PC-SIG: World of Education

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SILICON SKY 6.0 OPERATION MANUAL (c) 1993 by Larry Adkins Algol Software Works P.O. Box 6714 Orange, CA 92613 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction .................................... 1 II. Initialization and Setup ........................ 1 III. Running Silicon Stars............................ 3 IV. Silicon Stars Control Panel...................... 4 V. Solar System Display ............................ 7 VI. Animation Mode Details.......................... 9 Constellation Abbreviations .................... 10 SILICON SKY 6.0 copyright (c) 1993 by Larry Adkins I. INTRODUCTION SILICON SKY is a major upgrade of an earlier program, SILICON SKY 5.0. Like the earlier software, it is an interactive planetarium program which displays a realistic representation of the sky as seen from any location on Earth for any selected date and direction of observation. The major new features of SILICON SKY 6.0 beyond SILICON SKY 5.0 are as follow: (1) An event driven interface which can be operated entirely with a mouse, although the program can also be operated entirely from the keyboard if no mouse is available. (2) A "Full Sky" display which projects the whole sky on the screen at once. (3) A graphical display of double stars with correct colors, magnitudes and position angles. The basic graphic display is designed so that the screen presents a portion of the sky which approximates what would be seen in the field of vision of a typical outdoor observer. In real life the observer would have to turn his or her head to see all of the sky. In SILICON SKY this is accomplished by a scroll control feature which permits viewing 360 degrees around the horizon as well as up to the zenith. SILICON SKY complements these horizon views with the "Full Sky" option with which the whole sky visible at your particular time and from your particular location can be seen at a glance. SILICON SKY will display the location of the sun, moon (with correct phase) and planets and will identify all of the internationally recognized constellations. User friendly options give close-up views of the moon and five naked eye planets, showing moon maria, the phases of Venus and Mercury, the surface features of Mars, the moons of Jupiter and the correct orientation of Saturn's rings. A mouse (or keyboard control keys if no mouse is available) will identify all displayed stars as well as a selection of the most prominent deep sky objects and easily resolvable double stars. When a double star is identified it is graphically displayed in the center of the screen. II. INITIALIZATION AND SETUP After completing the unpacking procedures SILICON SKY is ready to run using the default parameters (EGA graphics and a Southern California observing site). SILICON SKY can be customized for your locality by running the initialization program SETUP. To run type "SETUP" and hit ENTER. PAGE [1] <<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>> NOTE: THE PROGRAM WILL AUTOMATICALLY DETECT YOUR GRAPHICS SYSTEM. UNLIKE SILICON SKY, SILICON SKY REQUIRES EITHER EGA OR VGA GRAPHICS. IF YOU HAVE ONLY CGA GRAPHICS, THEN YOU MUST USE SILICON SKY (Silicon Sky is available from Algol Software Works) <<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>> DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME Many localities set the clock forward one hour during the summer months. If you want SILICON SKY to reflect this, input 'Y' when prompted 'DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME (Y/N) [N]: '. The default is 'N', i.e., Standard Time. BEEP If you want to hear a "beep" after the display is completed type "y" or "Y" at the next prompt. You probably won't want to do this unless your system is very slow. That is why the default is [N], i.e., no beep. OBSERVING SITE LOCATION The SILICON SKY setup program has a selected list of large cities which can be selected as observing sites; three lists are available covering US CITIES, WESTERN HEMISPHERE CITIES, and WORLD CITIES. To Access these lists input "f" or "F" at the next prompt. Select one of the lists by typing in the appropriate number, and select a city by highlighting the desired name with the arrow keys and hitting return. If you want to customize the program for a site not on the one of the lists then type "c" or "C" at the LOCATION prompt. To input a custom site you must input: (1) the name of the site, (2) the LATITUDE, (3) the LONGITUDE and (4) the TIMEZONE. NOTE: LONGITUDES AND TIMEZONES IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE ARE NEGATIVE (e.g., the longitude for Pacific Standard Time (PST) is -120 and PST is Timezone -8). A list of common timezones world wide is displayed when the custom site procedure is selected. The disk is released with the following defaults: Graphics Card: AUTOMATIC Daylight Saving Time: NO Beep: NO Default Observing Site: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Default Latitude: 34 degrees Default Longitude: -118 degrees Time Zone: - 8 (PST) PAGE [2] If you run SETUP and simply hit <ENTER> after each prompt then your system will be configured for the above defaults. NOTE: Version 1.0 will automatically detect whether or not you have a math coprocessor chip and will take advantage of it if such a chip is present. If a coprocessor is not present the program will run at standard speed. III. RUNNING SILICON SKY NOTE: SILICON SKY USES ALL OF THE FILES WITH THE EXTENSION ".DAT" IN ORDER TO RUN. MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THESE FILES ARE PRESENT IN THE DIRECTORY IN WHICH YOU HAVE INSTALLED THE PROGRAM. OTHERWISE THE PROGRAM WILL TERMINATE UNEXPECTEDLY!! Start SILICON SKY by typing "SISKY60" and pressing <ENTER>. You will see a display with the SILICON SKY logo and three buttons - "Help", "ESC", and "Continue". These buttons, and all other buttons throughout the program are selected by (1) the mouse pointer, by (2) highlighting the button using the arrow keys, or (3) by pressing the letter in red. "Help" gives basic operating instructions, "ESC" terminates the program immediately, and "Continue" initiates program features. After "Continue" is pressed, the sky is displayed showing the southern horizon from your default location at the time read directly from the computer. If the sun is up, the sky will be blue. Immediately after the display has been painted on the screen, a control panel will appear with a variety of available options. NOTE: TO REMOVE THE CONTROL PANEL FROM THE DISPLAY EITHER (1) PRESS THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON OR (2) PRESS THE "DELETE" KEY. REDISPLAY THE CONTROL PANEL BY (1) PRESSING THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON AGAIN OR (2) PRESSING THE "ESC" KEY. ALSO: YOU CAN LEAVE ANY FUNCTION BY PRESSING THE "ESC" KEY. YOU CAN EXIT THE PROGRAM BY PRESSING THE "ESC" KEY WHEN THE CONTROL PANEL IS SHOWING OR WHILE THE STARS ARE BEING PAINTED ON THE SCREEN. The options available on the control panel are explained in detail in Chapter IV below. PAGE [3] IV. SILICON SKY CONTROL PANEL HELP Select this function for basic information on how to operate the program. CONSTL This key highlights the constellations on the screen by connecting lines between the brightest stars to from "stick figures". These figures have become more or less standard in the last few years, and they are drawn here in the way they usually are in books and magazines. However, be aware that there is nothing sacred about these stick figures; they are only aids to help you with constellation identification. BOUND Pressing this key will give you the official constellation boundaries. This is the way that most professional astronomers view the constellations; i.e., as particular areas of the sky. Note that by using the boundaries, every object or event which occurs in the sky can be located within one of the constellations. The total number of official constellations, including both northern and southern hemispheres, is 88. GRID The GRID button displays the celestial equatorial coordinate system. This grid is exactly like the lines of latitude and longitude on the earth. In the sky the lines corresponding to latitude are called DECLINATION, while the lines corresponding to longitude are called RIGHT ASCENSION. Every point on the celestial sphere has a unique RIGHT ASCENSION and DECLINATION, just as every point on the surface of the earth has a unique latitude and longitude. STARS Pressing this key activates the mouse or keyboard arrow for pointing at any star (or planet, if present). Pressing the left mouse button (or the "Insert" key if no mouse is present) will identify the object. Return to the main menu