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Text File | 1991-06-20 | 14.1 KB | 328 lines

June 20, 1990 REFERENCE PROGRAMS ON ASTRONOMY E & W Software 3965 Phelan, Suite 207-102 Beaumont, Texas 77707 DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR MERCHANTABILITY, AND IS PROVIDED WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER. BECAUSE OF THE DIVERSITY OF CONDITIONS AND HARDWARE UNDER WHICH THIS SOFTWARE MAY BE USED, NO WARRANTY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS GUARANTEED. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THIS SOFTWARE. Programs on Programs on Disk 1 Disk 2 STARCAT.EXE CONST88.EXE PRECESS.EXE ASTNOTES.EXE READ.ME SOLARSYS.EXE CONSTNAM.EXE ASTCONV.EXE These are reference programs that I originally wrote for my own use. They may be copied and freely distributed as long as they are not sold without my written permission, but does not exclude a charge for the disk and reasonable handling. Please keep all of the programs together. Anyone who wants to distribute these disks under these conditions are hereby granted permission. Page 2 STAR CATALOG Version 7 This is a listing of the named and designated visible stars for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The named stars are taken directly from the Bright Star Catalog. The limit of naked-eye visibility is generally magnitude 6, so I included stars down to magnitude 6.5 for completeness. I also included all of the stars within twenty light years, more or less. This version is a complete reworking of all of the information. The main source is the Bright Star Catalog, along with the Nearby Star Catalog. I didn't show any information on spectroscopic binaries and other similar items to save on program size. That sort of thing takes heavy duty equipment anyway, which probably wouldn't be available to amateurs. Also Starcat can now call the Astronomy Conversions program. The entries should be pretty straight forward. The only abbreviation I used, for example 23.4" sep., means "23.4 arcseconds separation." There are 60 arcseconds to an arcminute, and 60 arcminutes to a degree. A fingertip held at arms length is about 1 degree wide, which can be confirmed by comparing with the full moon, which is a half degree wide. I changed all of the arcsecond designations back to the older style which seems to be preferred in the Bright Star Catalog, although they did use both styles. In multiple star listings, the first magnitude is generally the combined magnitude, and the second, and sometimes third, are for the second and third stars, respectively. I found it less confusing to do it this way, and a lot easier. The information presented here is as accurate as I can make it and I will be glad to hear from anyone about any discrepancies that might be found. I tried to keep the listings neat and tidy, but it wasn't always easy. But then, the universe itself isn't neat and tidy. I consider the Bright Star Catalog to be the most straight forward that I could find, and had far fewer discrepancies. I didn't include the coordinates and some other information, as there is only so much room on a computer screen. If anyone has questions or want more information, just drop me a line and I'll see what I can do. There are just over 1700 entries in this version. There are a number of cross-referenced stars, as all of the stars with proper names also have Greek and Flamsteed Number designations, but I kept these to a minimum. STARCAT is written in C and compiled by Borland International's Turbo C++ compiler. Their address is 1800 Green Hills Road, P.O. Box 660001, Scotts Valley, CA 95066-0001. Page 3 CONSTELLATIONS 88 Version 2.11 This program shows all 88 constellations in the Northern Hemisphere, the Zodiac, and the Southern Hemisphere. Only the stars with proper names are designated with their Greek letters or Flamsteed numbers. I would have liked to show all the Greek letters in each constellation, but it looked too cluttered. The constellation lines are also shown but are not necessarily the most common or official ones. The three maps I used didn't always agree so I used the ones that seemed the most logical, or I knew from memory to be the correct ones. Due to the pixel limitations, some of the constellation lines look a bit awkward, but I tried to make everything look as good as possible. But, as with a lot of things in life, we have to make some compromises here and there and live with the result. Version 2 was completely re-written in the C language and compiled by Mix Software's Power C compiler. This program can now be run on either a Hercules card or a CGA card. It will automatically configure itself to whichever card you have. Of course, with the higher number of pixels in Hercules graphics mode, the screens look a bit smaller and are in the upper left as compared to CGA. In Version 2.1 I corrected a few minor mistakes, and added the capability of turning the constellation lines on or off. Just pressing the "L" key will do it; it's not necessary to press the shift key also. It's also not necessary to press the shift key with the "?" to bring up the help info, such as it is. Version 2.11 has all of the proper names as per the Bright Star Catalog. If you find a name from an earlier version that is now missing, it's because I couldn't confirm its origin. Mix Software's Power C compiler is the easiest to use that I have seen, and also has the largest function library. I recommend this one for beginners, but it is also good for professional projects. It's an incredible bargain at only $19.95. The manual alone is worth it. Their address is Mix Software, 1132 Commerce Drive, Richardson, TX 75081 214- 783-6001. Page 4 