T H E S O F T W A R E P A G E
The Software Page is a place for announcements and reviews of
new astronomy-related software (both commercial and shareware).
If you have a product that would like to be reviewed or promoted
in this column or if you have a review of a package that you would
like to share, please send e-mail to vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu.
From: Jim Lawrence <lawrence@KADETS.D20.CO.EDU> via AstroNet
Subject: Bright asteroid charts
The new version of Deep Space 3D, Ver 5.0, is sold on CD-Rom and includes
the Hubble GST catalog on the disk already, along with the asteroid,
comet, Saguaro and star databases. DS3D will not only plot the asteroid
or comet paths on a chart, but will also generate an observing list
automatically. You can then print the chart and list for use on the
scope. I have used both Skymap and DS3D and I prefer DS3D if I want an
observing list because I can get a list AND chart in one sitting. Skymap
is an excellent tool to use if you are using your computer to search for
objects for inclusion in a possible observing run. I like the eyepiece
feature of Skymap. It will let you add your own eyepieces in a file and
then plot their field of view over an object to get a feel for how the
object would look in a particular eyepiece.
THE ABOVE INFORMATION WAS REPRINTED FROM ASTRONET, ISSUE 11.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT resource@rahul.net.
The software is available at oak.oakland.edu in /simtel/msdos/astronomy.
Deep Space is a full-featured, observer-oriented astronomy program, not
just a "planetarium" program. It is known for its highly flexible,
publication-quality printouts. Earlier versions were, in fact used to
produce the star maps in the 300 page Dutch "VVS Deep-Sky Atlas", the
"Messier Marathon Handbook", by Don Machholz, both the "Comet Rapid
Announcement Service" and "Comet Watch" newsletters, and many astronomy
club newsletters A more lengthy program description is available by
e-mail upon request.
The shareware version is fully functional except for being limited to a
smaller database. The full version of Deep Space is available on CD ROM
for $129 or with fewer data files on disk for $89. The CD ROM version
will be in the next Orion Telescope Center catalog. It will also be for
sale elsewhere or directly from David Chandler Co. The author is David
Chandler: dschandler@frumble.claremont.edu.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: manfred@ssl.berkeley.edu (Manfred Bester)
Subject: SatTrack V3.1 Release Announcement
April 6, 1995
SatTrack V3.1 has been released.
SatTrack is a satellite orbit prediction and realtime tracking program with
X Window System color graphics displays. The program has been written in
C language and runs on a number of different Unix and Linux systems with
X11R5. It not only displays in realtime where a number of satellites are but
is also capable of controlling suitable ground station equipment, like
antennas or optical telescopes, and radio communications hardware. In the
autotrack mode it switches between various satellites as they rise and set.
Predictions of passes of satellites over specified ground stations can be
run off either interactively or in batch mode.
For detailed on-line information check the new SatTrack WWW Home Page at
http://ssl.berkeley.edu/isi_www/sattrack.html
The distribution file sattrack-3.1.tar.gz (or sattrack.V3.1.tar.gz) is also
available from:
ftp.amsat.org/amsat/software/Linux
ftp.jvnc.net/priv/kupiec/sattrack
ftp.ucsd.edu
nic.funet.fi
seds.lpl.arizona.edu
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: dhearn@gate.net ("David Hearn")
Subject: ANNOUNCE: Observer 1.0 for Macintosh available for FTP
This is to announce the availability of Observer 1.0 for the Macintosh;
Observing Tools for the Amateur Astronomer. A demo version has been
uploaded to sumex-aim.stanford.edu, and will soon be available for FTP
download on all it's mirror sites. Two popular mirrors are ftp.hawaii.edu
and grind.isca.uiowa.edu. The demo has also been uploaded to
SEDS.LPL.arizona.edu.
Demos are also available through email by sending a request to
dhearn@gate.net. Please use Info-Mac mirrors if at all possible, but if
you cannot access one of these sites, or do not have FTP capabilities, I
would be happy to send the demo via email. The demo is 1.1 megabytes, and
can be emailed in pieces or as a whole. Please specify the size of the
pieces in the email request.
Version 1.0 of Observer has multiple database files, containing
approximately 20,000 stars, planets, and deep-sky objects. It calculates
the positions and ephemerides of all eight viewable planets, and up to
100 asteroids and comets.
It displays images of the major solar system bodies, and can display
images of deep-sky objects as they are accessed. The Astrophoto Timer &
Log functions streamline photographic activities at the telescope, and
the Eyepiece Calculator function determines magnification and power-per-
inch values for any eyepiece / optical system combination. The charting
functions are designed to replace a star atlas in the field, and are
highly configurable.
Observer 1.0 currently runs on all 680X0 Macs with Color Quickdraw, with
PowerMac support coming very soon.
REPRINTED FROM ASTRONET, ISSUE 12.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT resource@rahul.net.
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- T o d d E. V a n H o o s e a r -
``'''vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu - vanhoose@msu.edu - vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu
(._.) Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI USA
(_) Computer Laboratory - Department of Communication
`---' <A HREF="http://lalaland.cl.msu.edu/~vanhoose/">My Home Page</A>
"Lottery: a tax on people who are bad at math."
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