INTRODUCTION ============ For several years already PROCYON is the most extensive Astronomy program for the Series 3a/3c. With the release of the Series 5, many requests came to port the program for the new Psion machine. Here we release the first version of the program for the Series 5 and call it PROCYON X. PROCYON X: THE NEXT GENERATION ============================== With this version we start a new generation of PROCYON X that takes full advantage of the Psion 5 properties leading to the following features. Identification of objects by pointing Much higher precision No more memories constraints, so more astronomical gizzmo's have been included Faster rebuild of the sky For further news on the development of the program consult our homepages: http://members.home.nl/psion/procyonx.html http://www.sussenbach.myweb.nl The Light version of PROCYON X is freeware, but the Pro version with many extras is shareware and can be obtained by registration (see Registration). PROCYON X ========= When we take a long look at the sky on a clear, starry night, have you not been awed by the vastness and the beauty ? The distant star and galaxies appear to be fixed and unchanging, but actually you are observing a small portion of a dynamic and revolving universe. PROCYON X is a Universe in the Palm of your Hands... It is the most extended Astronomy software for the Psion Series 3a/c and 5. This small program is packed full of information including the Yale Star Catalogue, all Messier objects and the NGC Catalogue, Graphs and Tables, and much, much more! Light and Pro PROCYON X is available as a Light version (freeware) and a Pro version (shareware). Compared to the Light version the PROCON X Pro version has a number of extra features: The Yale Star database is extended from magnitude 4.0 (Light) to magnitude 5.0 (Pro) (1600+ items); The completel NGC Catalogue of Deep Sky objects (7800+ items) is available; The Reference-star Database with stars to magnitude 6 is available in Zoom-window; More than 750 Minor Planets and Comets; Pictures of all 110 Messier Objects; Constellation names in Main-view; Jovian Red Spot visibility option; Constellation Identification; Constellation Names in Normal and Zenith View; Lunar Eclipse Graph. After registration you will receive a file named 5PROCYON.KEY. In addition you'll need the Procyon Auxiliary-pack (from http://members.home.nl/psion/procyonx.html). Installation of both files upgrades the Light version to the Pro version. Without these the current program will work as a Light version. INSTALLATION ============ All files should be placed in a subdirectory named \SYSTEM\APPS\PROCYON. Procyon will search for these files on the Internal Disc C: and then on the D: disk. PROCYON.INI will be used to store your personal Preferences. If you have registered Procyon, you have received a file 5PROCYON.KEY which should also be placed in the above mentioned subdirectory.Finally, RMRAlarm.opx should be placed in a \SYSTEM\OPX directory UPDATING FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS Since any new version contains new options you'll have to delete PROCYON.INI file and restart the program. PROCYON X will prepare a new INI file when the program is closed. Further you must put RMRAlarm.opx in a \SYSTEM\OPX directory VERY IMPORTANT Note that PROCYON X uses the English/American decimal separator, viz. a dot. If you use a continental version of Series 5 with the comma as decimal separator you have to change that into a dot! Start the program! After proper installation the PROCYON X icon is shown in the Extra's bar. Press and the show starts. If you want to make a screen dump of a specific scene, ress Shift-Ctrl-Fn-S and give the file a name. The file is now saved in the root of the C: disk. Now start Sketch and choose File, More, Merge in and choose EPOC Picture as the file type. Having done this the file can be saved as a Sketch file. Now you can drag the file using Psiwin to your computer and it will automatically be converted to a bitmap file that can for instanc be used with your Word processor. MENU ==== Menu: Edit Edit: Date/Time Change the Date/Local Time or SummerTime. Edit: City Enter a city of your choice. This option uses the places database of the WORLD