ASTRONOMY NOTES Version 2.4 This is a listing of miscellaneous facts and figures that I've come across from time to time and wanted to put them in a place where I could find them. Its name is ASTNOTES.EXE, and has been rewritten in the C language. It can now call up the Astronomy Conversions program without having to get out of ASTNOTES. I've made a few changes and corrections in this version. This was compiled by Borland International's Turbo C++ compiler. SOLAR SYSTEM Version 4.5 This is a listing of facts and figures about the planets, moons, and asteroids of the Solar System. All of the measurements are in the metric system. Its file name is SOLARSYS.EXE and was also rewritten in the C language. It can also call up the Astronomy Conversions program, and was compiled by Borland International's Turbo C++ compiler. In Version 4.4 I made a few changes and corrections, and also added the new information about the moons and rings of Neptune. In Version 4.5 I've added the names for the newly discovered moons of Neptune, and made a few corrections to the information on the rings of Uranus and Neptune. CONSTELLATION NAMES This is a list of the constellation names with their abbreviations and other information. It is just a reference list and is not copyrighted. Its file name is CONSTNAM.EXE, and I wrote it in the C language for practice. ASTRONOMY CONVERSIONS This is a public domain program that I converted from BASIC to C as an exercise, and was compiled by Borland International's Turbo C++ compiler. It's included for the users convenience. This program should be located in the default drive and directory, or on the PATH, so the other programs can find it. PRECESSION This was converted from a BASIC program from the August 1984 issue of Astronomy Magazine. It is the most accurate of all the precession programs that I have ever seen. It also takes proper motion into account, which I hadn't seen before either. The initial and final epochs will default to 1950.0 and 2000.0, but this program should be pretty accurate for other epochs for hundreds of years. It was compiled by Turbo C++. Page 5 SPECIAL OFFER These programs are complete in themselves; a registration fee is not required. If you want more, I have three disks that have programs that are too big for 360K floppy disks. I don't like to send out compressed programs indirectly, so these disks are only available from me. Three of the programs require at least a 720K disk, and 512K of memory. The Constellations 88 program is in two versions, one like the program on these disks, and one in color for EGA, but they show more stars. These programs are also compressed so both versions can be put on one floppy. I have priced these disks at $10 each, plus $2 for shipping and handling for each order. Texas residents please add 8.25% sales tax, or $2.64 if ordering all three disks. I'm not sure what my upgrade policy is yet, but I expect that versions with corrections will be free. Versions with upgraded information will be offered for a reasonable price. A description of the disks follows. Programs on the Astronomy-1 disk: STAR1.EXE 167,173 bytes - extracts to STARCAT.EXE 474,834 bytes. STAR2.EXE 98,770 bytes - extracts to STARCAT2.EXE 274,439 bytes. ASTCONV.EXE 33,898 bytes. PRECESS.EXE 30,522 bytes. INFO1.DOC 6,042 bytes. READ.ME1 4,748 bytes. Star Catalog Plus, Version 2.3 - lists about 5000 stars in 24 sections. Star Catalog Plus Volume 2, Version 2.3 - lists the duplicate designations and the stars without comments. Combined, these programs would have been too big for memory. Astronomy Conversions and Precess are the same as on these disks. INFO1.DOC gives a quick overview of the different types of stars. Programs on the Astronomy-2 disk: CONST.EXE 70,906 bytes - extracts to CONST88.EXE 186736 bytes CONSTE.EXE 70,806 bytes - extracts to CONST88E.EXE 186608 bytes ASTCONV.EXE 33,898 bytes ASTNOTES.EXE 47,242 bytes CONSTNAM.EXE 16,702 bytes PRECESS.EXE 30,522 bytes SOLARSYS.EXE 60,468 bytes READ.ME2 6,138 bytes Constellations 88, Version 3.1 - shows a lot more stars. Constellations 88, EGA Version - shows the same but in color. The rest of the programs are the same as on these disks. Page 6 Programs on the Astronomy-3 disk: STAR3.EXE 153,450 bytes - extracts to VARIES.EXE 445,783 bytes. STAR4.EXE 124,135 bytes - extracts to STARCON.EXE 377,755 bytes. ASTCONV.EXE 33,898 bytes. PRECESS.EXE 30,522 bytes. INFO2.DOC 5,734 bytes. READ.ME3 3,607 bytes. The Variable Stars, Version 2 - lists 3585 variable stars in 25 sections with no lower magnitude limit. Star Catalog by Constellations, Version 1 - a simple listing of the stars by constellation as listed in Starcat Plus. There are no comments due to the size of the program. I more or less wrote this for the fun of it. Astronomy Conversions and Precess are the same as on these disks. INFO2.DOC - a quick overview of the type of variables listed. A few of the programs are repeated as I wanted to make each disk complete in itself. With many thanks, Michael G. Worst E & W Software O R D E R F O R M E & W Software 3965 Phelan, Suite 207-102 Beaumont, Texas 77707 Name ________________________________________________________ Company ________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ City ________________________________________________________ State, Province ____________________ Zip, P.C. ________________ Country ____________________ Quantity Total Astronomy-1 $10 X ____ ______ Astronomy-2 $10 X ____ ______ Astronomy-3 $10 X ____ ______ Shipping and handling 2.00 8.25% Sales Tax (Texas residents only) ______ Total enclosed: ______ Disk format (360K 5-1/4" if not marked) ___________ For orders outside the USA and Canada, please add $3.00.