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The document describes an astrolabe software called the Electric Astrolabe, including its features, operation, and instructions. It provides background on astrolabes and their history. The document also covers installation, commands, images, files, controls, and customization options for the Electric Astrolabe software.

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THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE

Janus
18 Kingsbridge Road
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

License Agreement
Copyright 2000 by Janus, Rehoboth Beach, DE. All rights reserved.

You accept the terms of the following license agreement by installing and running the Electric Astrolabe.
If you do not agree to the terms of this agreement, return the Electric Astrolabe and documentation to
Janus.
Electric Astrolabe License Agreement
In consideration of payment of the license fee, Janus grants the original purchaser as licensee, a nonexclusive right to use the Electric Astrolabe software on a single computer at a single location. Janus
retains ownership of the software on the original diskette and any subsequent copies of the software,
regardless of the form or media on which the copies exist. Copies of the written documentation are
specifically prohibited without the express written consent of Janus. You will be held legally responsible
for any copyright infringement caused by your failure to abide by the terms of this agreement.
Further, you agree not to loan, rent, lease, reverse engineer or disassemble the software.
Limited Warranty
Janus warrants to the original purchaser that the Electric Astrolabe software media (diskette) will be free
from any defects in material or workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase.
The Electric Astrolabe and documentation is provided as is without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied. Janus disclaims all other warranties, either expressed or implied, including,
but not limited to implied warranties or merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Janus entire liability shall be to refund of the original purchase price or replacement of the Electric
Astrolabe diskette, at Janus option.
In no event shall Janus be liable for any damages whatsoever arising from the use of, or inability to use the
Electric Astrolabe software including, without limitation, damages or loss of business profit, business
interruption, loss of business information or other pecuniary loss.
All product names mentioned in this book are trademarked or copyrighted by their manufacturers.
Janus
18 Kingsbridge Road
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
janus.astrolabe@verizon.net

Contents

The Electric Astrolabe

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE..........................................................................1
WHAT IS AN ASTROLABE?.....................................................................................................................3
WHY THE ASTROLABE WORKS ............................................................................................................4
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ASTROLABE.............................................................................................8
ORIGINS OF ASTROLABE THEORY......................................................................................................9
EARLY ASTROLABES...............................................................................................................................9
THE ASTROLABE IN ISLAM ..................................................................................................................10
THE ASTROLABE IN EUROPE ..............................................................................................................10
THE ASTROLABE TO MODERN TIMES ..............................................................................................11
THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE DISPLAY.............................................................................................13
THE ALTITUDE/AZIMUTH PLATE .........................................................................................................13
THE STARS ................................................................................................................................................15
THE PLANETS ...........................................................................................................................................16
THE ECLIPTIC AND RULE ......................................................................................................................17
MESSIER OBJECTS .................................................................................................................................19
COMPLETE ASTROLABE.......................................................................................................................22
SOUTH POLAR PROJECTION...............................................................................................................23
THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE FOR SOUTHERN LATITUDES........................................................25
USING THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE..................................................................................................27
INSTALLATION..........................................................................................................................................27
STARTING THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE...........................................................................................27
GETTING STARTED .................................................................................................................................28
OPERATION ...............................................................................................................................................31
COMMANDS...............................................................................................................................................31
PLANETARY CALCULATIONS .........................................................................................................................42
DYNAMICAL TIME ..........................................................................................................................................43

Contents

The Electric Astrolabe

IMAGES .......................................................................................................................................................44
SAVE/RESTORE AND LOAD/FILE........................................................................................................45
TEXT DISPLAYS .......................................................................................................................................47
KEYBOARD USAGE.................................................................................................................................49
TABULATED VALUES .............................................................................................................................51
CITIES ..........................................................................................................................................................53
ADDITIONAL OBJECTS ..........................................................................................................................54
PROGRAM CONTROL VARIABLES .....................................................................................................56
HOME ZONE ..............................................................................................................................................57
ASPECT RATIO .........................................................................................................................................57
VIDEO MODE ............................................................................................................................................58
ALTITUDE/AZIMUTH RESOLUTION ..................................................................................................59
PHASE PICTURE SIZE.............................................................................................................................59
DEFINING ORBITS...................................................................................................................................60
SAVE/RESTORE/FILE/RELOAD............................................................................................................60
FILE NAME ................................................................................................................................................61
COLORS......................................................................................................................................................61
PRINTING....................................................................................................................................................63
CUSTOMIZATION......................................................................................................................................64
RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS................................................................................................................65
THE ORRERY ............................................................................................................................................67
MENUS ........................................................................................................................................................69
EXERCISES ................................................................................................................................................81
ADVANCED TOPICS: ORBITS...............................................................................................................88
APPENDIX A. STARS AND MESSIER OBJECTS...............................................................................91
APPENDIX B. ABOUT THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE.....................................................................99
ADDITIONAL SOURCES .......................................................................................................................101

Contents

WHAT IS AN ASTROLABE?
It seems appropriate to become familiar with classical astrolabes and their rich history before learning how
to operate the Electric Astrolabe program. This section can be skipped without loss of continuity if you are
already familiar with astrolabes.
The astrolabe is an astronomical instrument that shows the user the positions of the Sun and stars for a
specific time and place. It can be used to solve a great many astronomy problems that would require
mathematical calculations if you didnt have such a marvelous device. The name comes from the Greek
aster, meaning star, and lambanein (imperf. labein) meaning take, seize, catch, grasp and, derivatively,
apprehend, determine, estimate. Combined as the word astrolabe, the name means that an astrolabe can be
used as either a star finder or a star taker. As a star finder the astrolabe can be used to find stars and other
objects in the sky. As a star taker, the astrolabe can be used to find the time by taking a reading of the Sun
or a known stars position. The astrolabe is both a map of the heavens and a portable computer for solving
astronomical problems. The astrolabe can be considered the worlds first personal computer.
The purpose of the astrolabe is to show the user how the sky looks at a specific place at a given local time.
This is done by drawing the sky on the face of the astrolabe and marking it so positions in the sky are easy
to find. To use an astrolabe, you adjust the moveable components to a specific time and date. Once set,
much of the sky, both visible and invisible, is represented on the face of the instrument. This allows a
great many astronomical problems related to time and the position of the Sun and stars to be solved in a
very graphical way.
The astrolabe is intended to be used for both observation and computation. For observation, it is fitted
with a ring so the instrument can be hung vertically from the thumb while the position of the Sun or a star
is measured.

Astrolabe by Jean Fusoris, ca 1400 (courtesy Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum)

Introduction to The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The Parts of an Astrolabe

An astrolabe instrument has six major components:
The main body of the instrument is usually called the mater (Latin for mother). The mater is a disk,
usually made of brass and six to eight inches in diameter, hollowed out to hold a set of thin brass plates
(also called tympans or climates in astrolabe literature). The outer margin of the mater (the limb) is
engraved with degrees and, on European instruments, the hours.
Astrolabes show the sky as seen from a specific place. That is, it shows the location of celestial objects by
their angle above the horizon (altitude) and angle from north (azimuth). Each of the plates is engraved
with arcs representing altitudes above the local horizon for a specific latitude. The plates also show the
equator and tropics and may include other arcs for telling time.
Fitted above the plate is a pierced sheet that carries pointers indicating the positions of a number of bright
stars and the path of the Sun through the year (the ecliptic). The rete is free to rotate over the plate to
simulate the daily rotation of the sky. Old astrolabes usually showed the positions of 15-20 stars.
European astrolabes usually included a rotating hand (called the rule) that is used to locate the Sun on the
ecliptic and show the time on the margin of the mater.
The back of the astrolabe is engraved with scales to find the Suns position in the ecliptic (i.e. the Suns
longitude) for a specific date and with a variety of other scales that varied greatly depending on where and
when a specific astrolabe was made.
Astrolabes are also observational instruments. The back was equipped with a rotating hand (the alidade)
with sights for measuring the altitude of the Sun or a star. The entire instrument could be suspended above
eye level by a ring for taking altitude measurements.
In use, a plate was selected for a latitude and the moveable components are set to a specific date and time.
Many problems can be solved depending on how the moveable components are set.
Astrolabes were made in many sizes from very small hand held instruments to permanently mounted
devices of very large diameter. Most European astrolabes were rather small (six inches or less). Islamic
instruments tended to be slightly larger.
The Electric Astrolabe completely reproduces the front of a classical astrolabe but with the addition of the
positions of the Moon, planets and deep sky objects. The Electric Astrolabe does not reproduce the back
of the astrolabe as the functions on the back were primarily devoted to making observations.
Note that an astrolabe instrument cannot reproduce the motion of the Moon and planets. This is a singular
advantage of the Electric Astrolabe over astrolabe instruments. Note also that The Electric Astrolabe can
create a plate for any location on Earth. The Electric Astrolabe can be though of as an astrolabe with
10,800 plates.

Why the Astrolabe Works

The following sections of this chapter discuss astrolabe theory, more details on astrolabe instruments and a
brief history of astrolabes. These sections can be skipped without loss of continuity and returned to later if
you would like to go directly to the next chapter.
The purpose of the astrolabe is to represent the sky on the face of the instrument as it appears at a specific
location at a given local time. That is, astrolabes are used to position stars and the Sun by determining
their altitude above the horizon and position relative to south. This is done by projecting the sky onto a

Introduction to The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

plane and marking the projected image so celestial positions are easy to find. The principle of the astrolabe
is easier to understand if you know a little about the projection technique used.
Much astronomical thought is based on the idea that celestial objects are so far away that they can be
considered to be on the surface of a very large sphere known as the celestial sphere, with the Earth at the
center. Technically, the astrolabe is a projection of the celestial sphere onto a plane with moveable
components to locate celestial objects for any time and date. The celestial sphere is projected onto the
plane of the equator on the most common type of astrolabe. This type is known as a planispheric astrolabe
and is the type represented by the Electric Astrolabe. Other forms of astrolabe have been constructed but
none ever obtained the wide usage of the planispheric type.
The projection used in the astrolabe is the stereographic projection (Figure 1). The sphere in the figure is
the celestial sphere of arbitrary but very large diameter with the Earth at the center. The equator and
tropics are shown on the celestial sphere as they would be seen from the Earth. In the stereographic
projection, which is among the oldest and simplest of all projection techniques, the eye is assumed to be at
one of the poles of the sphere being projected (the south pole for astrolabes designed to be used in the
northern hemisphere). A ray is projected from the pole to the point on the sphere to be projected. The
projected point is where the ray crosses the projection plane. The projection plane for a planispheric
astrolabe is the plane of the equator.
North
Celestial Sphere
Star
Tropic of
Cancer

Equator

Star Projection

Tropic of
Capricorn

South

Figure 1. Principle of the Stereographic Projection.

Modern terrestrial maps and stars charts use the stereographic projection with a projection plane tangent to
the sphere and centered at the place of interest, usually the zenith for a latitude. The projection principles
are identical.

Introduction to The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The stereographic projection has two properties that make it ideal for an instrument intended to solve
astronomical problems:

In the stereographic projection, circles on the celestial sphere are projected as circles on the
projection plane (the equator for the planispheric astrolabe). This means that the circles such as the
equator and ecliptic are projected as circles and that altitude and azimuth arcs are preserved. This
property is particularly easy to demonstrate for the tropics which, since they share a common center
with the axis of the Earth, are clearly projected as circles.

Angles between arcs on the sphere are preserved in the projection thus allowing direct measurements
to made on the projected plane.