application. Due to the large size of the database, this may take some time Edit: User Location Manually edit a location. East is -; West is + Edit: Preferences Use this option to set your preferences. High Precision only available in the Pro version. When the Zoom window is 21 degrees or larger (maximal 45 degrees) the constellation lines are shown (if the option Constellation lines in Show Options is checked). Edit: Show Options Sets the items you want to see. Mirror Image allows to choose between Normal and Mirror Image presentation. Mirror Image shows the Jovian and Saturnian Moons as viewed through a telescope with a Zenith Prism. See the Constellations card of this Help file for the abbreviations of the Constellation Names. The default presentation of the sky is South-oriented. By checking North View the sky will be shown North-oriented. Edit: Graph Options Sets the names of the individual Planets you want to include in your Graphic Presentations. Edit: Screen Update Repetitive Updating of thescreen with the chosen interval Menu: Find Find: Constellation This options reveals the stars belonging to the same constellation and is only available in the Pro version. Find: Identify Identifies a specific object using pen-touchiing. Tap the object and information will appear. Find: Track Plots the path of a Comet or Asteroid using any user-made database (made in DATA with the extension .trk) with a series of positions (e.g.Halebopp.trk). Line 1 in such a database has to be the R.A. [0.00h-23.59h] Line 2 in such a database is reserved for the Dec [-90°-+90°] Find: Position Shows the position (RA, Dec) of a single object. Find: Mars Meridian Calculates the Central Meridian (C.M.) of Mars. Shows the position of the C.M. on the Mars map and after pressing a key the currently visible part of Mars. Find: Red Spot Shows when the Jovian Red Spot passes the Central Meridian. Because the position of the Red Spot is variable, the longitude can be updated using Preferences Ctrl-O). For the latest position of the Red Spot see Sky & Telescope magazine (January 2000 value is 74 degrees). This option is only available in the Pro version. Find: Zenith View Shows the stars between 50 and 90 degrees height Find: Ephemeris Display compiled data of Solar System objects. K% indicates Moon Phase (0 % is New Moon; 100 % is Full Moon). For other items see Dictionary. Menu: Object Object: Binary Stars Calculates the orbit of a Binary Star and indicates the position in the current year. Object: Variable Stars Calculates the next minimum or maximum of a Variable Star. For Algol: Flashing cursor shows current phase/magnitude. Object: Starname Seeks a star specified by (part of) Name (e.g. Procyon). Object: Messier Enter (part of) a name or number of a Messier object. Pictures of the Mesier objects are only shown in the Pro version Object: NGC In the Light version only 100 objects are shown. The entire database with more than 7000 objects is only available in the Pro version. Enter the NGC number. Object: Planets Shows the position of a Solar System or user- specified object and the phases of the planets Object: Minor Bodies> Cascade: Asteroids or Comets. Choose Asteroid or Comet and subsequently enter the name of a Comet or Asteroid. Object: Lunar Eclipse Only in Pro version. Shows during a lunar eclipse the position of the Moon relative to the Earth shadow. For dates of Lunar eclipses use first option Full/New Moon (Ctrl-Shift-P). Navigate to a date with the indications LE . Press Enter and subsequently press Shift-Ctrl-L.The line represents the path of the Moon (only in the Pro version at High accuracy). Menu: Show Show: Jovian Moons Displays a twin-view of Jupiter and his moons. The positions of the Moons at other times are displayed by using the cursors as indicated. The arrow indicates the direction of the Earth. Show: Moon Displays the Moon Phase and additional information. Show: Full/New Moon Displays the dates of Full and New Moon. SE: Solar Eclipse, LE: Lunar Eclipse To show eclipses, navigate to dates marked as a lunar eclipse and press. Then press Shift-Ctrl-L to show the eclipse Show: Solar System Shows top view of our Solar System. The arrows indicate the vernal equinox. Show: Saturn View Shows Saturn