Fritz: All Fritz/All Fritz.zip/All Fritz/FILES/EDUCNOMY/STARMAP.LZH/MAPDOC.DOC

Text File | 1988-10-22 | 25KB | 896 lines

                 PC STARMAP



      COPYRIGHT 1986 MICHAEL CALIGIURI

                     for

                MDC SOFTWARE






____________________________________________

       ATTENTION SHAREWARE USERS

A Note to shareware users: This product was
created for the purpose of educating the
beginning astronomer and casual star-gazer
to many of the common constellations which
mark our night skies. If you find the program
educational, consider mailing a check to the
author for an amount commensurate with the
value you received from using PC STARMAP.

                CAVEAT

The author assumes no responsibility for
"damages" that may occur as a result of
a star, as plotted by PC STARMAP, being
incorrectly positioned.


____________________________________________




1. SPECIFICATIONS


a. Requirements:

PC Starmap runs on all IBM PC,XT,AT and
compatible machines. A color graphics card is
required. PC Starmap requires a minimum of
128 Kbytes of memory in order to load your
BASIC interpreter and individual programs.

____________________________________________


b. The Programs:

PC Starmap consists of 39 individual programs
or maps. The programs are written in basic.
Star maps are called by one of three main
programs: (1) the main starmap program which
permits display of 48 maps; (2) the test
program which displays a map at random (1/83
chance of displaying the same month twice)
for the user to test his skill as identifying
month and direction; and (3) a program which
calls star maps displaying individual
constellations as seen throughout the year.

Note: All maps represent the night sky of the
northern hemisphere on the 1st and 16th day
of the respective month between 9:00 and
10:00 Eastern time zone.


____________________________________________



* IBM is a registered trademark of
 International Business Machines Corp.

____________________________________________

c. Using Starmap:

PC Starmap was designed primarily as an
educational program to teach the relative
locations of over 30 constellations as viewed
from North America throughout the year. The
user may wish to spend time with the main
program (Option 1, see below) which displays
individual maps corresponding to a given
month and a given direction (i.e. North,
South, East, or West). These maps permit
familiarization of the night sky with or
without labels. Once familiar, the user may
want to test his skill (Option 2).

PC Starmap Option 2 will display a night sky
without labels and without indicating the
month or direction. The program awaits entry
of the user's guess of the month and
direction. Immediate feedback is provided.

As a supplemental learning aid, PC Starmap
Option 3 displays isolated constellations as
they may be viewed throughout the year.
Constellations are shown in their relative
positions in the sky along with the month and
direction. These maps provide a quick
inspection of popular constellations to serve
as simple landmarks. With these landmarks the
learning the night sky will be rapidly
facilitated.


____________________________________________

2. OPERATIONS


a. Preparing the program disk:


(1) Make a back-up of the program disk. Copy
    the entire disk onto a system formatted
    disk (this will generate a bootable copy
    of PC Starmap). Once a back-up is made,
    place the original disk in a safe place
    and use the back-up.


(2) If using a floppy drive, copy your BASIC
    interpreter along with the programs
    contained on this disk (*.BAS) onto a
    single diskette.

(3) If you are using a hard disk drive, load
    the programs contained on this disk (*.BAS)
    along with your BASIC interpreter into a
    directory.


(4) To run the program enter the following
    from the DOS prompt:


                BASIC STARMAP


(5) If you are using a PC,XT or other 8088
    machine or if you are using a floppy
    disk drive, running PC STARMAP from
    the RAM disk will greatly improve
    speed and performance. Create a RAM disk
    and copy all files and BASIC interpreter
    onto the RAM disk. Run program as above.

____________________________________________

b. Option 1 - Main starmaps:

Select Option 1 when the program displays the
main menu. This will transfer you to the
month selection menu where you enter any
month of the year. Enter the first three
letters of the month, using either capital or
lower case characters.


Once entered, the program will ask you to
enter the direction you wish to view. Enter
either N, S, E, or W. If you follow this
directional key  with an 'N'(e.g. NN), labels
will be omitted. Otherwise, constellation
names will appear. These labels are not
displayed immediately, Rather, they appear
about 20 seconds after the stars are
displayed. This allows for some time to try
to name them, or to view the sky without
labels.


When a prompt ('?') appears in the
lower left corner, press carriage return(CR).


If X is selected as the directional key, the
program transfers to the main star map menu
where another month may be entered. Instead
of entering a month, the user may want to
return to the main menu and to another
program Option. To do this, type 'END'
instead of a month.