These properties are ideal for astronomical purposes since most celestial positions are measured as angles
along circles. Note, however, that this form of projection introduces significant distortions in relative size
for objects that are very close to the axis or very far away from it. In theory it is possible to project the
entire celestial sphere but astrolabes constructed for use in the northern hemisphere show the celestial
sphere only as far south as the Tropic of Capricorn. This range includes almost all of the sky visible from
northern temperate latitudes and avoids the severe distortion of scale that would result from including
extreme southern declinations.
Using the stereographic projection, it would be possible to project the positions of the stars and planets at
any time onto a piece of paper and then take measurements of relative positions. It would, however, be
impractical to attempt to project the sky at every instant for every location onto paper. The real genius of
the astrolabe is how it makes use of the projection to allow the instrument to be used at any time and to be
flexible enough to be used at many locations.
Classical astrolabes were made of brass and were commonly about six or eight inches (15 to 20 cm) in
diameter, although much larger and smaller ones were made. No doubt many astrolabes were made of
cardboard and paper but few have survived. A typical astrolabe would consist of a brass disk about inch
(6 mm) thick and about six inches (15 cm) in diameter that is hollowed out in the center to hold sets of thin
brass plates. The margin of the disk (the limb) was graduated by degrees and, on many European
astrolabes, into 24 hours with noon at the top and midnight at the bottom for telling time. Inserted into the
hollow section of the disk (the mater) is a plate for the local latitude engraved with lines of altitude and
azimuth and circles representing the stereographic projection of the equator and Tropic of Cancer (the
outer edge of the plate is the projection of the Tropic of Capricorn). Additional lines for finding the time in
seasonal hours or indicating astrological information might be included depending on where and when a
specific astrolabe was made. A dashed altitude line below the horizon at -18 was often included to show
the end of twilight.
Over the plate is fitted a pierced disk, also made of brass, with pointers representing a number of fixed
stars and containing the projection of the ecliptic. The ecliptic circle was always divided into sections of
30 representing the signs of the zodiac. On top of all this is fitted a clock-type hand called the rule. The
rule and the star pointers (called the rete) are held in position by a pin through the center of the instrument
and are free to rotate over the fixed plate. The instrument could be set to show the orientation of the local
sky by rotating the rete until the object of interest is located on the correct altitude arc. All of the stars
represented on the rete will be at their correct position when any one star is set to its altitude.
The back of the instrument was equipped with a rotating sighting vane (alidade) and engraved with scales
of degrees for measuring the altitude of the Sun or stars. The altitude of the Sun or a star was measured by
sighting through pinnules on the alidade. Most instruments had a scale for converting the date to the Suns
position in the zodiac. The date to zodiac conversion scale was usually implemented in the form of two
slightly off-center circles. The outer circle, which was concentric with the center of the instrument, was
divided into sections of 30 representing the zodiac with the vernal equinox corresponding to the beginning
of Aries at the 3 oclock position. The inner circle was divided by the calendar with its center offset
toward aphelion to represent the theoretically sound model of the Suns motion on an eccentric with the

Introduction to The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

date of the vernal equinox aligned with the beginning of the sign of Aries on the zodiac circle. It is
interesting to note that it is sometimes possible to get an approximate date of manufacture or determine the
source of the star positions for an old astrolabe from the date of the vernal equinox used on the calendar
conversion scale. Some astrolabes used a calendar scale that is concentric with the center of the instrument
and had variable length days. The concentric calendar scale was easier to design but harder to engrave
accurately.
Islamic prayer times are astronomically defined and the astrolabe was potentially an ideal aid for satisfying
ritual prayer requirements. The back of Islamic instruments often had special purpose scales used for
finding the direction to Mecca (qibla) and a scale of cotangents was often included as an aid in determining
prayer times. The astrolabe also saw some use in surveying and the backs of many instruments included
scales of trigonometric functions such as tangents or cosines. Other scales might be included on the back
depending on local customs. For example, there might be a scale for conversion to and from equal
(equinoctial) and unequal (seasonal) hours or astrological tables.
The entire instrument was suspended by a cord connected to a ring located at the top of the astrolabe.
The astrolabe was widely used in Europe, Moorish Spain, the Arab world, Persia and India from the 10th
through the 17th century. Stylistic differences evolved and the specific functions included on instruments
varied depending on tradition and use for the region. The Electric Astrolabe is closest to a European
instrument in the style developed by the French scientist and craftsman, Jean Fusoris, in the late 14th
century. This style, while not universal, is the only style that can be considered typical for European
astrolabes.
Use of the astrolabe was very widespread among well educated people of the Middle Ages, particularly in
the Islamic world.
It is not totally clear what astrolabes were used for in everyday life but its uses certainly included telling
time, determining the length of the day and, as astrology was a deeply embedded cultural tradition, finding
aspects of horoscopes.
Planispheric astrolabes were definitely not observational or navigation
instruments. There was a device called the Mariners Astrolabe that was used to measure celestial altitudes
at sea but it was just a ring graduated in degrees with an alidade. The only use for a traditional astrolabe on
a ship would have been for timekeeping or astrology in conjunction with planetary tables.
The most common use of the astrolabe was to tell time. Lets assume it is desired to find the time at night.
The procedure would be:
1. Suspend the astrolabe by its cord and hold it steady above eye level.
2. Use the alidade to measure the altitude of a known star above the horizon.
3. Find the position of the Sun on the ecliptic (or in the zodiac to be more specific) using the conversion
scale on the back of the astrolabe.
4. Set the rete so the pointer for the observed star is at the proper altitude line on the plate.
5. Set the rule so it crosses the ecliptic at the zodiac position determined by the date.
6. The rule now points to the time on the hour scale on the limb.
An experienced user could perform this operation in about 20-30 seconds. It is easy to find the time to
within a few minutes this way (the astrolabe is not a very accurate observing instrument).
Telling time during the day is similar using the altitude of the Sun.

Introduction to The Electric Astrolabe

Introduction to The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Introduction to The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE DISPLAY

Learning to read and interpret the Electric Astrolabe display is a little like learning to read a new kind of
map, but no more difficult. In order to read a map, you must understand what the symbols mean, how the
scale of the map relates to reality, what area the map covers and what features, if any, are distorted by the
mapping technique. We will cover each of these topics as we explore the meaning of the Electric
Astrolabe display. The figures are based on the program displays. The Electric Astrolabe can be set to any
latitude, northern or southern. The following discussion is based on northern latitudes. The Electric
Astrolabe display for southern latitudes is discussed at the end of the chapter.
We will first discuss each component of the display individually and then see what information the display
contains when they are combined.

THE ALTITUDE / AZIMUTH PLATE

Altitude Arcs

Azimuth Arcs

South

Zenith

Horizon

North Pole

Twilight Arcs

-6
East

West

-12
-18

Unequal Hours

Limb
Latitude

Tropic of Cancer

Equator

North
Tropic of Capricorn
Figure 2. The Electric Astrolabe Plate.

The Electric Astrolabe Display

The Electric Astrolabe

Refer to Figure 2, which is an annotated picture of the Electric Astrolabe plate for the latitude of Paris.
The inside of the plate can be thought of as a special kind of graph paper for finding the location of
celestial objects in the sky at your location. The main difference between normal graph paper and the
graph on the plate is that the lines on graph paper are normally straight while the astrolabe lines are curved.
Find the arc in Figure 2 that represents your horizon; the line where the sky meets the Earth. Any celestial
object that is above the horizon line is visible to you (or would be if trees, mountains, buildings and clouds
were not in the way). Any object that is below the horizon line is not visible. The circles above the
horizon represent lines of equal altitude above the horizon. Objects that fall on the same circle are the
same altitude above the horizon. Each circle represents ten degrees in altitude; therefore, any object that is
anywhere on, for example, the fifth circle up from the horizon line has an altitude of 50. The point inside
the smallest circle that has a lot of lines radiating from it is your zenith, or the point directly overhead.
The straight lines drawn as diameters of the largest circle show direction. The vertical diameter goes north
and south through your location, representing your meridian. The horizontal diameter connects east and
west (the projected circle is called the prime vertical). South is at the top and east at the left. It is perhaps
easiest to visualize the plate as lying flat on a table with the top pointing south.
The lines radiating from the zenith represent lines of equal azimuth. Astronomers usually measure azimuth
angles as increasing as you go east from north, so an azimuth angle of 150 is 30 east of south and an
azimuth of 270 is due west (but, see the glossary for international definitions). Circles of equal azimuth
are shown for every ten degrees. Notice that the azimuth circles for 90 and 270 intersect the horizon at
west and east (i.e. the equinoctial colure) respectively. We can locate any object that is visible in the sky
from our location with the circles of equal azimuth and altitude .
The dashed altitude circles below the horizon are at 6, 12 and 18 below the horizon and are called the
crepuscular (twilight) lines. Because the Earths atmosphere bends the Suns light rays and because
Sunlight is reflected by particles in the air, sunlight can still be seen even when the Sun is below the
horizon. Civil Twilight ends when the center of the Sun is 6 below the horizon. At this time artificial
illumination must be used to see clearly. Nautical Twilight ends when the Sun is 12 below the horizon
and the horizon cannot be seen at sea. Astronomical Twilight ends when the Sun is 18 below the horizon
and you are in the full shadow of the Earth; there is no Sunlight at all.
Technically, sunset and sunrise are defined as the time when the upper limb of the Sun is tangent to the
horizon. This occurs when the center of the Sun is about 0.833 below the horizon.
Since the particular piece of the sky that you can see varies with your latitude, a different set of altitude and
azimuth lines is needed for each latitude. The latitude for each plate is shown by the numbers near the
bottom.
The larger circles, centered on the plate, represent the Earths tropics. The outer circle is a projection of
the Tropic of Capricorn, which is the farthest south the Sun ever reaches. The middle circle is the equator
and the smaller circle is the Tropic of Cancer. Notice that the equator crosses the horizon in the east and
west, as it should. The tropics are the same for all latitudes since the tropics are fixed by definition.
The outside edge of the plate is divided into 24 hours consisting of two twelve-hour sections. This band of
numbers is called the limb on astrolabes and is always called the chapter ring on clocks. Each hour is
divided into five minute segments. The limb marks the time of day and the sidereal time. Since the Sun
crosses our meridian at noon, the XII at the top is noon (1200 hours) and the XII at the bottom is midnight
(2400 hours). Sidereal time is counted from zero starting at the top XII and goes to 24 hours. Notice that
the numeral for four is shown as IIII instead of IV. This is traditional on clock dials as the mass of the IIII
character balances with the VIII and gives the dial better proportions. The inner margin is divided by
degrees.

The Electric Astrolabe Display

The Electric Astrolabe

The solid arcs below the horizon that connect the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are used to
determine the unequal hour of the day. Throughout recorded history, until reliable clocks became widely
available in the 15th century, time was described as the fraction of the time from sunrise to sunset that had
passed. In most cultures, the time from sunrise to sunset (or sunset to sunrise for hours at night) was
divided into twelve equal parts and the time would be described as being, for example, in the 6th hour of
the day for the portion of the day just before noon. This method of telling time was quite consistent with
the way that people used to think about quantities. Many values were stated as ratios; A is twice as large as
B or B is half the size of A. Telling time this way was not all inconvenient even though the length of an
hour was different for different times of the year. If you know that the current time is in the third hour of
the day you know immediately that the day is about one-forth over. It is a very easy convention to get used
to and can still be a more convenient way to tell time if your interest is how long it is until dark. For far
northern latitudes, the length of an hour in the winter might be half the length of an hour in the summer but
the unequal hours are the same ratio year round. Several methods of counting the unequal hours have been
used. The most common use was to count the hours of the day beginning at sunrise and the hours of the
night beginning at sunset (Babylonian hours) and this is method used on the Personal Astrolabe. Care must
be taken when referring to historical texts because other counting methods were used such as counting the
hour as the hours until sunrise or sunset.
The unequal hours are counted from the western horizon starting with 1, the first hour of the day or night,
and continuing clockwise through the end of the 11th hour at the eastern horizon. The unequal hour is
found by the point where the long rule crosses the Suns position on the ecliptic during the night and by the
ecliptic point opposite the Sun (the nadir) during the day. The use of the unequal hour arcs will be
described later (see the Ctl+R command). The unequal hour arcs are optional on the astrolabe display.