with rings and moons. Use 0-9 to zoom in and out. a and b repesent the long and short axis of the ring. Show: Event Base The Zoom function focuses on the region of interest. Feel free to explore and expand this Database. Show: Graphs Shows Graphs of the Magnitude, Diameter (") and Declination of the classic planets and the Visibility of Mercury and Venus. Show: Invert View Inversion facilitates observation of faint stars. Show: Circular Sky This option hows a circular representation of the Sky. The orientation of the presentation can be chosen. Scrolling of the sky map to reveal another part of the sky is obtained by pressing the Up or the Down cursor. To identify an object first stop scrolling by pressing Esc. Subsequently, tap the object of choice. If the constellation lines,names or the Ecliptic have been checked in Edit:Show options, they will be presented in the sky map. Menu: Tools Special: Info Useful Information. Special: About Info about PROCYON X and its Designers. Special: Rise/Set Displays the times of Rising and Setting of the Sun and Planets. Special: Symbols Summary of the Symbols used. Special: Rebuild Initiates a Rebuild of the screen. Special: Zoom To Zoom in on the region of interest press the Fn button and tap on the object of interest. The program will draw the stars of the main screen including the constellation lines when the Zoom window is 21 degrees or larger Subsequently, the stars of the Refstar catalogue are drawn. Wait till the counter indicates that 100% has been drawn For more information on an object drawn in the Zoom window just tap (for the stars of the Refstar catalogue no further information will be given). Zooming in on the User-defined object is very useful with a Solar Eclipse (see Event Base) orr a detailed map of the region where a Solar System orr messier or NGC object is located Special: Help Shows this file Special: Quit Gosh... Just try it. GLOSSARY ======== Altitude: Angle of elevation in degrees of a star above the horizon, ranging from 0 degrees at the horizon to 90 degrees in the Zenith. Asteroids: The minor planets, most of which move around the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Several thousands of asteroids are known; the largest is Ceres. Astronomical Unit (AU): Mean distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is equal to 149,597,900 Km. Azimuth: Angle of a celestial object measured from the south point of the horizon westward to the meridian. Because of the earth's rotation, the azimuth of a body is changing all the time. Cluster: A collection of stars which are often associated. Comet: A member of the Solar System, moving around the Sun in an orbit which is generally highly eccentric. Declination: The angle measured in degrees perpendicular to the plane of the equator, ranging from -90 to +90 degrees. Ecliptic: A circle representing the apparent path of the Sun along the sky. Most planets move close to this plane. Ephemeris: A table giving the predicted positions of a moving celestial body, such as a planet or comet. PROCYON X gives the coordinates for the epoch and equinox 2000.0 Galaxy: System of stars; there are many kinds, and they differ widely in size and luminosity. GMT: Greenwich Mean Time, time at the meridian of Greenwich. Also known as Universal Time (UT). Julian Day: (JD) The number of days, starting from noon on 1 January 4713 BC. Latitude: The angular distance of a celestial body from the nearest point on the Ecliptic. LST: Local Sidereal Time, hour angle of the vernal equinox. Magnitude: Scale for expressing the apparent brightness of a celestial object. A fainter star has a higher magnitude. The naked eye in the city can view stars up to magnitude 5. Messier Catalogue: A compilation of Nebulae and Clusters created by the 18th-century French astronomer Messier. Meteor: A small particle which after entering the Earth's atmosphere burns up leaving a trail of light. The streak of luminosity is known as a Shooting Star. Nebula: A mass of tenuous gas in space together with what is loosely termed 'dust'. NGC: New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters . Phase: The apparent changes in shape of the Moon and planets depending from what direction the light of the Sun hits