____________________________________________

c. Option 2 - Test maps:

These programs were written to challenge the
novice star-gazer by displaying a star map
with no prior indication as to the
corresponding month or direction. The user
first enters a number from 1 to 1000. This
accesses a randomization scheme and selects
one of 12 star maps depending on the
randomization.

Once selected, the program prompts the user
to enter a number from 1 to 4. This accesses
the map of a  particular direction.

Constellations will then be displayed and you
will be prompted to enter the month and
direction. Enter month and direction using
the following format: MMM NORTH, MMM SOUTH,
etc.

Subsequent selection of maps using
directional numbers (1-4) reduce the
difficulty since the month is already known.
For more difficult challenges, switch out of
the month by entering 0 and begin the cycle
with a different month.

Constellation labels are not shown.

If these "test-maps" are too difficult, try
returning to the main  menu and select Option
3. As  indicated below, Option 3 provides
useful "constants" which help the novice
star-gazer identify the time of year and/or
direction with minimal information.

____________________________________________

d. Option 3 - Quick maps:

Option 3 of PC Starmap displays stars as
their positions in the sky change throughout
the year. In the night sky, particular
constellations are re-postioned in accordance
with the calendar. In PC Starmap,
repositioning occurs over a period of 12
months within the same sky (as with Ursa Maj.
and Ursa Min. in the North sky).

Seven constellations or groups of
constellations may be accessed. These were
selected to best represent the influence of
earths rotation throughout the year.

As a learning aid, this Option teaches the
use of several landmarks which may be used as
simple references to evaluate a more complex
sky. The following are a few examples:

    a) Ursa Major appears to rotate
       counter clock-wise in the northern
       sky.

    b) Ursa Minor also "rotates" with
       the north star remaining relatively
       fixed all year.

    c) The brightest star in the sky,
       Vega, appears to move from East
       to West from May to November

To select any of these quick-maps, simply
enter the number corresponding to the
constellation groups.

____________________________________________



1. MYTHOLOGY


On the following pages, the mythology
associated with each constellation is
presented. A line-drawing of the
constellation is shown on each page. Use this
schematic to help "visualize" the
constellations. The constellations are
described in alphabetical order. Technical
data, such as distance in light years from
the Sun, area of the constellation in square
degrees, and visual magnitude of the
brightest star of the constellation are
provided at the end of this chapter.




1. Andromeda     Princes of Ethiopia

   Oracles of the time told Cepheus that the
only way to rid the country of the sea
monster (Cetus) was to expose his daughter,
Andromeda, to be devoured by the monster. He
ordered Andromeda chained to rocks. Perseus,
the son of Jupiter rescued her and claimed
her as a reward for slaying Medusa.




2. Aquarius    The Water Bearer


3. Aquila      The Eagle


   Aquila represents the eagle of Jupiter
which was Jupiter's disguise. Jupiter needed
a new cup-bearer when Hebe retired, so he
disguised himself and swooped down to earth
taking Ganymede to Olympus.





4. Aries    The Ram


   The ram of the golden fleece, Aries, was
much sought after. King Athames, growing
tired of his wife Nephele, put her aside so
he may choose another. Nephele, fearing the
king would harm their children sent them far
away. Mercury was said to have assisted her
by giving her a golden ram upon which to
carry the children. The ram would carry them
to a safe place. All was going according
to plan until the ram crossed over a narrow
strait between Europe and Asia. At this point
one child, the girl, fell off into the sea.
Today, this point in the strait is known as
Hellesport.



5. Auriga      The Charioteer



     Representative of Erichthonius, a king
of Athens who invented the four-horse
chariot.



6. Bootes     The Bear Driver


     The inventor of the ox-plow


7. Cancer    The Crab


     During a fight with Hydra, Hercules was
bitten by a crab. Juno, an enemy of Hercules
rewarded the crab by placing it in the
heavens.



8. Canis Major  The Great Dog




9. Capricornus    The Sea Goat

   This constellation is not visible from the
northern hemisphere.



10. Cassiopeia      Queen of Ethiopia

    Cassiopeia was a beautiful but vain
queen. She boasted to be more beautiful than
even the sea nymphs. When word got to the
maidens, they became so upset that they
persuaded the ruler of the waters to send a
sea monster (Cetus) to destroy the coast of
the country as punishment for Cassiopeia's
vanity. The story continues with Cephus.