by pressing the left mouse button or the ESC key. DPSKY This key displays deepsky objects which are in the area of the sky shown on the screen. Deepsky objects are astronomical objects which exist far beyond the solar system and, for the most part, require a telescope to observe. As with the STARS function, the objects are identified by pressing the left mouse button or the Insert key. The function is exited via the right mouse button or the ESC key. PAGE [4] FLSKY The FLSKY button will display the whole sky visible from a given location at a given date and time. With a map of this type the zenith (point straight overhead) is in the center of the map and the horizon is a circle (directions are labeled). The full sky map is familiar to readers of such amateur astronomy magazines as SKY and TELESCOPE and ASTRONOMY, where it is found in the center of the publication, showing each month's sky for the early evening hours. CLR The CLR button will clear the screen of constellation lines, boundaries, coordinates, etc., and display the uncluttered starry sky. OPTIONS Pressing this button activates the data input functions where you the user can change all parameters - time, date, location, direction of observation and switch between fixed display and animated mode. The functions divide into two groups: (1) Time and Location (Observing Site) Functions and (2) Horizon and Display Mode. NOTE: ALL ACTIVE VALUES ARE DISPLAYED IN << RED >> The functions of group (1) require you to input data. To change the active values: (a) With Mouse: Click (Left Button) on the desired parameter (for example, "Year"), and a yellow cursor will appear. Type in the value wanted and press <ENTER>. (b) From Keyboard: Move to the desired parameter with the arrow keys, and a yellow cursor will appear. Type in the value wanted and press <ENTER>. The functions of group (2) simply require you to highlight the valued wanted. (a) With Mouse: Double Click (Left Button) on the value desired (for example, "west" in the horizon group. The value will turn << RED >> (b) From Keyboard: Move to the desired value and press <ENTER>. The selected value will turn << RED >>. When you are satisfied with all changes, press the <OK> button. PAGE [5] A NOTE ON ANIMATION The ANIMATION mode will update the display at the time interval selected. "Real Time" will update directly from the computer. The display will move exactly as the real sky. Thus, nothing will seem to be happening at first. After a few minutes, however, you will notice that stars will have arisen in the east and set in the west. The other selections for update are "Day", "Month", "Year" and "Hour". TO EXIT ANIMATION MODE PRESS <ESC>. SCROLL Select this function to scroll around the horizon (a full 360 degrees) or up to overhead. If no mouse is available press the arrow keys; otherwise click with the left button on the desired scroll direction. As always, exit the scroll function by pressing the right mouse key or ESC if no mouse is available. EPHM Ephm is the abbreviation for "Ephemeris", a table of data for transitory phenomena on the celestial sphere. Pressing this button will give you the current coordinates of the sun, moon and planets and the phase of the moon. In addition, it displays the Julian Day, the number of days since 12:00 pm January 1, 4013 B.C.. The Julian Day is used by astronomers to specify the date of an event as it eliminates ambiguities associated with various calendar changes. PLANET Pressing this button will pop a menu with the moon and the five naked eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). Select any one of these to see a graphic showing the planet's salient surface features (phase for the moon, Mercury and Venus, polar caps and other markings for Mars, the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn). In addition, rise and set times and coordinates are shown for each object. This is explained in greater detail in chapter 5. DOUBLE This function shows a selection of the most striking doubles stars which are easily observable in a small telescope. Initially, a red "x" is displayed on the screen where each double is located. Clicking on each "x" will display information about the star and present a graphic representation of the double system. This graphic is the way the stars would look under good conditions using an 8" to 10" telescope with about 