THE STARS
Everyone knows that the stars appear to move in the sky but, in reality, the stars are fixed and it is the Earth
that moves. If the Earth were stationary in its orbit and only rotated the same stars would be in the same
position in the sky at the same time every day, but because the Earth is also orbiting the Sun, moving a
little in its orbit every day, the field of stars also appears to move a little every day. Because the rotation of
the Earth is so constant, we use it as the basis for keeping time. We call the average time between the
Suns appearance on our meridian a day, and we have defined the length of the day as 24 hours. But the
length of a mean solar day is not the same as one rotation of the Earth. The Earth must rotate a little extra
for the Sun to reach a given meridian since the Earth has also moved in its orbit. The length of one rotation
of the Earth is called a Sidereal Day (sidereal means star), and is 23 hours 56 minutes 4.09054 seconds, or
about 3 minutes 56 seconds shorter than a mean solar day. It is because of these four minutes or so that we
see different stars in the sky at different times of the year.
On the Electric Astrolabe, the coordinate system where we are (the altitude and azimuth circles) does not
move because our location does not move, but the stars move in our sky. The entire field of stars rotates in
one sidereal day. Figure 3 shows the approximately 150 stars that are included on the Electric Astrolabe
(classical astrolabes showed 15-20 stars). When we arrange stars in the sky into figures so they are easier
to recognize, the resulting figure is called an asterism. Most of the stars on the Electric Astrolabe are
arranged into constellation asterisms to make identification easier. The constellation names can be
displayed to help you identify the constellations. The bright stars can be displayed separately. All the
displayed stars are listed in Appendix A.

The Electric Astrolabe Display

The Electric Astrolabe

Spica

Virgo

Libra
Regulus

Scorpius

Leo

Arcturus

Cancer

Antares

Botes
Ursa Major
Hercules
Ophiuchus

Altair

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Vega

Canis Major

Pollux Procyon

Polaris

Deneb

Cygnus

Castor

Gemini

Capella

Auriga
Cassiopeia

Sirius

Orion

Aldebaren

Rigel

Taurus

Andromeda
Aries

Pegasus
Pisces
Aquarius

Figure 3. Electric Astrolabe stars.

Notice that the constellation shapes are well preserved by the projection but the sizes near the pole and the
Tropic of Capricorn are highly out of proportion to the constellations near the equator. The result of the
distortion is similar to the size of Greenland on the popular classroom Mercator projection maps of the
world. The coordinates of all displayed stars are in Appendix A. Precession can be applied to star
positions.

THE PLANETS
Unlike the stars, the Sun, Moon and planets appear to move in the field of stars from day to day. This
movement is, of course, due to the fact that the planets are orbiting the Sun like the Earth, and the Moon is
orbiting the Earth itself. The positions of the Sun, Moon and eight of the nine planets in the sky are shown
on the Electric Astrolabe display. Pluto is not included.
An example of the planetary images is shown in Figure 4. The planetary images are all different, but it
takes a little practice before you can tell at a glance which is which (in the next chapter you will learn how
to label the planets until the images are familiar to you). There are a few mnemonic clues to help you. The
Sun is pretty obvious since it is always near the rule and is the larger yellow disk. Mercury is always near
the Sun and looks small because it is just a small gray disk. Venus is the small white disk (think of the
cloud covering). Mars, of course, is reddish. Jupiter is larger and banded and has a small red spot. Saturn
is fairly obvious because of the rings. Uranus is bluish (cyan, actually) because all pictures of Uranus
show it as blue. Neptune is brown. The Moons phase is shown.

The Electric Astrolabe Display

The Electric Astrolabe

Venus

Sun

Mercury

Mars

Jupiter

Ascending

Lunar Nodes

Moon

Descending

Neptune
Uranus
Saturn

Figure 4. Planets.
The short line in the center of the planet display indicates the Moons line of apsides, or the line connecting
the Moons nodes (see the glossary). The white end of the line points to the ascending node and the yellow
end points to the descending node. Knowledge of the position of the Moons nodes allows you to do first
level eclipse prediction.
Since astrolabe instruments are static devices, it was not possible to include planets. This is a singular
advantage of the Electric Astrolabe over the classic type.

THE ECLIPTIC AND RULE

The path of the Sun in the sky over the course of a year is the Ecliptic. The tropics of Cancer and
Capricorn are defined as the northern and southern limits of the Sun during the year.
It is fairly easy to visualize the extension of the Earths equator and tropics out to the celestial sphere. The
ecliptic plane can also be extended out to the celestial sphere. This is the circle that is projected onto the
astrolabe rete. Because the Earths axis is tilted about 23 to the plane of the ecliptic (this is called the
obliquity of the ecliptic), the circle on the celestial sphere will be at an angle to the equator and will just
touch the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the south. The points where the
ecliptic and equator cross are called the equinoxes.
The position of the ecliptic on the celestial sphere never moves, but the motion of the Earth changes the
part of the ecliptic that we can see at a given time of day. In the daytime it is easy to find the ecliptic: it is

The Electric Astrolabe Display

The Electric Astrolabe

where the Sun is. At night, it not as easy to find the ecliptic unless you can locate a planet. None of the
planets is ever more that about 7 from the ecliptic (17 if you count Pluto).
In ancient times (about 550 BC), the ecliptic was divided into twelve sections of 30 each and each section
was named for a constellation that was close to that section of the ecliptic. This division of the ecliptic is
called the zodiac and, even though the constellations that originally gave the zodiac divisions their names
are no longer in the same sections, the traditional names--Aries (), Taurus (), Gemini (), Cancer
(), Leo (), Virgo (), Libra (), Scorpio (), Sagittarius (), Capricorn (), Aquarius (), and
Pisces ()--have persisted. On classical astrolabes, the ecliptic is traditionally divided by the zodiac. This
convention is partially astronomical since the position of the Sun or a planet on the zodiac is, by definition,
its (geocentric) longitude but is also due to the fact that astrolabes were widely used by astrologers in the
Middle Ages.
People who are new to astronomy often confuse the divisions of the ecliptic with constellations having the
same name. The constellations that originally gave the sections of the ecliptic their names have precessed
to other parts of the sky. The names are now purely arbitrary and their only use is to define each section of
30 of longitude. It is, perhaps, more useful to forget the names and just think of the ecliptic as being
divided into 30 sections of geocentric longitude. The figure shows both divisions.
Rule

23.5
20

Scorpio

210

240

Libra

10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20

Virgo
180

Leo

-23.5 150

Sagittarius

120

Ecliptic Pole

270

Cancer

Gemini
60

Capricorn

30
300
0
330

Aquarius

Taurus

20
10

Aries

The Electric Astrolabe

M3
M42

M31

Figure 7. Stars and Messier Objects.

When looking at the constellations on the astrolabe it is important to understand that, unlike paper star
charts, the astrolabe represents the sky as seen from outside the celestial sphere which is exactly how you
see them when looking at a clear plastic model of the celestial sphere. Most star charts are constructed
with a projection where the projection plane is tangent to the celestial sphere and you look at the bottom of
the projection. Star charts are intended to be held above the head. You look down on an astrolabe, just like
you look down on a compass. The altered orientation is most obvious on the handle of the Big Dipper
which arcs in the opposite direction to what you see in the sky. Most of the constellations look enough like
the star chart equivalents to be easily recognized.

The Electric Astrolabe Display

The Electric Astrolabe

Complete Astrolabe
Figure 8 shows the complete astrolabe for Paris at 11:05AM on Sunday, 15 October, 1995. A glance at the
display gives the following information (the numbers below correspond to the annotation on the figure):
1.

The Sun is about 30 above the horizon and a little less than 30 east of south and, with a geocentric
longitude of 202, is near the end of the section of the ecliptic known as Libra and near the star Spica.
2. Mercury is near the meridian at an altitude of 40 above the horizon in the constellation Virgo.
3. The Moon is about half full and is 20 above the horizon nearly due west.
4. Venus is 20 above the horizon about 10 east of the Sun.
5. Mars is 5 above the horizon with a longitude of 236 and is in the constellation Libra.
6. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are below the horizon. Jupiter is near the constellation Scorpio.
Saturn is in Pisces and Uranus and Neptune are between Capricorn and the teapot in Sagittarius.
7. Orion is just setting as is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).
8. The sidereal time is 11:48 which can be confirmed by noticing that the pointer stars of the big dipper
which have a right ascension of 11h are about one hour past the meridian.
9. The rule shows the time to be 1105.
10. The small arrow just below Mars is the position of Pluto which has been added to the display. The +
above Sagittarius is the position of the center of the galaxy.
11. Notice that the Sun is far from the rule. This is because Paris at a longitude of 2 20 E is far from the
center of the Central European Time zone center at 15 E.

Figure 8. Complete Astrolabe.

The Electric Astrolabe Display

The Electric Astrolabe

SOUTHERN PROJECTION
Several monumental clocks were constructed during the Renaissance with dials based on a variation of the
astrolabe where the projection is from the north pole instead of the south pole. Changing the projection
origin in this way causes the horizon curve to be convex in the northern hemisphere instead of concave and
reverses the sense of positive and negative declination. This projection is known as the southern
projection because it would create a normal astrolabe for southern latitudes. For northern latitudes the Sun
is far from the horizon when its declination is positive, as in the summer, and close to the horizon in the
winter when its declination is negative as our experience tells us it should. Clocks with such dials usually
contained a special hand with a ball representing the Sun, a projection of the ecliptic and a plate showing
the horizon. Other astrolabe features such as stars and altitude lines were generally not included on clock
dials
Figure 9 shows the complete astrolabe using the southern projection.

Figure 9. Southern Projection.

You will notice the following changes:

The horizon and altitude lines curve the opposite way for northern latitudes.
Azimuth arcs and unequal hours are not shown.
The zenith may not be visible.
The constellations are in different places due to the change in the sense of positive and negative
declination. The change in projection clearly demonstrates the distortion due to the projection
technique.

The Electric Astrolabe Display

The Electric Astrolabe

The Messier objects are in different places.

Start The Electric Astrolabe using a file to initialize default settings. For example, if you
have saved a file named HERE with your defaults, you can start the program with:
>astro /f here
to load the defaults. This also allows you to set up as many customized versions of The
Electric Astrolabe as you like and start the program with the desired set. See the section
on Customization for more details.

Start The Electric Astrolabe in menu mode. This option is only used when The Electric
Astrolabe is used in a public exhibit.. filepath specifies the path of the menu file. See
the section on Menus for more details.

GETTING STARTED
The Electric Astrolabe is a DOS program (see About the Electric Astrolabe on page 99 for an
explanation of why it is not a Windows program). The Electric Astrolabe is controlled by entering single
key commands from the keyboard. The commands are generally mnemonic in that the key used for a
command relates to the function to be performed (e.g. P turns the planets on and off). The primary
display is the sky shown in the form of an astrolabe but other screens are provided for more detail on the
positions of objects in the sky and to control the program.
Following is quick tour of some of the Electric Astrolabe functions to give you a feel for how to work the
program and introduce you to its operating philosophy.

Start the Electric Astrolabe. The first screen you see is the graphic display. By referring to the
previous section you can get a feel for how to read it but that is not critical at this point.

When the Electric Astrolabe is first started it shows the sky at the current date and time. That is, the
date and time in the computer clock.

The first display will be for the default latitude and longitude. You will want to change them to your
location later.

Various elements of the astrolabe display can be turned on and off using the keyboard. Press the P
key (or p - either upper or lower case keys can be used for all commands). Notice that the planets
are turned off on the display. Press P again to turn the planets back on. Turn the stars on and off
with the S. Similarly, the ecliptic display is controlled with the E, the rule with the R, the
Messier objects with the O and the astrolabe plate with the A.

Watch the display for a little while. You will see that it is updated every minute.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Press the PgDn key. The display will change to a screen of values showing the positions of the moon
and planets. Notice that the current date and time from the computer clock are displayed on the
bottom row. Press the PgUp key to return to the astrolabe display.

Press the PgDn key several times. The display will cycle through several screens and eventually end
up at the screen where you started. You can do the same thing in the opposite direction using the PgUp
key.

Put the astrolabe display on the screen using the PgUp or PgDn key. Press V. The screen will go
directly to the first page of values.

Press Esc to return to the astrolabe. Each page has a mnemonic key that will take you directly to it.
The Esc key takes you to the previous page displayed. This lets you switch back and forth between
any two pages quickly.

Press V to go to the first page of calculated values. You will see the date field is highlighted. Type
in a new date and press Enter. You will see the values are updated for the new date. Move the cursor
to another field with the Tab key and key in a value. You can move the cursor from field to field with
the tab or cursor control arrow keys. When you return to the astrolabe display with Esc or PgUp/PgDn
you will see it is updated for the changes you typed.