11. Cepheus   King of Ethiopia

    Cephus went to an oracle to seek advice
on how to rid the country of the sea monster
(Cetus). The oracle's solution involved
Andromeda, the princess of Ethiopia (see
above).




12. Cetus   The Sea Monster (Whale)

     Cetus was believed to have killed the
princess Andromeda.



13. Coma Berenices    Berenice's Hair

     When Berenice was queen of Egypt, she
made a vow to cut off her hair and place it
in the temple of Venus providing that her
husband, Ptolemy Euergetes, would return
safely from war. He returned and she kept her
pledge. But shortly thereafter, the tresses
disappeared from the alter. Conon, the court
astronomer took the royal couple out one
night and pointed to the sky where the lock
of hir was placed, thus preventing disaster.
He stated that the gods were so pleased with
Berenice's gift to Venus that they placed it
forever in the sky.





14. Corona Borealis   The Northern Crown


     This circlet of stars marks Ariadne's
crown. Ariadne was the daughter of Minos, the
king of Crete. Minos kept a monster - half
man half bull, known as Minotaur, in a
labyrinth. Once a year, seven youths and
seven maidens would be sacraficed to the
monster as a tribute to Minos. One year,
Theseus volunteered to be thrown to the
monster in hopes of slaying it. Ariadne, upon
seeing Theseus, fell in love with him. She
gave him a sword and a skein of thread to
unwind and use to make his way out of the
labyrinth. Theseus slew the monster and
escaped with his companions, taking Ariadne
with him. Soon, Theseus abandoned Ariadne for
another. This upset Ariadne so much that she
exiled herself to the island of Naxos. Venus
consoled her with the promise that she would
have an immortal lover. Bacchus was this
lover who gave her a crown, set with gems.
When Ariadne died, Bacchus placed the crown
in the heavens.





15. Cygnus     The Northern Cross (The Swan)

     Once there lived a boy named Phaethon.
Phaethon did not know who his father was
until one day he asked his mother. She told
him of a sun-god named Helios. Phaethon
sought after Helios and upon finding him was
granted anything he wanted. Phaethon wanted
to drive the chariot of the sun for one
journey. Helios discouraged this, but to no
avail. At first, the journey was not
difficult, but soon the horses realized that
Phatheon was an inexperienced driver and they
ran wild. Plummenting too close to earth,
fires broke out forming great parched
deserts. The world was in great danger until
Jupiter launched a thunderbolt toward
Phaethon, striking him and sending him off
the chariot. Phaethon fell into the river
Eridanus. His friend, Cygnus, looked
everywhere along the river for him, even
diving into the river and swimming with his
head under water. At last, the gods took pity
on him and changed him into a swan.





16. Draco   The Dragon


     The dragon, charged with guarding the
Golden Fleece, was killed by Hercules.



17. Gemini  The Twins


     Twin brothers named Castor and Pollux.
They were sons of the king and queen of
Sparta. Legend has it that Pollux was
immortal while Castor was not. When Castor
died, Pollux asked the gods to share his
immortality with his brother. Thus, both were
given immortality in the heavens.



18. Hercules   Hercules


     A prodigiously strong giant who was
given twelve labors by Eurystheus as a mark
of Juno's hostility toward the infant
Hercules. The most noteworthy of the labors
were: slaying the lion which roamed Nemea;
slaughter Hydra, the serpent which guarded
the well of Amymone; cleansing of the stables
of king Augeas of Eks (where 3,000 oxen lived
and had not been cleaned for 30 years); bring
back the jeweled belt of Hippolyta, queen of
the Amazons; bring back the three-bodied oxen
of Geryon.



19. Hydra      The Water Serpent

     One of the labors of Hercules was to
slaughter the many-headed water serpent which
guarded the well of Amymone.



20. Leo       The Lion


     When Hercules was an infant, he
strangled two serpents sent by Juno to kill
him. This only enraged Juno, who ensalved
Hercules to serve Eurystheus who gave him 12
labors to perform. The first was to kill a
lion which roamed the valley of Nemen. When
all weapons failed, Hercules stranged the
lion with his bare hands. The lion is
immortalized in the constellation of Leo.




21. Libra       The Scales

     At one time, this constellation
represented the claws of the scorpion
(Scorpius). Libra was considered as a
separate constellation by the Romans because
the Equinox (the time of year when days and
nights are of equal length, that is balanced)
occured in Libra.




