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1989-03-01
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SILICON SKY
Version 2.0
Larry Adkins
I. Introduction
Silicon Sky is a program which turns your $3,000 IBM computer
into a $3.50 planisphere! Actually, SILICON SKY does a lot
more than your garden variety planisphere. SILICON SKY
displays a quite realistic representation of the celestial as
seen from any latitude on earth for any date and looking in
any direction. The program will display the location of the
sun, moon and planets and will show the correct phase of the
moon. Finally, it identifies the constellations visible on
the screen by marking out their boundaries. Instructions for
use are given in the following sections.
II. Initialization
SILICON SKY should work on any IBM or IBM compatible
with either a color graphics (CGA) or an enhanced graphics
(EGA) adaptor card. The standard version of the program is
in a file called "SiSky86.exe" and assumes that you do not
have a math coprocessor chip. The program is also available
in a version which uses the math coprocessor (8087 or 80287
chip), and this makes for a much faster run time. However,
the program is now so large that both versions will not fit
on one 360K disk. Therefore, if you want the coprocessor
version I will send you a copy if
1) You register for $10.00 (see below)
or 2) You send me a blank disk and mailer
Either way you must first initialize the program. To
do this type "INIT86" (or "INIT87" for the 8087 version) and
hit return. The initialization program will ask you whether you
have an EGA or CGA graphics card, the name of your default
observing site (up to 30 letters), the latitude of your
default observing site, the time zone of the default
observing site, and whether or not you want to hear "Cricket"
sounds. Cricket sounds occur after sundown when the program
is operated in the PERODIC mode (see below). I would
suggest that you try it with crickets sounds at first. If
you find them annoying simply re-run "INIT86" or "INIT87" and
turn them off.
The disk is released with the following defaults:
Graphics Card: EGA
Default Observing Site: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Default Latitude: 34 degrees
Time Zone: 8 (PST)
Cricket Sounds: No
III. Running SILICON SKY
To run SILICON SKY type "GO" if you are using SiSky86
or "GO87" with SiSky87, and hit the return. You will see a
screen with the SILICON SKY logo and the words "STAR DATA
LOADING". This will take from 15 seconds to 30 seconds,
depending on whether you are loading from a hard disk or a
floppy (floppies take longer). Note: the program reads
information from the disk from time to time during execution;
therefore, the disk must remain in the drive (or be on a hard
disk) while the program is running.
MODE SELECTION
After the star data has been loaded you will be offered
two options:
1. SKY FOR A SPECIFIC DATE
2. PERIODIC UPDATES AT SPECIFIED
TIME INTERVALS
If you select the first option, one screen will be
displayed for the particular date and time you specify. To
see another date and time you will have to enter new data.
The PERODIC mode, on the other hand, will display a
sequence of screens at an interval you select, beginning with
a specified date and time. If you are running the program
for the first time, I would suggest starting with option 1.
LATITUDE SELECTION
The next option is latitude. Two options are available
here, the default location selected during initialization or
some other latitude. Any other latitude on Earth will work
from -90 to +90. If a latitude other than the default has
been selected, you will need to hit the enter key after
typing in the numbers.
DIRECTION OF OBSERVATION
The next screen prompts for direction of observation -
north, south, east, or west. After one direction has been
selected, you will be prompted for date and time data. If
a latitude other than the default has been selected the
program will prompt you for a time zone from -12 to +12
(Greenwich is 0).
TIME FUNCTIONS
Finally, the program asks for observing time - year,
month, day and hour. Remember to input the month as a
number and the hour as a number from 0 to 24. If you are at
any latitude other than the default you will be asked for
the time zone.
PROGRAM EXECUTION
The sky will now be plotted on the screen. When the
plotting is finished there will be a line at the bottom
representing the horizon and curved lines at the top
representing the top of the celestial sphere. The display is
roughly the field of vision the average person would have
looking at the horizon.
How long this takes will depend on your system. A
"plain vanilla" IBM PC without a math coprocessor will take
about 20 seconds to paint the stars on the screen for most
horizons. It will take an additional 40 seconds or so for
the program to examine all of the stars in the data file.
Thus, after the program begins to run it will be about one
minute before it is ready to accept new instructions.
If you have a math coprocessor or an AT the execution
time reduces to a mere seven seconds!
SCREEN MENU
After the stars have been plotted, a menu will appear at
the bottom of the screen. Any option on the menu can be
accessed simply by pressing the appropriate number. For
example, first option simply removes the menu. Thus,
pressing "1" will result in an unadorned display of the sky.
----THE MENU CAN ALWAYS BE RE-ACCESSED BY PRESSING----
---- THE "ESC" KEY ----
The options and their functions are as follows:
1. REMOVE MENU: Shows sky without menu.
2. OPTIONS: Input new data (latitude, date,
viewpoint.
3. SOLAR DATA: Displays coordinates of sun,
moon and planets along with date and time
data.
4. CONSTELLATIONS: Displays constellations
visible in the CENTRAL AREA of the
screen. The selection of a particular
constellation will plot its boundaries
on the display, along with its name.
The name can be toggled off with the F1
function key.[Note: DATA IS AVAILABLE
FOR ONLY 50 CONSTELLATIONS AT PRESENT]
5. PLANETS: Identifies solar system objects.
The sun and moon are labeled. Planets
are identified by a circle drawn around
them.
6. SCROLL: This feature allows you to scroll
around the celestial sphere. Pressing
the appropriate arrow allows you to
scroll 360 degrees around the horizon or
up from the horizon to overhead.
7. MOON: This gives a close up of the moon,
showing the orientation of the bright limb
across the major maria (the dark surface
features).
9. RETURN TO DOS: Terminates the program.
IV. Updates
This program is being distributed as shareware, and it is
requested that you register your copy by sending $10.00 to the
address below. Payment of the registration fee will entitle
you to the next upgrade. With this version (2.0) the number of
constellations on the data file is up to 50. I hope to have
the constellation count completed by the next version. I also
plan to include
-- Coordinates
-- Deep Sky Objects
-- Milky Way Boundaries
-- A more detailed manual
Please send registration fee to :
Larry Adkins
17652 Wellington Ave.
Tustin, CA 92680