100X magnification. An effort has been made to make the color of the stars resemble as closely as possible their appearance in the telescope, although be aware that perceived colors often vary with the telescope, observing conditions, and the observer. The orientation of the stars follows the standard convention of setting the primary (brightest star) in the center of the graph and measuring the position angle from the north. The orientation for the double star graphic is given below: PAGE [6] NORTH | EAST ----- WEST | SOUTH PRINT The PRINT function will give a printout of the screen display on an Epson F85 compatible dot matrix printer. Please be sure that the printer is on and ready to go before giving final approval to print. If the printer is not on, the program will be terminated. ESC Pressing the ESC button will terminate the program V. Solar System Display 1. MOON: The MOON selection will display the moon in proper phase with the major mares and craters marked. For this display NORTH IS AT THE TOP, SOUTH AT THE BOTTOM, EAST TO THE RIGHT AND WEST TO THE LEFT. In other words, in the same orientation that it appears to the eye in most northern latitudes. The data panel below the graphic shows RISE and SET times (in local standard time), the PHASE (% of the surface illuminated) and the position angle of the bright LIMB in degrees. This position angle is defined as the counter clockwise angle between the terminator (line between bright and dark) and the east-west line bisecting the moon. NOTE: The algorithm used to calculate the rise and set times for the moon gives only approximate values. The times are usually correct to within 20 minutes or so. 2. MERCURY AND VENUS: Selecting 2 or 3 from the Solar System menu will give, respectively, a graphic of either Mercury or Venus, showing the phase of the planet. Here, as in all planet graphics, SOUTH IS AT THE TOP, NORTH AT THE BOTTOM, WEST AT THE RIGHT AND EAST AT THE LEFT. This is the view through an inverting telescope in northern latitudes. The data panel below shows RISE and SET times, the DISTANCE of the planet from Earth in astronomical units (AUs, where 1 AU = 93,000,000 miles), the apparent SIZE of the planet in seconds of arc, the PHASE (% illuminated) of the planet, and its MAGNITUDE. These data are given in all planetary data panels. For Mercury and Venus the final two items in the data panel are the planet's right ascension (RA) and declination (DEC). For CGA systems, only RISE, SET, DISTANCE and SIZE are displayed. PAGE [7] 3. MARS: The Mars graphic shows markings on Mars as would be seen through a telescope at the time and date selected. Pressing function key F1 will display the latitude and longitude grid. The latitude lines are spaced 15 degrees apart, while the latitude lines are separated by 20 degrees. Any point on the visible face can be specified by latitude and longitude by noting the MERIDIAN (longitude line at the center of the disk, specified in the EGA data panel) and adding 15 degrees going right or subtracting 15 degrees per line going left. 4. JUPITER: The highlight of Jupiter is its satellite system. The field of view of the initial the window display may not be wide enough to show all of the satellites, so four different magnifications can be accessed by successive pressings of function F1. For EGA systems, the satellites are color coded and can be identified by pressing function key F2. 5. SATURN: The graphic here shows the orientation of Saturn's rings (South at the top, as with all of the planetary displays). From Earth the rings are seen at varying angles of openness which depend on the location of the planet in its orbit. The rings appear edge on (and, hence, invisible in small telescopes) with a two cycle periodicity (i.e., there will be alternate 15.75 or 13.75 years intervals between edge on appearances). For example, the rings displayed maximum northern exposure in 1987, while they were edge on in 1966 and 1980 and will be again in 1996. PAGE [8] VI. Animation Mode Details Letting the computer move the sky for you is an excellent way to study the movements of the heavenly bodies. With SILICON SKY this is accomplished by selecting 'ANIMATION' from the OPTIONS menu. The Animation has a number of update options: REAL TIME, DAY, WEEK, MONTH and YEAR. If you select REAL TIME the time will be read directly from the computer, DAY