N i g h t V i s i o n Version 2.2 Copyright (C) B. Simpson 1996-1998 OS/2 Astronomy Program Night Vision is a "planetarium" program for OS/2, and will display the heavens from any location on earth. Viewing options allow the user to control which sky objects to display, which font to use, and manipulation of various star parameters. Time may be set to run at multiple speeds, including backwards. Star charts may be printed. * * New with version 2.2 * * -> Mouse zooming -> Objects may be centered in window with left mouse click -> Menu options accessible via right mouse click -> Star names -> Object find for constellations, stars, deep sky objects, and solar system objects -> Altitude range extended to -90 degrees -> Previous printer printed to is remembered. Note: Registered users of previous versions are entitled to a free Email upgrade to the 2.2 registered version. Just Email the author at: nightvision@bmtmicro.com --- Visit the Night Vision home page --------------------------------------- Night Vision has a home page on the Internet at: http://home.att.net/~bsimpson/nvsn.html - and - http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/nightv/ --- Shareware and Registered versions -------------------------------------- Night Vision has two versions, the shareware version and the registered version, which are nearly identical except that the shareware version has tags indicating that it is unregistered. The shareware version may be freely copied and distributed provided that the program in all of its components (program file, help file, database files, install file, and documentation) are kept together and all remain unmodified. You are free to use the shareware version for an evaluation period. Please do not continue usage without registering as considerable effort has gone into the making of this program. You may register with: BMT Micro PO Box 15016 Wilmington, NC 28408 U.S.A. (Use the order form supplied in the file ORDER.FRM, or contact them via the internet at http://www.bmtmicro.com) or Brian Simpson PO Box 773 Niwot, CO 80544 U.S.A. Registration is $25. Upon registration you will receive the registered version, which can be Emailed to you at no extra charge. Those who require a diskette please see the file ORDER.FRM. The registered version is of course for personal use only and may not be distributed. --- Disclaimer ------------------------------------------------------------- Night Vision is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. No warranty is made, expressed, or implied, that this documentation or accompanying software is free of error, or is consistent with any particular standard of performance, quality, or merchantability, or that it will meet your requirements for any particular application. It should not be relied on for solving a problem whose incorrect solution could result in injury to a person or loss of property. If you do use this software in such a manner, it is at your own risk. The author and distributors disclaim all liability for direct, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from your use of this software. Your use of this program constitutes total agreement and acceptance of this disclaimer. --- Requirements ----------------------------------------------------------- Night Vision requires OS/2 version 2.1 or later. (Untested on 2.0) Night Vision should run on any X86 - based processor that runs OS/2. Because of the computationally intensive nature of this program, a math coprocessor is strongly recommended. (A math coprocessor is already built into 486DX, Pentium, and later processors, but is a separate chip on some other systems.) --- Installation ----------------------------------------------------------- Since you are reading this documentation, you have likely already unzipped the .ZIP archive into its component files. Place all files into a directory on your hard drive and issue the following command from an OS/2 command prompt in that directory: INSTALL A program icon will be installed onto your OS/2 desktop. Just double click on the icon to start Night Vision. Alternately you can invoke the program by issuing the following command from the same directory: NVSN --- Your first view -------------------------------------------------------- Night Vision opens with a view of the heavens looking straight up from the user's preferred location. (Or, until a preferred location has been selected, a default location of Niwot, Colorado, the author's favorite small town.) Two scroll bars control the direction of view: Moving the vertical scroll bar (right side of window) controls the altitude, or the angle from the horizon to the center of the view (center of window). With the scroll at the top the view is straight up (the zenith). Moving the scroll to the middle shows the view along the horizon, and moving it to the bottom shows the view through the earth (the nadir). Tinting will indicate where the earth blocks the view. (This horizon indication can be turned off.) Moving the horizontal scroll bar (bottom of window) controls the azimuth, or direction along the horizon. With the scroll in the center, the view towards the horizon is to the south. Moving the scroll to the right moves the view to the west, then the north. Moving the scroll to the left moves the view to the east, then the north. Thus north can be achieved by moving the scroll either to the far right or the far left. Altitude and azimuth are indicated in the information window at the top. Interpret altitude as follows: Alt View --------------------------------- 0 Along the horizon 90 Straight up (zenith) -90 Straight down (nadir) Interpret azimuth as follows: Az View --------------------------------- 0 and 360 North 90 East 180 South 270 West Magnification is controlled as follows: Pressing 'z' will "zoom in" to magnify the view. Pressing 'Shift-z' will "zoom out" to de-magnify the view. By pressing 'Shift-z' and/or enlarging the window an entire 180ø view can be seen. (I.e. 90ø in all directions from center of window.) 