Go back to the screen of calculated values (Esc or PgDn). Press T. The highlighted field will go to
the Time field. Press J to move to the Julian Day field. You can move directly to each field with a
mnemonic key.

Go to the astrolabe display and press M. You will see the date and time displayed in the upper left
hand corner. When the date and time are displayed like this on one of the graphics screens, the display
is not updated automatically every minute. This is called Manual Mode.

Press the Big + key next to the keypad ( [ on laptops). The screen will move and the date and time will
change. Press the Big - key (laptop ] ) and the display will go back to the previous value. This is a
fast way to add or subtract time intervals for changing the display.

Press D with the astrolabe on the screen. You will see a prompt at the bottom of the screen for a new
date. Type a new date in the format MM/DD/YYYY or just press Enter to leave the date the same.
You can update the displayed time directly on the graphics screen in this way. The mnemonic keys are
the same as on the text pages.

Press the F key. The display will begin to update quickly and you will see the date and time change.
Press F again to stop it. This animated operation is called Free Running Mode which allows you
watch the sky change as the time and date changes as fast as the Electric Astrolabe can run. Press the
big minus key ( ] on laptops) to slow it down if it is animating too fast.

Press M again to go back to automatic updating.

Press N (for Now) and the display will go to the current date and time.

Entry of dates, times and angles are not exhaustively range checked but some validity checking is done. If
an invalid number is entered the prompt is redisplayed. If you change your mind and do not want to make
an entry in response to a prompt just press the Enter key and no changes will be made.
The following command descriptions are intended to complete in all particulars. The astronomical terms
used are defined in the glossary. The last page of this document is a command reference.
Additional commands to control the accuracy of planetary calculations and time control are described later
in this chapter.
The available commands are (in alphabetical order):
KEY

ACTION

Altitudes/Azimuths Display. Press A to eliminate display of the Astrolabe plate

containing the lines of Altitude and Azimuth. Press A again to restore them. If the
Electric Astrolabe is started with A=Off then the plate will be drawn the first time A is
pressed. Similarly, if you change the latitude while the plate is not displayed, it will be
redrawn the next time you press A.

Alt+A

Display Sun only when planets displayed.

Display bright stars. The 33 bright stars with magnitude 2 or brighter and the entire
familiar Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and Cassiopeia constellations can be displayed with
or without the constellation display (See S below). Press B to display the bright stars
and B again to turn them off. The list of bright stars is in Appendix A.

Alt+B

Display all stars. Alt+B controls how constellations are displayed. When On, all stars
are displayed as a white dot. When off, only the constellation outlines are displayed.
Alt+B is independent of the bright star (B) and star (S) display.

Go directly to Program Control page (see Text Pages).

Alt+C

Go directly to page of cities and inserted objects (see Text Pages).

Date. Press D to enter a new date. Dates are entered as MM/DD/YYYY. For
example, 9/21/1949. Note that the entire year must be entered. Entry of years BC are
preceded with a minus sign (e.g. -333). Dates giving a negative Julian day are not
supported and the results of such a date are unpredictable.
N.B. Scholars and astronomers use different date conventions. Scholars count dates
backwards from year 1 as 1, 1 BC, 2 BC, 3 BC, Astronomers count the same years as 1,
0, -1, -2, ... For example, a date shown as 5 BC in a reference will normally be entered as
-4. This convention is required for consistent numerical results.

Display Ecliptic. The E key controls whether or not the ecliptic is displayed.

Ctl+E

Ctl+E adds labels in the form of the traditional zodiac signs to the ecliptic display. The
labels can be turned on and off whenever the ecliptic is displayed. The zodiac symbols
can be an aid to reading the position of the Sun or a planet in the ecliptic. Use of these
symbols is traditional on astrolabes and is certainly not intended to relay any astrological
connotation (they can, however, be used in an astrological sense if you are so inclined).

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Free Running mode. When you press the F key the display will be updated
continuously, as fast as the program can execute. The time interval for each advance of
time is the current setting of the time interval (see the F1-F12 command). The interval
can be changed at any time. All commands are active during Free Running mode. If you
press M for Manual Mode the animation will stop and the date and time are displayed.
Press F again to return to the mode that was active before starting Free Running mode.
If you have a very fast computer the animation may be too fast for you to follow,
particularly on the orrery. You can adjust the speed of the animation in free running
mode using the big + and - keys on the keypad and ([,] on laptops). (see Big +/- below).

Gregorian/Julian Calendar. The G key is used to force calendar dates to be calculated

according to either the Gregorian or Julian calendars. All dates prior to October 15, 1582
are set to the Julian calendar and cannot be changed. Dates after October 15, 1582 can
be represented in either the Julian or Gregorian calendar. When the Julian calendar is in
effect a J is shown next to displayed dates on all pages. See the Glossary for additional
information on the Gregorian and Julian calendars.

Help. Pressing H will cause the help page showing the command keys to be displayed
directly. This page also shows the current setting of the time interval and the display
control commands.

Ctl+H

Star Positions. Display page of star coordinates and current position.

Display .GIF image file. .GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) image files are in a format
defined by CompuServe. The image file name is specified on the Program Control page.
To specify an image file for display, go to the Program Control page, type a file name of
the file type .GIF in the File: area (e.g. M31.GIF), move the cursor to the Action: field,
press Enter until the option IMAGE appears and then press Ctl+Enter. This tells the
program the name of the active image file. To display the .GIF file, press I on the
astrolabe screen. Press any key to return to the astrolabe display (pressing I again will
show a page of information about the file just displayed; File name, image width and
height and display mode and the images color map used to display the image). The
image will be redisplayed whenever you press I. There are literally thousands of
astronomy images available in the .GIF format. If you have an image file that not in the
.GIF format, most programs that can display graphics are able to export in the .GIF
format. NOTE: Image displays can be invoked only from the astrolabe display. See
Images, page 44.

Alt+I

Save a bitmap image of the screen. Alt+I will save a Windows Bitmap (.bmp) file of the
current graphics screen content on either the astrolabe or orrery screen. The file name is
specified on the Program Control page and must have an extension of either .BMP or
.bmp. See Images, page 44.

Latitude/Longitude. When you press L you will be prompted to enter a new latitude
and longitude. The plate will be redrawn if the latitude entered is different than the
latitude currently displayed . Changing the longitude will affect the sidereal time and the
altitude/azimuth of the celestial bodies. The date and time are adjusted for the new
location. You can label the plate with a place name if you like.
It is interesting to note that if the longitude being displayed is at the center of a time zone
then the Equation of Time can be estimated by the difference in the location of the Rule
and the Sun image. Also, if the longitude is set to zero (see 0 below), then the sidereal
time is Greenwich Sidereal Time and if you set universal time to midnight (00:00), you

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

can display the values calculated at 0 UT, in order to compare the calculated values to
those tabulated in the Astronomical Almanac and magazines.
One additional note about the effect of changing the longitude: The Electric Astrolabe
program keeps track of Universal Time, and calculates current time--the time of the
current display--by subtracting the number of hours for the displayed time zone from
universal time. By changing the longitude into a new time zone, the time displayed is
just an adjustment of Universal Time, which has not changed. This lets you see the
position of the sky in different places at the same physical time. If you want to see the
sky at a specific local time, change the time displayed using the T (Time) command.
(See Home Zone on the Program Control page.)
One must keep in mind that time zone estimates are based strictly on longitude and may
not reflect political divisions accurately. If the time zone selected by the Electric
Astrolabe is not correct, press the Z key to change the zone. Note that the time zone
entered is the Standard time zone difference from Greenwich in hours; the amount that is
added to local time to get UT (see Z below).
Southern latitudes are entered as negative numbers. Enter 35 25 S as -35 25.
There are many sources for latitude and longitude information. City locations can be
found in any good atlas. You will want as precise a location as possible for your home
location. Good sources are geodetic survey maps and sectional maps used by pilots.
Various mapping programs and internet facilities can provide very accurate positions.
For example, De Lorme Street Atlas will provide an accurate latitude and longitude for
almost any street address in the United States. Given a choice, it somewhat more
important to have an accurate longitude since longitude defines local sidereal time.
M

Manual Mode. While in Manual Mode the display is not updated automatically each
minute. Manual Mode allows you to control the update time interval and to search for
the time and date of specific celestial events. When you press M, the current date and
time will appear in the upper left hand corner of the screen. From this point on, as long
as you stay in Manual Mode, the display is updated only when you press the + or - keys
on the keypad (Big+ and Big-) or you enter a command that changes the display. When
the + key is pressed, time is advanced the number of units specified by the current
interval values and when you press - , time is moved backwards by the same amount.
For example, if you specify an interval unit of 10 days, each time you press + or - the
display is updated to a date 10 days before or after the previous display. The current
value of the interval is shown on the Help page (see H command).
When you leave Manual mode the time is set to the current system clock time.
Manual mode is set automatically when the date or time is changed.
The date and time are displayed in color 7 which is the color of the Messier objects. This
is normally a light gray which is readable without being too bright. If you change the
background color to a value that makes the date and time hard to read you may want to
change color 7 to a color with greater contrast.

Ctl+M

Control the Electric Astrolabe from a menu file (see Menu Files, page 69). To specify
the name of the menu file, change the File: name on the Program Control page to the
name of the menu file and select MENU from the Action: options with Ctl+Enter. The
menu file name specified will be used when the menu is activated with Ctl+M. NOTE:
A menu can be activated only from the astrolabe screen!

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Now. When you press N, the display is updated to the time and date in the computer
clock. The Now command is useful to get you back to a current display if you have been
using one of the modes that changes the date and time. The current system clock date
and time are displayed on the Help and Values text pages.
Sources for setting your computer clock to an accurate value include the NIST time
signal broadcast on WWV at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 MHz, the Canadian time signal on
7.033 MHz, the Weather Channel on cable television and hourly time hacks given by
some radio stations. The Windows XP function of automatically updating the system
clock from reliable sources has made this consideration pretty easy.

Alt+N

Reverse projection. Changes projection from north to south or vice versa. See Alt+P for
a discussion of how changing the projection affects precessed star positions.

Display Messier Objects. All Messier objects can be displayed using the O key. Five
types of Messier objects are displayed:
Spiral galaxies - displayed as a little spiral galaxy that, if you use your imagination, looks
a little like the real thing.
Globular clusters - displayed as a loosely filled circle.
Open (galactic) clusters - displayed as a sparse circle with nothing inside.
Nebulae - shown as a rough circle made of vertical gray bands. The easiest nebula to
find is the one in Orions sword (M42).
Elliptic galaxies - shown as a small, highly eccentric ellipse.
A complete list of all of the Messier objects and their coordinates is in Appendix A.

Alt+O

Messier objects range in brightness from a magnitude of 2 (the Pleides) to 11. The
brightness range of the objects displayed can be selected using the Alt+O combination.
You will be prompted to enter the magnitude of the dimmest objects you want displayed.
For example, if you enter 6 in response to the prompt, all Messier objects of magnitude 6
or less will be displayed. The default value is 8 since all celestial objects with a
magnitude of 8 are easily observed with a small telescope. Only integer values of
magnitude are supported. The Messier object magnitude can be specified only on
graphic pages.

Ctl+O

Press Ctl+O to display the Messier object number instead of the symbol. The location of
the object is in the center of the units digit. For example, 42 is displayed for the Orion
Nebula, M42. The location of the nebula is in the center of the 2. You can switch
between object symbols and numbers by pressing Ctl+O repeatedly. Symbols for added
objects are not affected by Ctl+O. It is generally easier to see the Messier object
numbers if the plate, ecliptic and planets are turned off. Due to the clusters of Messier
objects in some areas it can be difficult to read some of the numbers. In some cases this
can be alleviated by adjusting the displayed magnitude unless the object is comparatively
dim.

Planet Display. Press P once to remove the planets from the display and press P again to
restore them. The planetary images are:
Sun

Using The Electric Astrolabe

Yellow disk

The Electric Astrolabe

Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Moon

Small light gray disk

Small white disk
Small red disk
Larger banded disk with red spot
Peach colored disk with yellow rings
Larger cyan disk
Larger brown disk
Larger circle. The phase of the moon is shown.