will update every 24 hours, WEEK will update every 7 days, MONTH every thirty days, and YEAR every 365.25 days. As with most program functions requiring extensive calculations, animation is most impressive and useful with faster machines (a 386 with math coprocessor is great). Note that if the program is in the "Full Sky" mode when the OPTION menu is selected, then the animation will also be full sky. However, to reduce calculation time (and hence, speed up the display), a slightly different projection is used for animation when in this display mode. This new projection distorts constellations around the horizon somewhat, giving a different appearence to the sky. The original projection returns when the animation mode is exited. You should also be aware of two other features of the animation mode: (1) A CLOCK is automatically activated and displayed at the corner of the screen every time the animation option is selected. If you don't want a clock, remove it from the display by pressing 'F1' after the animation begins. (2) Both constellation 'stick figures' and the coordinate grid may be included in the updates. Simply press 'C' for the constellations or 'G' for the grid display. PAGE [9] CONSTELLATION ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Constellation Abbreviation Constellation ____________________________________________________________________ AND ANDROMEDA LAC LACERTA ANT ANTLIA LEO LEO APS APUS LEP LEPUS AQL AQUILA LIB LIBRA AQR AQUARIUS LUP LUPUS ARA ARA LYN LYNX ARI ARIES LYR LYRA AUR AURIGA LMI LEO MINOR BOO BOÖTES MEN MENSA CAE CAELUM MIC MICROSCOPIUM CAM CAMELOPARDALIS MON MONOCEROS CAP CAPRICORNUS MUS MUSCA CAR CARINA NOR NORMA CAS CASSIOPEIA OCT OCTANS CEN CENTAURUS OPH OPHIUCHUS CEP CEPHEUS ORI ORION CET CETUS PAV PAVO CHA CHAMAELEON PEG PEGASUS CIR CIRCINUS PER PERSEUS CNC CANCER PHE PHOENIX COL COLUMBA PIC PICTOR COM COMA BERENICES PSC PISCES CRT CRATER PSA PISCIS AUSTRINUS CRU CRUX PUP PUPPIS CRV CORVUS PYX PYXIS CRA CORONA AUSTRALIS RET RETICULUM CRB CORONA BOREALIS SCL SCULPTOR CYG CYGNUS SCO SCORPIUS CMA CANIS MAJOR SCT SCUTUM CMI CANIS MINOR SER SERPENS CVN CANES VENATICI SEX SEXTANS DEL DELPHINUS SGE SAGITTA DOR DORADO SGR SAGITTARIUS DRA DRACO TAU TAURUS EQU EQUULEUS TEL TELESCOPIUM ERI ERIDANUS TRI TRIANGULUM FOR FORNAX TRA TRIANGULUM AUSTRAL GEM GEMINI TUC TUCANA GRU GRUS UMA URSA MAJOR HER HERCULES UMI URSA MINOR HOR HOROLOGIUM VEL VELA HYA HYDRA VIR VIRGO HYI HYDRUS VOL VOLANS IND INDUS VUL VULPECULA Page [10] REGISTRATION This disk is being distributed as SHAREWARE which means that individuals may copy it freely and give it to friends, provided that (a) at most only a nominal fee is charged for reproduction services, and (b) the contents of the program, including all files, are not changed in any way. However, if the user finds SILICON SKY useful and continues to use it beyond a short evaluation period, it should be registered for a total price of $12.00 ($10.00 registration plus $2.00 to cover shipping and handling of the registered copy) . Registered users receive: (1) The latest copy of the program customized for your location and without registration messages. (2) Free technical support and bug fixes for a year. (3) A free copy of the next upgrade when available and information concerning future products. If you have enjoyed using SILICON SKY, you might also be interested in another ALGOL SOFTWARE WORKS publication, SILICON UNIVERSE. SILICON UNIVERSE locates deep sky objects in their proper region of the galaxy. Objects may be displayed using files included with the program (globular and open clusters, nebulae, stars, and external galaxies) or the user may input his/her own objects. In addition, the program contains an astronomy tutorial with illustrative definitions of these objects. ORDER FORM _________________________________________________________ Make checks payable to ALGOL SOFTWARE WORKS and mail to: ALGOL SOFTWARE WORKS P.O. BOX 6714 ORANGE, CA 92613 _________________________________________________________ PRODUCT PRICE SILICON SKY registration ________ $12______ SILICON UNIVERSE (Cosmic Simulator)_____ $12 ______ TOTAL ______ YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS: Name__________________________________________________ Street/Apt____________________________________________ City____________________________State_____Zip_________