'CapsLock' is ignored. Night Vision is mouse aware. For example, to move an object to the center of the window, left click on that object. To zoom into an object draw a rectangle around that object by pressing the left mouse button and then dragging the mouse. When the button is released the center of the rectangle is moved to the center of the window at a zoom level based on the area of the rectangle. Press 'p' to return to the previous view. The right mouse button invokes a pop-up menu. This is of particular use during full screen mode when the main menu is not visible. --- Setup ------------------------------------------------------------------ Night Vision can be set up for any location. Begin by going to the "Set location" window (via the "Set" pull down menu). Select the city closest to your location, select/deselect "Daylight savings time", and press "OK City". Or enter your longitude, latitude, and time zone, select/deselect "Daylight savings time", and press "OK Coordinates". If your new location is in a different time zone, then your local time (as displayed in the information line above the star window) will have changed, and you must reset the time. To do so, go to the "Set local date/time" window (via the "Time" pull down menu) and then press "Set to computer date/time". You are now re-sync'd to your computer time. Be sure to save this location information if you would like Night Vision to always start at this position. Go to the "File" pull down menu and select "Save location". You may also save your viewing preferences (objects, font, and star parameters) by selecting "Save preferences" from the "File" pull down menu. Note: The city database used in the "Set location" window may be edited to suit the user's preferences. Follow the directions at the top of NVSN.CTY. --- List of files ---------------------------------------------------------- Night Vision contains the following files: File Description ------------------------------------------------------- NVSN.EXE The executable (program file) for Night Vision NVSN.HLP The help file NVSN.DB Sky database NVSN.CTY City database - May be modified, but please distribute only the original NVSN.DOC Documentation - This file NVSN.INI Initialization file - Created by program - Should not be distributed with other files INSTALL.CMD Installs program object onto desktop The shareware version adds the following two files: FILE_ID.DIZ Program description ORDER.FRM BMT Micro registration form --- Misc. notes ------------------------------------------------------------ Night Vision is written in C++ and uses the IBM Open Class Library. The program utilizes two threads of execution. The first manages the user interface, while the second manages drawing on the main window. A third thread is introduced for printing. The star database is derived from the "Yale Catalogue of Bright Stars", a public domain listing of over 9,000 stars. Their placement is for Epoch 2000.0 (i.e. the beginning of the year 2000AD). No adjustment for precession is made, which is the reason for limiting the dates between 1900 and 2099. --- Bugs ------------------------------------------------------------------- There appears to an OS/2 bug that affects Night Vision after the OS/2 Lockup feature has been invoked. After releasing OS/2 Lockup (i.e. typing your password), the star window may not be as responsive to dragging the scroll bar (or using the arrow keys). This problem only affects some systems and may not affect yours. It appears that thread priorities are changed after OS/2 Lockup has been invoked. (Other programs have encountered similar problems.) Bugs in printer drivers can affect the quality of the star charts produced, and in turn make Night Vision look buggy. (A printer driver is the software that OS/2 uses to build an image and send it to a printer). No printing should occur outside of the square that encloses the chart, and only the program name, date and time, location, and alt/az information should appear in the boxes that appear in the four corners of the square. See "Printing issues" in the online help for further information. Please report any Night Vision bugs to the PO Box 773 address given above, or Email the author at: nightvision@bmtmicro.com Comments and suggestions also welcome. --- Future updates --------------------------------------------------------- Night Vision will be updated in the future. Future updates may include: - Precession - Greek star designations (alpha, ...) - Object identification via right mouse click - User selectable fonts per object - User modifiable information line - Constellation boundaries - Labels for grids - Milky way - Comets - ... --- History ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2 - See beginning of this file. 2.1 - Star window continuously updates as scroll bars are dragged by mouse. Addition of full screen mode, altitude/azimuth grid, and user selectable colors. Increased number of cities in database, with maximum allowable set at 10000. 2.0 - Addition of printing, compass directions along horizon, and enhanced responsiveness of interface. Introduction of shareware and registered versions. 1.0 - Initial release ----------------------------------------------------------------------------