PC-SIG: World of Education/PC-SiG's World of Education.iso/run/1103/sisky60.doc

Text File | 1993-03-13 | 27KB | 587 lines

                          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_________