The planets position is at the center of the image. The planetary positions shown are
calculated whenever the time changes. The values shown are for purely Keplerian orbits,
unaffected by perturbations. That is, the gravitational pull on one planet by other planets
is not considered in the planetary position calculations. This causes little error in the
inner planets, but the outer planets will be affected somewhat more. The accuracy of the
calculations is more than adequate for the screen resolution. Significant perturbations in
the moons orbit are included in the lunar calculations.
See Planetary Calculations below for information on higher precision calculations.
Alt+P

Precession switch. When the precession switch is ON, precession will be applied to stars
and Messier objects at each time update. When this switch is OFF, precession is not
recalculated and stellar positions are displayed for the initialized positions. When the
Electric Astrolabe is started, stars and Messier objects are precessed to the time in the
system clock. Similarly, when a set of defaults is LOADed or RESTOREd when
precession is set ON, precession is applied to the default date. Note that Here (=) and
Now (N) do not do a RESTORE. Therefore, it may be necessary to do a RESTORE to
set precessed star positions to their initial values if a default file has been LOADed.
Turning the precession switch ON causes precession for the current date and time to be
applied. Thus, precession can be calculated at any time by turning the precession switch
ON. The use of precession has an observable performance impact. It is generally
simpler to FILE and LOAD files with precession set ON, particularly for events far in the
past or future. Also, since the star and Messier object positions are initialized to J2000.0
values, precession has no visible affect on displayed star positions for recent dates.
The Electric Astrolabe keeps two sets of star positions for complete flexibility when
comparing positions over long periods of time. The set of precessed positions is updated
each time the screen is displayed. The other set of positions is calculated only when the
Electric Astrolabe is started, on a LOAD or RESTORE with precession set OFF or when
changing between the north and south projection. If the two sets of positions seem
uncoordinated, set the astrolabe to the desired date and switch between projections with
Alt+N.
See the section on added objects (page 54) for a discussion of how added objects are
affected by the precession switch.
Precessed star and Messier object positions are rigorously calculated, but proper motion
and nutation are not considered by the Electric Astrolabe for star positions.
It is interesting to play with precession by setting the interval to a sidereal year of
365.997930 days or a sidereal century of 36524.997930 days and watching the stars
precess around the ecliptic pole but BEWARE! On July 17, 14960, the eccentricity of
Saturn goes to zero and the calculations for Saturn are nonsense from that point on. In
any case, you can see Vega become the pole star in about 12,000 years. Note that none
of the calculated positions are valid this far in the future. Also recall that large negative
Julian days will also cause the program to hang.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Ctl+P

Label planets. As an aid to becoming familiar with the planets on the astrolabe display,
you can display the planet names by pressing Ctl+P.

Quit. Press Q to end the program.

Ctl+Q

Quiet mode. Press Ctl+Q once to eliminate showing the date and time in manual mode
and press again to show date and time. Quiet mode is useful in menus to avoid
showing the time and date when they are not relevant to the menu display.

Rule Display. Press R once to remove the Rule from the display and press R again
to restore it. The Rule shows you the current zone time. Note that the rule is divided by
each five degrees of declination thus allowing a fair estimate of the Suns declination on
any date. The point where the rule crosses the ecliptic is the position of the fictitious
mean Sun used to determine zone time and to define the Equation of Time. Remember
that positive declination is toward the center of the display.

Ctl+R

Display a rule that extends across entire face of astrolabe, centered on the Sun. The long
rule points to the current local apparent solar time on the limb. The normal rule points to
the current local zone time. The unequal hour arcs are defined by local apparent solar
time, therefore a rule that points at the Sun is needed to find the unequal hour. The
unequal hour during the day is found by the point where the long rule crosses the ecliptic
below the horizon. During the day this will be the point on the ecliptic that is opposite
the Sun (the Suns nadir) and at night is the Sun itself. The long rule is useful anytime it
is desired to find apparent solar time. For example, if you set the location to the center of
a time zone and the time to noon, you can read the value of the equation of time directly
from the long rule. Note also that, since the long rule points to the Sun, you can estimate
the Suns declination from the tic marks on the rule. Also, the moon or a planet is near
conjunction or opposition (depending on latitude) when it is on the long rule. You can
get close to lunar and planetary conjunctions/oppositions graphically with the long rule.
The long rule can be rotated freely around the astrolabe using Ctl+ the keypad + or (Ctl+[ and Ctl+] for laptops). Pressing Ctl+ the keypad + or - will move the long rule
one time interval ahead or behind its current position. The long rule can be positioned
quite accurately with the time interval set to 1 minute (F1) or 1 second (F11). The long
rule returns to the Sun on leaving Manual Mode. Keep in mind that the long rule will not
move if the time interval is set to 1 day.
The long rule can be used to estimate the declination of any object displayed within the
astrolabe plate and to find planetary conjunctions and oppositions near the ecliptic or to
mark a position in the sky.

Star Display. Press S once to remove the display of the constellation asterisms. Press
S again to restore them. See Alt+P for precession considerations. See also B and
Alt+B.

Alt+S

Sidereal Time. Press Alt and S together to set the sidereal time. The astrolabe display
will be updated to the time on the current date when the selected sidereal time occurred
or will occur. Note that the time displayed may be either earlier or later than the time
that was current when the command was entered.

Ctl+S

Label stars. You can display the constellation names with Ctl+S as an aid to learning the
constellation asterisms used by the Electric Astrolabe, . The constellation names display
can get a little congested due to the number of names and their lengths. Just rotate the
star field until the name of interest is clear. Also, it is easier to associate the names and

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

asterisms if only the stars are displayed. This function is needed only when first getting
familiar with the Electric Astrolabe.
T

Time. When you press T you will be prompted to enter a new time in 24-hour format
(i.e. 4:00 PM is represented by 16:00). The next display refresh will be at the specified
time on the current date. The colon is not required but there must be some character
between hours and minutes (such as a space).

Alt+T

Display time shown in manual mode in 24 hour or AM/PM format. The default is 24
hour format. Press Alt+T to switch between formats.

Universal Time. When you press U, you will be prompted to enter the Universal Time.
The display will be updated to the UTC entered for the current location. Caution should
be observed with the date if the date at Greenwich is different than the date at your
location at the UT specified. The updated display will be for UT entered on the current
date.

Ctl+U

Display unequal hour arcs. Ctl+U toggles the display of the unequal hour arcs. When
the unequal hour arcs are on, it is generally useful to use the long rule (see Ctl+R above).

Display calculated values. Pressing V will cause the page of calculated values to be
displayed directly. See the section on text displays.

Alt+V

Display complete calculated values. Pressing Alt+V will cause the page of complete
planetary calculations to be displayed. See the section on text displays.

Shading. When shading is turned ON the sky above the horizon will change color
depending on the altitude of the Sun. When the Suns center is above the horizon the sky
is blue. During twilight it is a shade of gray. When the Sun is below nautical twilight
the sky is black. Civil sunrise/sunset is defined as when the Suns upper limb is on the
horizon which is when the Suns center is approximately 0.835 below the horizon.
Shading changes from light gray to light blue when the Sun reaches this point as an aid in
finding the time of sunrise/set. See the discussion of colors in the section on the program
control page.

Time Zone. Press Z to change the standard time zone for a location. For example,
Paris, at longitude 2 20 East, would be calculated as being in the same time zone as
Greenwich (0) when in fact Paris is on Continental Time, which is one hour earlier. To
set the correct time zone for Paris you would enter -1 in response to the prompt. The time
zone convention used by the Electric Astrolabe is, How many hours do I add to my time
to get UT? which may not be the convention you are used to.
Note: There are (Iran and Australia) and have been (Hawaii in 1941) places with noninteger time zones. This version of the Electric Astrolabe supports only integer times
zones in order to simplify the displays.

1-6

Display Planet and Moon Phase. When you press one of the digits 1 through 6, a
larger picture showing the phase of the Moon or one of the planets is drawn in the color
of the planet or moon on the astrolabe display. North is at the top of the picture. The
accuracy of the picture, in terms of the position of the illuminated disk, is exact within
the limits of the resolution of the display. Pressing the 5 key gives you a picture of the
positions of the four galilean moons of Jupiter. The jovian satellites can be identified by
the size of the orbit or by color. The default colors are:
Io (I) - Red (color 10)

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Europa (II) - White (8)

Ganymede (III) - Yellow (14)
Callisto (IV) - Cyan (12)
Pressing 6 displays Saturns rings. The picture appears as Saturn would be seen
through binoculars with north at the top. Note that most Saturn drawings in astronomical
literature show it as is would appear in a telescope; upside down and with left and right
reversed (i.e. with south at the top). The Saturn picture clearly shows the A-ring,
Cassinis division, the brighter B-ring and the dusky C-ring. The relative sizes of the
rings and planet are only approximate but are accurate to the display resolution.
Press the same number to remove the phase picture.
All commands are active when the phase picture is displayed. For example, If you press
the big plus or minus keys, time will be changed by one time interval and the phase
updated. In free running mode the phase picture is updated with the display. It may be
necessary to remove parts of the astrolabe display to get a clear picture of the changing
phase in free running mode. In fact, the animated display of Jupiters moons looks best
when it is the only thing displayed. It also works well on the orrery screen but you might
want to restrict the planets displayed to only Mercury to avoid having the other planet
images flash. The best time interval for animating Jupiters moons is 30 min.. depending
somewhat on the speed of your computer.
See the Phase= setting on the Program Control page in the next section to see how to
change the size of the phase pictures.
7

Lunar eclipses. Press 7 on the astrolabe screen to display the Earths shadow at the
current distance to the moon and, if it fits in the screen, the full moon. The large gray
circle is the Earths penumbra. The smaller black circle is the Earths umbra. An eclipse
is a penumbral eclipse if any part of the moon enters the penumbral shadow. An eclipse
is a partial eclipse if any part of the moon enters the Earths umbral shadow. In a total
eclipse the entire moon is hidden in the umbra. For an example of a total lunar elipse set
the Julian day to 2449497.64008.
You can watch a lunar eclipse develop by using the time interval keys and big +/- to step
through the eclipse.
It is easy to find lunar eclipses. A lunar eclipse occurs when there is a full moon and the
moon is near one of its nodes. The short yellow and white line near the center of the
astrolabe points to the moons orbital nodes. To find an eclipse, first find a full moon.
Then set the time interval to F10, one average lunar synodic period. Turn the long rule
on (Ctl+R). Then space using the Big + or - key until the rule is close to the line of
nodes. If the rule lies right on the line of nodes there will be a total lunar eclipse. If it is
close to the line of nodes there will be a penumbral eclipse or a near miss. When you
find a full moon that is near the nodes, press 7 to see what you have. You can adjust the
time interval to 30 minutes (F4) or an hour (F5) and move through the eclipse as it
develops. It is instantly obvious from the astrolabe display if the eclipse will be visible
from your location.
The eclipse display is accurate, but you may not get the exact times published in the
Astronomical Almanac because the shadow and moon images cannot be shown with
absolute precision and it is not possible to determine the exact instant that an event

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

occurs from the display. You will be able to recreate any lunar eclipse to within a few
minutes.
Esc

Display previous page. The Escape key will cause the previously displayed page to
displayed again. Using Escape you can jump back and forth between two pages directly
without going through the intermediate pages. This is an extremely useful function when
investigating a particular event.

Longitude zero. Pressing 0 adjusts the longitude to 0 without changing the latitude.
By setting UT to 00:00 and setting the longitude to 0 you can compare the astrolabe
output to the values that are tabulated in the Astronomical Almanac and astronomy
magazines with minimum effort. Use Here and Now to return to your location and
time (see = and N). The 0 command works only on the astrolabe display page.

Here. Display the Electric Astrolabe for the default latitude and longitude. Pressing =
followed by N gives Here and Now. This is a shortcut to get you back to your
original location without having to reenter the latitude and longitude each time. The
default latitude and longitude are the ones for the first city in the list of cities and are the
same values used when the Electric Astrolabe is initially started.

