thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (12/11/88)
Reference was recently made in sci.astro to a ``COSMOS'' program that calculates solar, lunar, "and other" events. I just checked comp.sources.unix, comp.sources.misc, and alt.sources going back to 3rd qtr 1987 and could not locate that program. If you know from where ``COSMOS'' can be anonymously uucp'd, please send email with any particulars (e.g. phone, expect-send, etc.) If you can email the sources, please send a msg stating you CAN do this! No need for eleventy-seven separate emailings of the source! Thanks in advance! Thad Floryan [thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad]
ron@minnow.sp.unisys.com (Ron Burns) (12/15/88)
In article <12478@cup.portal.com> thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) writes: >Reference was recently made in sci.astro to a ``COSMOS'' program that >I .... could not locate that program. > >Thad Floryan [thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad] Okay, Thad, and anyone else that's interested. Here is the scoop on the COSMOS program. It is an IBM PC XT AT PS/* type program that can be run using CGA EGA VGA Herc. types of graphics. EGA or VGA and coprocessor is recommended, but not required. What it does: 1) Provides a very clean display of the sky including a. select viewing direction (N NE E SE S SW W NW) b. select any earthly latitude/longitude to view from c. select any time/date between 1700 and 2500 AD d. select screen update intervals of: real time update update by preset increments wall clock time (hrs mins sec etc) sidereal time (watch the stars stand still and the planets move and precess!) lunar time (watch the full moons move across the sky!) e. select magnitude limits for the stars, as you want them displayed f. select, with a graphic cursor, any object on the screen and a window will pop up showing: right ascension declination alti - azimuth name constellation its in magnitude g. the option of making objects leave trails behind them as they move (great for creating polar star exposures and planet presession) 2) orbital display of the solar system allowing a. zoom in and out b. same update , trail, time and date options as above. 3) planetary rise and set times display including "% full" same time and date options as above. 4) planetary positions display showing RA & Dec & Alt-Az for all planets with same time and date options as above. The document that comes with it tells how to use everything, and includes a description of how to set up the options to do several "experiments" that are interesting. BEST OF ALL, IT W O R K S !!!!!!! I can look out my window, find a star, point to it on my pc screen, and zoom, there is all the info on it! The program has data on over 2000 stars and deep space objects. It even handles US and European daylight savings time. The version that was posted to the net was a "limited version" and only allowed dates between 1986 and 1988 to run. The author is asking $25 for a full function copy. A real bargain, I think. By comparing my purchased copy to the original posting, there are several new features added in between. The latest copy of Sky and Telescope has an ad for a program called "Exploring the Cosmos" that looks VERY similar, except it does not seem to have as many features. It sells for $59.95 or so. That makes $25 a pretty good deal. As far as I know, source code is not available. The address to send to is: Gene Lee 7500 Colorado Ave Brooklyn Park, MN 55443 Sorry this is so long, but this is, in my opinion, really worth it. Any other COSMOS users out there? Maybe we could start a users group! Bye now. -- Ron Burns Unisys Corporation UUCP: ...!amdahl!ems!minnow!ron Phone:(612)635-6927 CSNET: ron@minnow.SP.Unisys.Com