to the
surrounding area making the crater
appear deeper than it actually is.
At this point you can return to
the UNIVERSE presenter or send
another devastating meteor crashing
down on innocent heads.
The only thing the program can't
tell you is the disastrous effects of
seismic waves,