; and

Daylight Savings Time. The ; key allows you to turn DST on and off. Some locations
do not observe DST and there are periods in every year when it may be advantageous not
to use DST. Daylight savings time has had an erratic history. It is prudent to check
whether daylight savings time was in effect on a specific date in the past. ; allows you
to disable DST entirely. Press ; again to reactivate DST. The Electric Astrolabe
attempts to set DST for the current date. DST is set automatically if the time and date is
between 0200 on the first Sunday in March and 0200 on the last Sunday in November.
Some areas do not observe daylight savings time or use a different schedule. The
(single quote) can be used to disable automatic DST setting. When disabled with the
quote key, DST must be set manually.

BIG +/ ([,])

Change time by one time interval amount. The Big+/- keys are the keypad + and -. You
can advance or retard time by one time interval (see F1-F12 below) at any time. Big+
adds the time interval to the current UT and Big- subtracts it. See M for manual mode
considerations. Most computers have a way to change the keyboard repetition rate or
you can set the rate with the Windows Control Panel keyboard function. Most laptop
computers do not have the keypad. The [ and ] keys perform the same function for use
on laptops
In free running mode the big + and - keys are used to speed up and slow down the rate of
animation. Press Big- several times to slow down the display. Big+ will speed it up
again. This function is useful if you have a very fast computer and the animation is so
fast that the screen is updated faster than the display refresh rate causing part of the
display to blank out or if you want to slow down the animation in order to watch some
event more easily. Each keypress changes the time between screen updates by 20 msec.
See Ctl+R for moving the long rule using Ctl+ Big +/-.

F1-F12

Interval Specification. The Electric Astrolabe sets the intervals to be used for manual
and free running display updates using the functions keys. One of these function keys
can be pressed at any time to make a new interval update value effective. The intervals
set by the function keys are:
F1 = 1 minute (0.000694 days)
F2 = 5 minutes (0.003472 days)

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

F3 = 10 minutes (0.006944 days)

F4 = 30 minutes (0.020833 days)
F5 = 1 hour (0.041667 days)
F6 = 1 day
F7 = 5 days
F8 = 10 days
F9 = .997269568 day (one sidereal day)
F10= 29.53059 days (one lunation, tropical month or synodic period)
F11= 0.000011574 day (1 second)
F12 = 365.242191 days (one tropical year)
The Alt+Fn key is the negative of the values above. For example, Alt+F2 sets the interval
to -5 minutes. A negative value reverses the sense of the big +/- keys and causes time to
decrement in free running mode which lets you go backwards in time.
The current interval setting is shown on the Help screen. If you change the interval
shown on the Help (Command Summary) page by keying in a new value, this value
replaces the F10 value and negative of the same value replaces the Alt+F10 value.
The primary value of the interval setting is to look for some specific condition. For
example, if you want to find the time of Sunrise you might initially press F5 to set the
interval to 1 hour and then position the Sun near the eastern horizon using the Big+ key.
Then set the interval to some smaller increment such as 1 minute to position the Sun
more precisely.
F6-F8 are useful for finding events on a longer time scale. For example, if you would
like to find the synodic period of Venus, for example, you might set Venus at
conjunction using a one day interval and then set the interval to 5 days, go to free
running mode and stop the update when Venus is close to the next conjunction and fine
tune the display with shorter intervals as needed.
Judicious use of the interval setting, the display contents and free running mode gives
opportunities to watch some interesting astronomical phenomena. For example, if you
put the Sun on the meridian, set the interval to one or five days and let the display run
free you can watch the Sun trace out the analemma for your latitude and longitude. This
analemma is the basis for the definition of the Equation of Time. You can also watch the
outer planets go from posigrade to retrograde motion and back. This is most easily seen
by restricting the display to the planets and stars. When a planet is in retrograde motion
it will move clockwise relative to the stars.
The values set by F9-F12 can be used in interesting ways. Setting the interval to a
sidereal day keeps the stars in the same place on the screen each time increment and lets
you see the planets move in the star field. This is an easy way to observe planetary
phenomena such as posigrade and retrograde motion. The Draconitic period and period
of a lunation allows an easy way to look for eclipses (see glossary). As stated above, you
can set the value for F10 by changing the interval displayed on the Command Summary
(H) page.
N.B. Not all computers use F11 and F12 in the same way. If you have trouble it may be
more convenient to set these values on the Command Summary text page.
Ctl+F1-F12

Fast city change. Pressing Ctl + one of the function keys is a fast way to change between
cities that are of frequent interest. The city is selected from your list of cities (see Alt+C)
in the order of the function key number. That is, F2 selects the second city in the list, F3

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

the third city and so on up to the twelfth city. Note that Ctl+F1 serves the same function
as =.

PLANETARY CALCULATIONS
The Electric Astrolabe will calculate the positions of the planets in two ways:

Using classical formulas derived from Kepler's theory of planetary motion. In this method, the orbital
parameters (eccentricity, inclination, etc.) are derived from polynomials based on the Julian date. The
planet's position in its orbit is then calculated from the basic orbital parameters and converted to
geocentric measurements (right ascension and declination). The results are the pure Keplerian orbits,
unaffected by perturbations. The instant for the calculation is the Julian date. The calculations are
very fast but of low accuracy, particularly for the outer planets. The Moon's position is calculated with
significant perturbations included but is still of low accuracy by astronomical standards. This
calculation technique is useful for graphical display and animation on a slower computer.

Higher precision positions can be calculated using the full VSOP87 method as described in
Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus (Willman-Bell, 1991). The results are corrected for nutation,
light time and aberration and are generally within an arc second of the values in The Astronomical
Almanac. UT can be corrected for dynamical time as a user option (see Dynamical Time below). The
computational overhead is about 100 times that of the lower precision calculation and the speed of
animation is greatly reduced. The higher precision calculations are selected with Ctl+X. The
calculated values are valid for several thousand years in the past or future.

Following are some considerations for selecting the calculation method.

You will usually want to use the higher precision planetary positions on the graphical displays even
though the display resolution is not sufficient to reflect the very slight differences in position resulting
from using the higher precision calculations except for the outermost planets. The calculated
differences are usually a few tenths of a degree for the outer planets and less for the inner planets.

Animation speed is reduced by a factor of about three when using the higher precision calculations and
the slight position differences cannot be seen during animation. This can actually be an advantage on
a very fast computer because the high precision calculations might slow the animation rate to an
acceptable speed.

If one of the purposes of using the Electric Astrolabe is education about how orbits are calculated then
you will want to use the Keplerian orbits. The VSOP87 method calculates the ecliptic latitude, ecliptic
longitude and distance from the Sun from which the apparent positions are derived. The true and
eccentric anomalies are derived from the ecliptic coordinates and are not exactly the same as those
derived from first principles.

In general, the higher precision calculations are needed when you are looking for some specific event such
as the exact time of an eclipse or a conjunction. For fun, look at February 27, -1952 at about 07:00 UT and
enjoy the fantastic conjunction of all the planets out to Saturn.
It is strongly suggested that you have a copy of the Astronomical Almanac handy when you are using the
higher precision calculations in order to have access to the precise definitions for the values displayed. For
example, if you want to confirm the length of the tropical year, high precision calculations must be OFF
because the tropical year is defined by mean values, not apparent values. Also, eclipse conditions are
presented with the Julian date as an instant in UT, not dynamical time, so you will have turn dynamical

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

time OFF to recreate the positions. Such subtle differences in measurements can be very confusing if you
do not have access to the proper reference material and may be confusing even if you do.
Following are keys used to control higher precision planet calculations:
Alt+X

Change planet images to a small "+" ("X" for the Moon). Displaying the planetary
positions with the "+" lets you see exactly where the center of the planet is (to the
resolution of the display). This lets you test certain conditions, such as conjunctions,
with greater confidence. The Electric Astrolabe is not accurate enough for occultation
work but you can get a better feel for exactly where a planet is when its position is shown
in cross hairs. The "+" is the same color as the planet except for Jupiter which is mixed
blue and white. Use Ctl+P to label the positions if you are not sure which planet is
which. Press Alt+X again to return to the planet images.

Ctl-X

Use higher precision planetary position calculations. When Ctl+X is selected, the pages
of calculated values reflect the higher precision calculations. In addition, a page of
calculated positions is inserted in the sequence of text pages and can be accessed directly
with Ctl+V. The planetary positions can be changed to a small "+" with Alt-X. The
position of the Moon is calculated to very high precision. A small block is displayed on
the bottom line of the pages of numerical values when higher precision calculations are
being used. Star positions are not corrected for nutation and the annual aberration when
higher precision planet calculations are in effect. To return to the lower precision
calculation press Ctl+X again.

Ctl+V

Display the page of higher precision planetary calculations. No action is taken if higher
precision calculations are not in effect (Ctl+X). Planetary positions on this page are
shown in degrees (or hours), minutes and seconds to match the format used in The
Astronomical Almanac. Longitude and latitude are ecliptic longitude and latitude.
Geocentric positions are apparent right ascension and apparent declination (i.e. corrected
for nutation and aberration).

DYNAMICAL TIME
Time measurement is perhaps the most complicated part of positional astronomy. Astronomers want time
to flow in an constant stream, unaffected by physical uncertainties, in order to compare observations. They
adopt more precise time measurement technology as it becomes available in order to approach this goal. In
the process, they create new levels of confusion for astronomical calculations. The concept of dynamical
time, which is based on atomic clocks, was adopted in 1984 and comes close to the astronomical ideal for
time. However, the use of dynamical time causes astronomical time to be out of step with civil time which
is based on the slightly irregular rotation of the Earth. The difference in dynamical time and civil time
(UT) is based on the equation T = TDT - UTC where TDT is Terrestrial Dynamical Time and UTC is
Universal Time. T is usually expressed in seconds.
The magnitude of T varies with the year and is unpredictable for the future. Values for T have been
determined as far back as 1620, which is the earliest that reliable observations existed on which to confirm
the values. These values are listed in The Astronomical Almanac. For 2008, T was 65.46 seconds. The
exact value for 2009 will not be known until precise observations are processed but 65.7 sec. is estimated.
Astronomical calculations are performed for an instant in dynamical time. This instant can either be
specified directly by stating a specific Julian date or the Julian date can be derived from the year and UT.
The Electric Astrolabe supports dynamical time. T is determined by various methods depending on the

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

year. For years between 1620 and 2013 the value is looked up in the table as printed in The Astronomical
Almanac. The exact value for a date is interpolated linearly within a year. For values after 2013, T is
estimated as increasing at the rate of 1 second per year. For dates before 1620, DT is estimated using
formulas due to F. R. Stephenson and M. A. Houlden. The value of T is quite large for times in the
distant past; more than 15 hours for year -2000. The date of a calculation can get confusing when the date
in dynamical time is different from the date in UT. The date shown is always derived from UT. To
determine the date in dynamical time, turn off dynamical time and enter the desired Julian date. The exact
value used is shown on the Help screen in seconds. The rounded value is shown on the value screens.
There are situations where you might find it more convenient to ignore dynamical time. You can turn the
use of dynamical time on and off with Ctl+T. When dynamical time is in effect the symbol "t" is
displayed next to UT on the text pages. The value of DT in use for a specific date is showed on the page of
higher precision values (Ctl+V). This value is set to 0 if dynamical time is off. You will normally want
dynamical time ON. The UT for computed values is the value of UT shown when dynamical time is ON.
CTL+T

Use dynamical time adjustment. Default is ON. Press CTL+T to turn off the correction
for dynamical time. The Julian date is always calculated from the date and UT. The
Julian date will change when DT is turned on and off and the UT will stay the same.

The Julian day shown is the one used in calculations. If you are comparing the calculated results to a
source that uses JDE (ephemeris time), turn dynamical time off and enter the exact JDE. For results based
on UTC, turn dyanamical time on.
In a later chapter we will discuss how to use the Electric Astrolabe to solve astronomical problems.
For what it is worth, a major failing of many popular astronomy programs is lack of consideration for
dynamical time. This oversight leads to meaningful differences in calculated positions.