the object and the viewing angle from Earth. Planet: A non-luminous body moving around a star. There are nine known major planets in our Solar System. Planetary nebula: A faint often circular nebula surrounding a star. They visually resemble a planet. Radiant: Point on the celestial sphere from which meteor of a given shower appear to radiate. Right Ascension: The angle measured eastward in hours along the equator between the meridian of an object and the meridian from a specific point in the constellation Pisces (vernal equinox). Ranging from 0 to 24 hours. Vernal Equinox: Point in the constellation Pisces that is reached by the Sun around March 21 and marks the beginning of the spring. Universal Time (UT): See Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT). ZHR: Zenith Hourly Rate, average number of meteors per hour during maximum (approximate rate of activity). CONSTELLATIONS ============== Andromeda And Antlia Ant Apus Aps Aquarius Aqr Aquila Aql Ara Ara Aries Ari Auriga Aur Bootes Boo Caelum Cae Camelopardalis Cam Cancer Cnc Canis Major CMa Canis Minor CMi Canes Venatici CVn Capricornus Cap Carina Car Cassiopeia Cas Centaurus Cen Cepheus Cep Cetus Cet Chamaeleon Cha Circinus Cir Columba Col Coma Berenices Com Corona Australis CrA Corona Borealis CrB Corvus Crv Crater Crt Crux Cru Cygnus Cyg Delphinus Del Dorado Dor Draco Dra Equuleus Equ Eridanus Eri Fornax For Gemini Gem Grus Gru Hercules Her Horologium Hor Hydra Hya Hydrus Hyi Indus Ind Lacerta Lac Leo Leo Leo Minor LMi Lepus Lep Libra Lib Lupus Lup Lynx Lyn Lyra Lyr Mensa Men Microscopium Mic Monocerotus Mon Musca Mus Norma Nor Octans Oct Ophiuchus Oph Orion Ori Pavo Pav Pegasus Peg Perseus Per Phoenix Phe Pictor Pic Pisces Psc Piscis Austrinus PsA Puppis Pup Pyxis Pyx Reticulum Ret Sagitta Sga Sagittarius Sgr Scorpius Sco Sculptor Scl Scutum Sct Serpens Ser Sextant Sex Taurus Tau Telescopium Tel Triangulum Tri Triangulum Australe TrA Tucana Tuc Ursa Major UMa Ursa Minor UMi Vela Vel Virgo Vir Volans Vol Vulpecula Vul REGISTRATION ============ You may currently be using the Light Version of PROCYON X. This version is free for non-commercial use, but we would appreciate if you could send us a postcard saying whether you like this program or not. Also suggestions for extensions of the program are welcome. If you really like this program or use it regulary you might consider registering for: Hfl 60, DM 60,- US$ 30 or UK £ 20. Regsoft US$ 30 www.RegSoft.com 4584 Regnet US$ 35 www.swregnet.com/1703p.htm 1703 With the key-file system there is no need to re-install the program, which can be a lengthy process considering the size of the complete Pro version. Just add the '5PROCYON.KEY' file to \SYSTEM\APPS\PROCYON TECH INFO ========= The following files are absolutely required to run Procyon: PROCYON.APP (Main Program). 5YALE.DBF (Yale Bright Star Catalogue). 5MESSIER.DBF (Messier Nebula). 5PROCYON.MBM RMRAlarm.opx in a \SYSTEM\OPX directory The following files are all optional: 5BINARY.DBF (Binary Stars Database); 5VARIABLE.DBF (Variable Stars Database); EVENT.DBF (Event Base); 5MPLAN.DBF (Asteroids en Comets); 5MILKWAY.DBF (Milkyway Outline); 5CONS.DNF (Constellation names). The Saturnian moons option is based on emperical formulae. All calculations are performed with 16 digit precision. We've done our best to achieve the most optimal performance in such a 'small' program. If you find any bugs, irregularities, just have smart ideas how expand the program or have even better algorithms, please contact us! Thanks to all the testers (in particular John Davies and Uli Kudicke) and contributers out there, who have supplied ideas, support, bug-reports and other useful stuff. CONTACT US ========== If you got any questions, suggestions, want more technical information or just want to congratulate us, we can be reached at: --------- Snail Mail --------- John Sussenbach Park Arenberg 42 3731 ET De Bilt The Netherlands Pedro van Can Wilgenlaan 14 6241 BJ Bunde The Netherlands ------- Electronic Mail ------ j.sussenbach@hccnet.nl psion@home.nl ---- Procyon Homepages ---- http://www.sussenbach.myweb.nl http://members.home.nl/psion/procyonx.html Clear skys end enjoy the program when clouded-out! Pedro van Can, John Sussenbach, March 2001