22. Orion       The Great Hunter

     The death of Orion remains a controversy
in mythology. One story is based on the
position of Orion in the sky relative to
Scorpius. It was said that Orion boasted that
he was capable of overcoming any obstacle -
man or beast - where upon a scorpion came out
and stung him. Thus, as Scorpion rises, Orion
falls.





23. Ophiuchus   The Serpent Holder




24. Pegasus     The Winged Horse


     This wonderous horse emerged from drops
of blood which fell from Medura's severed
head. Pegasus was cought and tamed by
Minerva, a goddess of the time. Pegasus was
presented to the Mures who served to provide
inspiration for artists and poets. Many heros
and warriers rode Pegasus into and out of
battle, while others rode Pegasus to their
death.






25. Perseus        The Hero

     The son of Jupiter and Danae sent to
slay Medusa, the creature who had once been a
beautiful maiden. (Medusa had teeth of fangs
and hair of serpents.) Perseus was instructed
not to look directly at Medusa, otherwise he
would turn to stone. Perseus was given a
shield for protection and a pair of winged
sandals by Minerva to speed him on his
journey. Perseus easily slayed Medusa by
severing its head while it slept. Perseus
gave the head to Minerva who affixed it to
the center of her shield.







26. Pisces   The Fishes

      It was said that in order to escape
from a land-bound monster, the goddess Venus
and her son Cupid transformed themselves into
fish.



27. Pleiades


     Daughters of Atlas, these nymphs were
pursued by Orion. However, Jupiter came to
them first and transformed them into pigeons
and then stars. Legend has it that there were
seven daughters, but as many as nine or 11
have been seen.




28. Sagittarius        The Archer

     Known for cunning and wisdom, the archer
represents the centaurs of mythology. They
were learned in the arts and mentors of the
gods. Aesculapius is the name of the centaur
represented in Sagittarius. He was the son of
Apollo and a pupil of Chiron. He became a
great physician, so successful at saving
lives that Jupiter had to slay him. The
snake, sacred to Aesculapius, is now a symbol
of health (because of its apparent periodic
removal of skin as a renewal of life).




29. Scorpius        The Scorpion

     The scorpion sent by the god Juno to
kill Orion by stinging him in the foot.



30. Serpens        The Serpent



31. Taurus         The Bull

     One bull mentioned in mythology, was
that of Hercules' seventh labor. Hercules was
to capture and bring to Eurystheus the Cretan
Bull. He managed to do this, but the bull
escaped and made its way to Marathon. Another
bull mentioned in mythology was the white
bull into which the god Zeus transformed
himself when he abducted the Crete.



32. Ursa Major  The Greater Bear (Big Dipper)

     Callisto was punished by Jupiter for
being jealous of Juno. As punishment she was
transformed into a bear. She was constantly
hunted and this lived in terror. One day, a
hunter named Arcas approached Callisto and
was about to spear her. Just then, Jupiter
changed Arcas into a bear to prevent
Callisto's death. This upset Juno who asked
the gods of the sea to prevent Arcus from
ever entering the water. Thus, Ursa Major
(Callisto) and Ursa Minor (Arcus) remain in
the northern sky and never set.



33. Ursa Minor   The Lesser Bear (Little Dipper)

     In mythology, the hunter Arcus was
transformed into a bear by Jupiter to prevent
Callisto's (Ursa Major) death.



34. Virgo       The Virgin

     Said to have been the goddess of
justice, Astraea.




____________________________________________

2. TECHNICAL DATA


     The data on the following pages may be
useful to the observer insofar as the area
(in square degrees), distance from our Sun
(in light years) and visual magnitude of each
constellation provide the basis with which to
further study the constellations. The
magnitudes are given in standard units with
lower values (e.g. 1.00 or in the case of
extremely bright stars, negative values)
representing a star whose magnitude is of
sufficient brightness to be seen without
optical aid and high values (e.g. 10.00)
representing a star which requires optical
aids to be seen. For comparison, the Sun has
a visible magnitude of -26.7. The brightest
stars in the sky (next to the Sun) are Vega
(magnitude = 0.04) and Arcturus (magnitude =
-0.06) and Sirius (magnitude = -1.45).