IMAGES
The Electric Astrolabe will display images in the CompuServe .GIF format (Graphics Interchange Format).
There are many thousands .GIF files in circulation and many can be downloaded for bulletin boards and on
line services. The .GIF format is widely available and very efficient for scanned images.
The content of the graphics screens can also be saved as a Windows Bitmap file.
.GIF FILES
.GIF files conform to a standard defined by CompuServe. .GIF files are compressed so they take as little
disk space or transmission time as possible. .GIF files normally contain 256 color images but it is possible
to store monochrome and 16 color images in this format. .GIF files do not require a specific display mode.
The Electric Astrolabe chooses the display mode depending on the image dimensions and number of colors
as follows:
Rows
<320
320
>320
>320
Any

Columns
<200
200
<=400
>400
Any

Colors
N/A
N/A
256
256
16

Mode
320x200,256
320x200,256
640x400,256
640x480,256
640x480,16

The 320x200,256 color and 640x480,16 color modes are available on any VGA equipped computer. The
640 column, 256 color modes require an SVGA graphics controller card and a VESA interface program.
Interlaced images are supported.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe attempts to use the VESA Video BIOS Extension to display images. If your
computer does not natively support VESA, it probably came with a DOS program to provide the correct
interface. Lack of an installed VESA extension is the most common reason for image display problems.
.GIF images can be displayed in two ways: one at a time from the astrolabe screen or in groups using a
menu file. If you want to display a single .GIF image, follow the steps below:
1.
2.
3.

Go to the Program Control page (C) and enter the file name in the FILE field.
Then go to the ACTION field and select IMAGE and press Ctl+Enter.
Return the astrolabe screen and press I to display the image.

In a menu file, an image will be displayed when an I command followed by the file name is encountered
(see Menus, page 69).
.BMP FILES
A copy of the graphics screen contents can be saved to a Windows Bitmap file (.bmp). The bitmap file can
then be converted, if needed, to a .gif or other graphics format for inclusion in a document or presentation
using any of the large number of graphics file conversion programs available.
The file name must be specified before creating the screen copy. Enter the file name in the File: field on
the Program Control page. The file extension must be either .bmp or .BMP. Simply enter the file name
and press Enter to store it. To save the bitmap image, go to one of the graphics screens and press Alt+I.
The saved file will be 151 Kb (153,718 bytes). A .gif file created from the .bmp file will be about 20 Kb.
An error message will be posted on the Program Control page if the file extension is not correct.
To get a round astrolabe or correct orbits on the orrery page, the Aspect Ratio on the Program Control page
must be set to 1.000 before saving the screen. You may find that you will want to change the screen colors
before saving the screen if you will be using the image in a document. In particular, a light gray
background looks better on the page and the colors of other elements may need to be changed to provide
adequate contrast. Note that color 7 is used for the Manual Mode text, which may need to be darkened for
the image.

SAVE/RESTORE and LOAD/FILE

SAVE/RESTORE and LOAD/FILE are described in detail in the next chapter (page 60). This section is a
brief introduction to the concepts.
SAVE and RESTORE is the process of temporarily saving the current state of The Electric Astrolabe.
SAVE copies all of the program settings to an internal storage area. RESTORE copies the most recent set
of settings that have been SAVEd. The initial settings are SAVEd when The Electric Astrolabe is started
so there is always one set of SAVEd values. You might want to RESTORE the initial values if you have
been experimenting with colors or screen contents and want a fast way to return to the initial settings.
SAVE is also a good way to temporarily store a screen configuration that you want to recall.
SAVE and RESTORE have a special use when working with dates far in the past or future. Some
astronomical values such as the obliquity of the ecliptic or the longitude of perihelion change very slowly
and are not recalculated each time the display is updated. The entire Electric Astrolabe is recalculated
when the state is RESTOREd. RESTORE can be used to make sure these values are calculated for the
time of the display. For example, if the Electric Astrolabe date is set to year -2800, the planets will not be
on the drawn orbits on the orrery because the orbital values have changes so much over nearly 5000 years.
Simply do a SAVE followed by a RESTORE to recalculate the orbits.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The altitude labels on the plate are not shown when a RESTORE is performed and shading is set OFF.
This allows a clean printout without the areas above the horizon being obscured by the shading color.
All SAVEd values are lost when The Electric Astrolabe is stopped.
FILE allows you to save Electric Astrolabe settings permanently. To save a particularly interesting
celestial configuration, specify the name of the file you want to save into in the FILE: field of the program
control page and select FILE in ACTION: field. A small file will be written that contains the necessary
information to recreate the event. LOAD loads settings that have been FILEd.
If the FILE: field is set to ASTRO.EXE (the default), the settings will be added to program execution file.
All values in effect when performing a FILE to ASTRO.EXE will become the program defaults each time
the Electric Astrolabe is started. Note that a FILE to ASTRO.EXE will also save the list of cities and
added objects (see Customizing on page 64).

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

TEXT DISPLAYS
The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers, Richard Hamming, Bell Labs
The astrolabe is a geometrical model of celestial motion while the more familiar astronomical tables are an
arithmetic model. The answer to just about any problem that can be addressed with an astrolabe can be
read directly from the graphic astrolabe display. But, in this increasingly digital world, there seems to be
added comfort in seeing the actual values rather than interpreting an analog display. The arithmetic model
has replaced the geometric model in modern culture.
The Electric Astrolabe acknowledges this fact by providing text displays of calculated values. Examples of
the text displays are shown in Figures 10 through 15. Definitions of all terms used are in the glossary. The
first page is a summary of calculated planet and lunar data. The lunar detail is for eclipse prediction and
definition of the moons phase. The second page contains the complete calculations of the planetary
positions and is useful for reconstructing specific planetary events such as conjunctions and description of
the planetary orbits. The third page is a help screen showing all of the keyboard command and the status
of the display switches. The help screen applies specifically to the astrolabe display but, in general, also
applies to the text and orrery functions with the exceptions noted on the specific page descriptions. The
Program Control page contains values that are used when the astrolabe is initialized. On this page you can
set your latitude and longitude and any switches or colors that you want to have in effect when the Electric
Astrolabe is started. The Program Control page also allows you to change the displayed colors, save
defaults to be used when the Electric Astrolabe is started or to save specific astronomical events. A page
of cities and added objects is provided to make it easy to change the displayed location and to add elements
to the display.
The text pages are displayed using the PgUp and PgDn keys or directly with a mnemonic key. When the
Electric Astrolabe is started the astrolabe is displayed. If you would like to see the numerical values of the
planetary and lunar positions that are displayed you can press PgDn for the first text page and PgUp to
return to the graphic display. The display pages are displayed in sequence and when the end of the
sequence is reached it starts again at the top. If you press either PgUp or PgDn repeatedly you will see
each page in turn and eventually end up where you started. The mnemonic keys used to access the text
pages directly are:
V

Value - page of calculated values.

Alt+V

Full Values - page of complete orbital calculations.

Ctl+V

High precision calculations (available only when high precision calculations are on)

Help. Command Summary page.

Ctl+H

Star coordinates and positions.

Alt+C

Cities and Inserted Objects.

Program Control. Page of customization variables.

You can change time and location values directly on the text screens. Just type over the displayed value
and the new value will be reflected in the displayed numbers when you press the Enter key. You can
change more than one value before pressing Enter. All of the values are stored in the program when you
press Enter.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The text pages can be thought of as a sort of astronomical spreadsheet in the sense that a change of one
variable is immediately reflected as a change in all related values. Variables that can be changed are above
the double line. Calculated results are below the double line. Use of the text pages to change values
obviates the need for some of the commands described earlier since rather than, for example, pressing D to
change the date you can just type in the desired date on the display.
In the interest of consistency, you can use the same command keys on the text pages that are used on the
graphics pages. The difference is that a prompt is not displayed. Rather, the cursor jumps to the
appropriate field for modification. For example, if you press T to change the time, the cursor will jump to
the time field on the displayed page so you can enter a new time. The J key takes you directly to the
Julian Day field but note carefully that only positive Julian days are fully supported. Entry of negative
Julian days can cause erratic and sometimes fatal results (to the program) .
An interesting feature of the Electric Astrolabe is the ability to position the cursor under a number on the
text page and increment or decrement that value with the big +/- keys. This feature is fully described
below.
A WORD ABOUT ACCURACY
Measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with an ax. Engineering tradition
Accuracy of astronomical values must be considered in the context of the use of the results. The Electric
Astrolabe is a graphics program that represents the sky in an analog model. Precision of the calculations
for the Electric Astrolabe is greater than the screen resolution and are more than adequate for the astrolabe
model, but are not to professional standards. The basic calculations for the planetary orbits are for the
purely Keplerian orbits without consideration of perturbations. Lunar calculations do include significant
perturbations. None of the values can be considered accurate to the precision shown on the text pages.
Star and Messier object positions are precise for J2000.0 and can be precessed to other epochs. Calculated
results are shown with several decimal places in order to allow comparison to tabulated results available
from other sources. An easily available reference for comparison of the computed values is the Planetary
Data section of the Celestial Calendar in Sky and Telescope magazine each month. Note that the data
tabulated in Sky and Telescope is for 0 hr. UT for the dates shown. Be sure to confirm that you have the
date and time set correctly before making comparisons. This can get a little tricky and you may find it
easiest to set the UT to 00:00 first and then set the date. You will find excellent agreement for the inner
planets and some difference in the outer planets.
The Electric Astrolabe will calculate very accurate planetary positions. For additional information see
Planetary Calculations in the previous chapter.
Sky and Telescope publishes a graphical table of the positions of Jupiters moons every month when Jupiter
is observable at night. Note that if you compare the Sky and Telescope graph of Jupiters moons to the
display that the sense of east and west is reversed. The magazine shows the satellites as they would appear
in a telescope and the Electric Astrolabe shows them as they really are or would appear in binoculars. Sky
and Telescope also publishes more detailed information on Jupiters moons when viewing conditions are
advantageous. You will find excellent agreement between the Electric Astrolabe display and the published
events.
If you are looking at events that are far in the future or past, you can improve the accuracy of the graphical
displays slightly by doing a SAVE followed by a RESTORE. The restore causes all values to be
reinitialized and will result in more accurate representation of values that change over time such as the
obliquity of the ecliptic and the location of perihelion shown on the Orrery. Numerical values on the text
pages are recalculated for every time change and the accuracy will not be affected by RESTORE.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

KEYBOARD USAGE
Following are the keyboard conventions used for the text pages:
ARROWS
The right and left arrows move the cursor one position to the right or left. At the end of a field the cursor
goes to the next field. The up and down arrows move to the nearest field on the line above or below.
Pressing the up arrow on the top line moves the cursor to the nearest field on the bottom line and vice
versa. Nearest field is defined as the field in the next line that ends at a cursor position that is farther to the
right than current field. For this reason the cursor may not return to the same field on an up/down or
down/up sequence.
HOME
Moves cursor to beginning of the field. Ctl+Home moves the cursor to the first position of the first
modifiable field on the page.
END
Moves the cursor the last position in a field. Ctl+End moves the cursor to the first position of the last
modifiable field on the page.
PgUp
Displays the previous page in the list of pages. Ctl+PgUp goes directly to the first page (the astrolabe).
PgDn
Displays the next page in the list of pages. Ctl+PgDn goes directly to the last page in the list (the orrery).
TAB
Moves the cursor to the next field. Shift+Tab moves the cursor to the previous field.
DELETE
Deletes the character at the cursor and moves the remainder of the field one position left.
INSERT
Puts the keyboard in insert mode so each entered character pushes the rest of the field one position to the
right. The cursor changes to a large cursor.
BACKSPACE
The conventional rubout function.
CTL+BACKSPACE
Erases the contents of the field.
SHIFT+BACKSPACE
Erases the field from the cursor position to the end of the field.
Only numbers and the appropriate punctuation can be entered into fields. The NumLock key has the
normal function; changing the context of the keypad from cursor and page control to numbers. Either
Enter or / key can be used. The keypad and gray keys have exactly the same usage. Use whichever set is
most comfortable for you.
The big + and - keys on the keypad have a slightly different usage on the text pages. Position the cursor
under a number and press SHIFT + Big+ or -. The number in that position is incremented or decremented
by one. Notice that the new values carry into related fields. For example, if you are using the Big+ to
increment minutes in the time field, the date is incremented when you pass midnight. The date components
overflow similarly. The time intervals specified with F1-F12 operate the same as on the graphics screens.
Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The Text Screens

Date=10/15/ 1995

Julian Date=2450005.91943

UT=10:05 t Zone= -1

Latitude= 48 52 Longitude= -2 20 Time= 11:05

Sidereal Time= 11:48:13.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mercury Venus
Sun
Mars
Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Right Ascension 12:20
14:17
13:20
15:35
16:46
23:24
19:55
19:38
Declination
-1 05 -13 09
-8 25 -19 52 -21 57
-6 26 -21 23 -21 01
True Longitude 71.749 236.858 201.580 258.595 261.310 352.374 299.446 294.689
Altitude
39.577 19.828 29.295
4.852 -6.764 -47.256 -36.581 -33.600
Azimuth
169.566 141.322 153.820 128.010 115.887
8.948 80.823 83.900
Equation of Time
14 Min
7 Sec

Longitude Correction
-50 Min 40 Sec

Solar Time
10 : 28 : 27

Sun on Meridian
12 : 36 : 32

MOON
Right Ascension:
Declination
:
Ascending Node
Semi-diameter
Distance

06:33
18 13

Altitude: 20.829
Azimuth : 274.168

: 206.545
: 14' 51.1"
: 404533.8 km

11/ 2/95

Longitude:
Latitude :

97.766
-5.009

Fraction Illuminated
:
0.620
Position of Bright Limb: 94.474
Phase Angle
: -76.090
_

14:34:20

Figure 10. Page of Calculated Values.

