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Windows : Richard Fleet introduces GraphDark 2.04 |
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on Sunday, January 18, 2004 - 07:11 PM GMT - 2858 Reads
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The main changes you will notice are in the sky display that pops up when you click on a timetable. Hopefully these will make it more useful to the novice as well as the more experienced observers....
The enhancements are summarised below.
As usual the full distribution file, or a smaller upgrade patch, are available.
Download via the home page (Newbury Astronomical Society)
http://www.newburyas.org.uk
or from the GraphDark group files section
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/graphdark
Summary of enhancements
Sky background
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I've finally got round to adding stars and the Milky Way to the zenith view. This should make it easier to visualise where things are in the sky, not just in relation to the horizon. Stars go down to mag 6.5, depending on the magnitude limit set. Star names can be shown down to mag 2.5, most of the fainter ones aren't very well known anyway. If not already shown then clicking on one of the brighter stars will display its name. Constellation names can also be shown. The Milky Way can be shown as a solid background or as isophotes. I've also added a zoom up to 2x, which shows a sector of sky from the horizon to the zenith instead of the all sky view.
Although stars are shown on the separate horizon view the Milky Way is not, this is because the distortion at higher altitudes is just too great. Even familiar star patterns are distorted beyond recognition much above 60 degrees.
If you've upgraded from early versions then the horizon view is probably still the one that appears when you click on the graph. If you want to change this go to Edit, Preferences, Timetable display. In the 'Click on graph' section set the radio button for Zenith.
Zodiacal light
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I've added the ability to show the Zodiacal light, either as a background glow or as isophotes. It was actually this that prompted me to add the stars and Milky Way - it wouldn't mean much without them.
Since most people never get to see it the Zodiacal light is switched off as the default. To switch it on just go to Preferences, Sky background and check the box 'Show Zodiacal light.'
There is more detail in the help file so there is no point in me repeating it here, just go to the new 'General notes and hints' section.
Meteor streams
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I've also added meteor streams to the types of object that can be shown.
Sample data is provided for about a dozen of the more active streams.
This does make it easy to see when moonlight interferes and to pick the best observing time.
General
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I've made the 'Now' button available on the timetable as well as the World map. This will pop up the same display that you get when clicking on the timetable, but automatically selects the current date and time.
Not much to see during the day, but it may be handy in the evening when it saves hunting with the cursor for the current time.
Richard Fleet |
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