____________________________________________

               Technical Data


Constellation     Area     Distance    Mag
              (in sq. deg) (in l.y.)
___________________________________________

Andromeda(1)       722     76 -  260   2.02
Aquarius           980     84 - 1080   2.86
Aquila             652     16 -  340   0.77
Aries              441     52 -   76   2.00
Auriga             657     45 - 3400   0.05

Bootes(2)          907     32 -  140  -0.06
Canis Major(3)     380      9 - 3400  -1.45
Capricornus        414     50 -  130    n/a
Cassiopeia         598     18 -  520   2.13

Cephus(4)          588     46 - 1300   2.44
Cetus             1231     12 -  130   2.00
Coma Berenices     386
Corona Borealis    179     76          2.33
Cyngus             804     74 - 1600   1.26

Draco             1038     76 -  620   2.21
Gemini             514     35 - 1080   1.16
Hercules          1225     30 -  410   2.78
Hydra             1303     84 -  220   1.98
Leo                947     43 -  340   1.36

Libra              538     58 -  140   2.61
Ophiuchus          948     58 -  520   2.09
Orion              594     26 - 2100   0.14
Pegasus           1121    109 -  780   2.31

Perseus            615    105 - 1000   1.80
Pisces             889
Sagittarius        867     71 -  590   1.81
Scorpius           497     66 - 3400   0.92
Serpens            637     60 -   71   2.65

Taurus             797     68 -  940   0.86
Ursa Major        1280     49 - 1300   1.79
Ursa Minor(5)      256    105 -  680   1.99
Vega(6)                    26          0.04
Virgo             1294     32 -  220   0.91
____________________________________________
Notes:

1. Actually represents a much further galaxy
   located 2 million light years from earth.

2. Contains the star Arcturus. With a
   magnitude of -0.06, this star is one of
   the brightest stars north of the equator.

3. This constellation contains the star
   Sirius, the brightest star in the Winter
   sky.

4. The triangle portion of Cephus is located
   some 1300 l.y. from earth. The triangle is
   composed of stars known as cepheids.
   Cepheids are pulsating stars which
   alternately expand and contract
   rhythmically resulting in a change in
   light magnitude of 100% or more.

5. At the tip of Ursa Minor is a star named
   Mira Ceta, known as the north star or
   polaris. It is one of the largest known
   stars having a diameter of 300 million
   miles (Our sun's diameter is 864 thousand
   miles).

6. Vega is located in the constellation Lyra.


This table indicates the month and
direction for each of the constellations
displayed by PC Starmap. Month is coded by a
number (1-12) and direction by a
letter (n,s,e,or w). Use this table as a
quick reference to locate favorite
constellations.
____________________________________________
Constellation  Month and Direction Codes
____________________________________________

Andromeda        1w  2w  8e   9e  10e  12w
Aquarius         7e  8e  10s  11s-w  12w
Aquila           6e  8e  9s  10w   11w
Aries            1w  3w  11s-e  12s
Auriga           3w  11e  12e

Bootes           3e  4e  5e  7w  8w  9w
Cancer           1e  2e  3s  4w  6w  12e
Canis Major      1s  2s  3s  4w  12e
Capricornus      7e  8s  9s  10s  11w
Cassiopeia       1-12n

Cephus           6-12n
Cetus            1w  2w  9e  10e  11s  12s
Coma Berenices   2e  3e  4e  5s  6w  7w  8w
Corona Borealis  3e  4e  5e  6s-e  7s-w  8w
                 9w  10w

Cyngus           6e  7e  8e  10w  11w  12w
Draco            1-12n
Gemini           1e  2s  3-6w 11e  12e
Hercules         4e  5e  6e  8w  9w  10w
Hydra            1e  2e  3s  4s  5s-w  6s-w

Leo              1e  2e  3e  4s  5s-w  6w  7w
Libra            4e  5s  6s  7s  8w
Ophiuchus        5e  6e  7s  8s  9w  10w
Orion            1s  2s  3w  4w  11e  12e
Pegasus          1w  2w  7-9e  10s  11s-w 12w

Perseus          11e
Pisces           1w 2w  8-9e  10s-e 11s 12s-w
Pleiades         9e  10e  11e  12s-e
Sagittarius      7s  8s  9s
Scorpius         6s  7s  8s

Serpens          5e  6s-e  7s  8s-w  9w  10w
Taurus           1s  2-4w  10e  11e  12s-e
Ursa Major       1-12n
Ursa Minor       1-12n
Vega             5-7e  9-11w  12n
Virgo            3e  4s  5s  6s  7w  8w

____________________________________________



                MDC SOFTWARE
              1920 SWALLOW LANE
             CARLSBAD, CA. 92008
                619-931-9825