G N O M P L O T version 4.2 is an ASTRONOMY program for the Atari ST and it is SHARE WARE. It is not allowed to sell this program or the star charts plotted by GNOMPLOT 4.2 without the explicit permission of the author ! You can order your own copy or updates of GNOMPLOT directly from Dieter Heinlein Puschendorfer Str. 1 D 8501 VEITSBRONN West Germany 09 11 / 75 14 76 Please report any problems, comments or suggestions concerning GNOMPLOT to the above address. If you like this program enough to use it on a regular basis, I would be pleased if you could appreciate my efforts by sending along a few bucks. This will put your name on my list of registered users and will enable me to inform you on new releases or any major bugs fixed. Hardware requirements: Atari ST with 1 Mbyte RAM, monochrome monitor (Hi-Res only) and Epson FX80- compatible matrix printer. The following files should be in the same directory (desktop or folder) GNOMPL42.PRG main prg, incl. star data GNOMPLOT.RSC resource file HARDCOPY.PRG auxiliary program GNOMPLOT.TXT this manual GNOMPLOT was designed in order to calculate and to print out star charts using the gnomonic projection. Such maps show a small region of the starry sky (around the pro- jection center) and make it possible to draw trajectories of METEORS as straight lines ! Make sure that at least the four files described above are on your working directory and that you have enough free memory. Otherwise remove Accessories or/and too large RAM-Disk. Then start the program by double-click on the GNOMPL42.PRG icon. The drop down menu of GNOMPLOT V4.2 is self-explanatory. Only a few comments on some program features may be still useful: It is possible to switch the pull down menu OFF / ON by pressing the key. [ This won't work while using special functions !] MENU Desk: About GNOMPLOT: will show a copyright message. Desk Accessories: It is possible to run Accessories from the GNOMPLOT desk, but you should be aware, that (in actual release) the back- ground, that was covered by the ACC, will NOT be restored. MENU Gnomonic chart: Set parameters: You will be prompted to input the equatorial coordinates for the center of gnomonic projection: right ascension (hours): 0.0 ...... 23.99 declination (degrees): -90.0 ...... +90.0 scale factor of screen: 150 (overview) ... 450(detail) Default value for center of screen is the position 320/200. If you want to change this value: type , otherwise . Read star data / Change limiting magnitude: GNOMPLOT contains data of right ascension, declination and apparent magnitude for 5033 stars up to mag +6. These values are read in ascending order of magnitude. You can stop data input by pressing if the desired magnitude is reached. [ Notify that the standard equinox for RA and DE is J 2000 ] Erase screen: This option will clear screen, but does NOT erase the chosen parameters of the actual projection in memory. Use this function to draw a coordinate grid WITHOUT stars. Quit or Ctrl-C: Quit will exit GNOMPLOT with query. ^C exits to desktop fast MENU Functions: Insert / remove main axes: The main axes of the screen center are shown / erased. Coordinate grid: Distance of grid lines: 1 hour in RA and 10 degrees in DE !! Locate coordinates: This locate mode shows RA/DE values of the current position of mouse icon. Cancel function with right mouse button. Show constellation: Invoking this function first time will cause sorting of all star data according to constellations. After that just klick left (exactly) on any (major) star and all stars that belong to the same constellation and its latin name are shown up. Press to cancel blinking. Clicking right button exits the searching mode and returns to main menu. Draw trajectories: To draw a meteor path (trajectory) mark the initial point with the left and choose the final point with right button. Press to cancel the drawing mode. MENU Pictures: Degas / Doodle: Toggles the picture format (active format is checked). Load Pic: Load Degas / Doodle Picture from working directory. Save Pic: A message about the space available on the actual drive will appear and enables you to save a picture of the chosen format on the current working directory. Kill Pic: will erase pictures of any format from working directory. MENU Hardcopy: Normal: enables 'correct scale' output of entire screen to printer. ( 640x400 pixels / for Epson FX80 / format: 225x140 mm ) Partial: Using the drag_box you can choose the location of an 384x240 pixel wide area on the screen. Fix its position by clicking the left mouse button and you will receive a printer output of this area, that is expanded twice in length and height. ( format: 270x169 mm ) Special: BEFORE using this function it is necessary to save the de- sired screen as a DOODLE Picture ! After that invoke item 'Special' and choose this picture from the file select box. Then a correct scale and FULL DIN A4 SIZED hardcopy of this PIC will be sent to your printer ( format: 259x162 mm ) All functions that occur in the pull down menu are implemented. Some items are SHADOWED (disabled) temporarily to indicate that these functions can't be activated at present. In order to enable them you must calculate a new set of projection parameters first. Relation of star magnitude and radius of dot on the screen: mag: -1.5 ..... 0 ..... +1.5 ..... +3 ..... +4.5 ..... +6 r(pixels): 4 3 2 1 0 Veitsbronn, March 18, 1988 Dieter Heinlein