evans@mhgsp.att.com (52123-crandall) (08/20/89)
Many thanks to the folks who responded with comments on my plea for information on a distributer for "Voyager" software. Several people asked for reviews - the program was favorably reviewed on the net as well as in Sky and Telescope (several months ago), MacWorld(4/89), and MacGuide(7/89). For several months the ads in Sky and Telescope were silent, but a call to Computerware said they were still around (I ended up ordering a copy for $82 + s&h). Last night the new Sky and Telescope arrived with an ad from Carina software -- you guessed it -- they have just announced a new version due out in Sept. Steve Crandall att!mhgsp!evans >From: ephraim@Think.COM >Subject: Re: Desktop Planetarium >In article <2929@cbnewsm.ATT.COM> you write: >>Some time ago the "Voyager Desktop Planetarium" was reviewed by >>several folks on the net. I've been trying to buy it -- none of the >>big SW houses (MacConnection Mac Warehouse etc) seem to have it. Is >>it still around, if so who carries it? >Entirely by chance, I saw this at the expo last week. From out of my >big MacConnection bag comes a brochure titled "VOYAGER - the >Interactive Desktop Planetarium (tm)." On the back it says, > Voyager is available now, only from Carina Software. For > additional information, please contact: > Carina Software, 830 Williams Street > San Leandro, CA 94577 (415) 352-7328 > The price of Voyager is $99.50 plus shipping. >Ephraim Vishniac ephraim@think.com ThinkingCorp@applelink.apple.com Subject: RE: Voyager - Retailer >From: Michael J. Howell <mjh@riacs.edu> >Steve, > ComputerWare, the famous all Macintosh accessory store here >in the SF Bay area, has Voyager by Carina. They list it for $82. > Computerware's # is 800-235-1155. This is a good outfit, >awesomely knowledgeable people. >Michael J. Howell >mjh@riacs.edu
omh@brunix (Owen M. Hartnett) (08/20/89)
I bought Voyager at MacWorld and I love it.
Things that are nice about it:
You can observe the sky in any of three modes, a star atlas type, a local
mode (which cuts out at the horizon and designates the compass points, i.e.
you can display a star chart for the precise time and date you specify) and
a ~rcelstial sphere, which I don't use much, but may be handy for some
people.
You can enter in coordinates for celestial objects as they are discovered,
and Voyager will plot them for you. (Handy for new comets, you can print
up a star chart s{_howing their location at your observing time.) voyager
will also plot the planets and deep sky objects as well. There is a find
feature: You type in "Whirlpool" for instance and Voyager will find (and
optionally center) the object, along with a complete data analysis about it
(i.e. RA, Decl, Magnitude, distance, etc.) The magnitude is computed on
the fly, as is distance, so they will change with time, etc.
Clicking on an object will present a complete data analysis on it.
You can also observe from another planet or object or anywhere in the universe,
practically. What was really neat was setting the observation point to the
moon and the time to last Wednesday's full lunar eclipse -- you see the earth
moving in front of the sun. You can also "track" objects and turn on the
"trails" feature to see their orbital paths.
My only thought as to another feature I'd like to see: I suggested to the
author at Macworld that he include an "almanac" feature in the next release
(i.e. when you booted it up, it would notify you of major phenomenon that
would occur soon, like "Perseid Meteor Shower Peak 8/13" or "total lunar
eclipse 8/16," he thought it a good idea and hopefully would implement it.)
-Owen
Owen Hartnett
Brown University Computer Science
omh@cs.brown.edu.CSNET flowers@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Margot Flowers) (08/22/89)
In article <13134@brunix.UUCP> omh@zaphod.UUCP (Owen M. Hartnett) writes:
.>I bought Voyager at MacWorld and I love it. ... I suggested to the
.>author at Macworld that he include an "almanac" feature in the next release
.>(i.e. when you booted it up, it would notify you of major phenomenon that
.>would occur soon, like "Perseid Meteor Shower Peak 8/13" or "total lunar
.>eclipse 8/16," he thought it a good idea and hopefully would implement it.
Are there any existing programs which do this? I'd also like sun/moon
rise/set, and tides.
Margot Flowers
Flowers@CS.UCLA.EDU
...!(uunet,rutgers,ucbvax,randvax)!cs.ucla.edu!flowers