Date=10/15/ 1995
Julian Date=2450005.91943 t =
61 UT=10:05 T=-0.042137729
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Obliquity = 2326'15.4" Nutation: Obliquity = -7.933" Longitude =
6.838"
Right
Longitude
Latitude
Radius
Ascension
Declination Distance
Mercury

7135'34.7"

247' 1.9"

0.308941

12:20:19.4

-1 4'31.5"

0.833302

Venus

23653'25.5"

1 8'54.2"

0.724600

14:16:46.5

-13 9'22.4"

1.642657

Sun

20134'47.1"

-0 0' 0.8"

0.997186

13:19:46.8

-824'44.1"

0.997187

Mars

25834'57.4"

-053'53.6"

1.480211

15:34:35.9

-1952'19.8"

2.189150

Jupiter

26118'52.5"

025'38.5"

5.295933

16:45:54.6

-2157'23.4"

5.861670

Saturn

35221' 0.9"

-2 7'31.7"

9.600087

23:23:49.7

-626' 8.8"

8.743621

Uranus

29926'37.9"

-033' 1.1" 19.734814

19:54:47.3

-2123' 3.0" 19.621310

Neptune

29441'48.9"

030'10.3" 30.167181

19:38: 7.5

-21 0'47.0" 30.126415

Figure 11. High Precision Calculations.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Date=10/15/ 1995
Julian Date=2450005.91943 UT=10:05 t T=-0.042137729
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mercury Venus
Sun
Mars
Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Eccentricity
0.20563
Inclination
7.005
Perihelion Arg. 29.110
Ascending Node
48.281
Mean Longitude
73.753
Mean Anomaly
356.362
Ecc. Anomaly
355.420
True Anomaly
354.359
True Longitude
71.749
Radius Vector
0.309
Ecliptic Long.
71.593
Ecliptic Lat.
2.784
Geocentric Long.185.090
Geocentric Lat.
1.031
Dist. to Earth
0.833
Elongation
16.521
Right Ascension
12:20
Declination
-1 05
Altitude
39.577
Azimuth
169.566
11/ 5/95

0.00677
3.395
54.863
76.642
236.113
104.608
104.979
105.354
236.858
0.725
236.890
1.148
216.345
0.506
1.643
14.774
14:17
-13 09
19.828
141.322

0.01671
0.000
282.865
0.000
203.476
280.611
279.660
278.715
201.580
0.997
201.580
-0.000
201.580
-0.000
0.997
0.000
13:20
-8 25
29.295
153.820

0.09340
1.850
286.457
49.526
268.846
292.863
287.790
282.613
258.595
1.480
258.583
-0.898
236.120
-0.607
2.189
34.545
15:35
-19 52
4.852
128.010
_

0.04849
1.304
-86.158
100.421
266.409
252.145
249.630
247.047
261.310
5.296
261.315
0.427
252.864
0.386
5.862
51.285
16:46
-21 57
-6.764
115.887

0.05552
2.489
-20.655
113.629
358.521
265.547
262.545
259.400
352.374
9.600
352.350
-2.125
349.162
-2.334
8.744
147.507
23:24
-6 26
-47.256
8.948

0.04630 0.00899
0.773
1.770
98.959 -83.674
73.984 131.738
295.942 295.083
122.999 247.020
124.341 247.099
126.504 246.626
299.446 294.689
19.735 30.167
299.444 294.697
-0.550
0.503
296.561 292.805
-0.554
0.504
19.621 30.126
94.981 91.225
19:55
19:38
-21 23 -21 01
-36.581 -33.600
80.823 83.900
22:56:04

Figure 12. Complete Orbital Calculations.

NOTES ON TABULATED VALUES

SIDEREAL TIME
Mean sidereal time is normally displayed. Apparent sidereal time is displayed when high precision
calculations are in effect. Dynamical time should be OFF to compare the displayed sidereal time to values
tabulated in the Astronomical Almanac in order for UT to be 0:00 at the tabulated Julian dates.
EQUATION OF TIME is calculated as the Suns mean longitude - Suns right ascension. This is a valid
method of calculating the equation of time over a wide range of times.
LONGITUDE CORRECTION is the time difference from the center of a time zone to the current
location. The displayed value changes whenever the longitude is changed.
SOLAR TIME is the apparent solar time for the civil time shown in the Time= field. This value is useful
when working with any problems that use solar time such as those found in historical texts or when
working with sundials or astrolabe instruments.
SUN ON MERIDIAN is the combination of the Equation of Time and Longitude correction for
conversion from apparent solar time to zone time and is the time the sun will be exactly due south at your
location. These three values are useful for determining true south and working with apparent solar time or
sundials. This value is most accurate when the zone time is close to apparent noon, particularly when the
suns declination is changing rapidly such as near the equinoxes.
The following values are tabulated for the Moon:
ASCENDING NODE is the longitude of the Moons ascending node. The longitude of the descending
node is 180 from this value. You need to know the position of the Moons nodes to predict eclipses.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

SEMI-DIAMETER is the Moons semi-diameter in minutes and seconds of arc. The value shown is the
topocentric semidiameter (i.e. the value as seen from the surface of the Earth). This value is shown only
when high precision calculations are on.
DISTANCE is the geocentric distance of the Moon in kilometers. This value is shown only when high
precision calculations are on.
FRACTION ILLUMINATED is the fraction of the Moons disk that is illuminated and is approximately
1.000 for a full moon, 0.000 for a new moon, 0.250 for first quarter, etc.
POSITION OF BRIGHT LIMB. The precise term is Position Angle of the Bright Limb and is the angle
from north of a line connecting the cusps of the illuminated part of the lunar disk. The orientation of the
Earths shadow on the Moon changes depending on the Moons latitude. This figure measures the effect.
PHASE ANGLE is the angle from the Earth to the Sun as seen from the Moon. It will be approximately
zero at a new Moon and 180 at a full Moon. The moment of a new or full Moon can be determined by
comparing the Moons longitude to the Suns longitude. At full Moon, the longitudes will differ by 180
and they will be same at new Moon.
T shown on the page of full calculated variables (Alt+V) is the number of Julian centuries of 35625 days
from epoch J.2000 (1/1/2000 0:00 DT) and is the coefficient for the polynomials used to calculate
planetary positions. The T next to UT shows that dynamical time is being used. The at the bottom of
the screens indicates that high precision calculations are on. The value of T in seconds is shown on the
Ctl+V page and to three decimal places on the Help screen.
The current system clock date and time are updated each second on the V, Alt+V, Ctl+V and Help pages.

Help
---------------------- COMMAND SUMMARY ----------------------------------------Command
Value
Description
A
On
Display Altitude Azimuth Plate.
Shading (X) = On
D
10/15/ 1995
Specify Date G=Gregorian/Julian Calendar
E
On
Display Ecliptic
F
Off
Free Running Mode
F1-F12
1.000000
Interval for Manual and Free Running Modes (Days)
H
Help (This Screen)
J
2450006.21110
Specify Julian Date
L
41 52
87 36
Latitude and Longitude (= for Here)
M
On
Manual Mode
N
11/ 8/94 10:48:03
Now. Current Date and Time. Projection (Alt+N) = N
O
On
Display Messier Objects.
Magnitude (Alt+O) = 8
P
On
Display Planets and Moon.
Sun only (Alt+A) = Off
Q
Quit. Terminate Program. Quiet mode (Ctl+Q) = Off
R
On
Display Rule.
Long Rule (Ctl+R) = Off
S
On
Display Stars
Precession (Alt+P) = Off
Alt+S
12:50
Specify Sidereal Time
T
11:05
Specify Time. ";" = DST.
AM/PM display = On
U
17:05
Specify Universal Time. Unequal Hours (Ctl+U) = On
V
Display Numerical Values
Alt+V
Display Complete Numerical Values
Z
6
Specify Standard Time Zone
1-6
Display Planet/Moon Phase
Esc
Display previous page
Figure 13. Help screen.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The help screen shows a summary of the commands and the status of each of the switches. As on the other
text pages, you can enter new time and location values by typing over the value displayed. You can
change the interval time for the F10 key by typing a new interval as the fraction of a day for each step. The
settings for switches are shown when you change the switch by pressing the key corresponding to the
switch. Two status values are not shown on the help screen; dynamical time is shown as a T next to UT
on the calculated values pages and high precision calculations are shown by a in the center of the bottom
line of the same pages.

CITIES
------------------------------------ CITIES -----------------------------------City
Lat
Long
Zone
City
Lat
Long
Zone
New Fairfield
41 28
73 30
5 London
51 30
0 10
0
New York
40 43
74 01
5 Paris
48 52
-2 20
-1
Washington,DC
38 53
77 02
5 Brussels
50 50
-4 20
-1
Toronto
43 39
79 23
5 Copenhagen
54 41
-5 32
-1
Miami
25 46
80 11
5 Stockholm
59 20 -18 03
-1
Chicago
41 51
87 39
6 Cairo
30 02 -31 15
-2
Tulsa
36 09
95 59
6 Madrid
40 24
3 41
-1
Dallas
32 49
96 47
6 Rome
41 58 -12 40
-1
Denver
39 44
104 59
7 Athens
37 58 -23 43
-2
Vancouver
49 16
123 19
8 Cairo
30 02 -31 15
-2
San Francisco
32 59
109 22
8 Moscow
55 45 -37 35
-2
Los Angeles
34 03
118 14
8 Tel Aviv
32 05 -34 48
-3
Honolulu
21 19
157 47
10 New Delhi
28 36 -77 12
-5
0 00
0 00
0 Singapore
1 22 -103 48
-8
0 00
0 00
0 Hong Kong
22 15 -114 11
-8
0 00
0 00
0 Tokyo
35 45 -139 30
-9
-------------------------------- ADDED OBJECTS --------------------------------RA
Decl Mag Type
Name
RA
Decl Mag Type
Name
1. 15:44 -5 09
0 9
Pluto
6. 00:00
0 00
0
2. 17:44 -28 59
0 8
Galactic Ctr. 7. 00:00
0 00
0
3. 00:00
0 00
0
8. 00:00
0 00
0
4. 00:00
0 00
0
9. 00:00
0 00
0
5. 00:00
0 00
0
0. 00:00
0 00
0
Figure 14. Cities and Added Objects.
A page of city locations is provided in order to make it easier to switch between locations. City names,
latitude, longitude and time zones can be changed by just typing in new values and pressing Enter. A new
city is selected by moving the highlighted cursor to the city name and pressing Ctl+Enter. The astrolabe
for the new city is displayed automatically at the current date and time. When a new city is selected with
Ctl+Enter the city name is displayed in the Description field of the Program Control page. The first
city in the list is used as the default location when the Electric Astrolabe is started. The page of city
names is selected with Alt+C.
Updated city names are NOT saved with a FILE unless the destination file is ASTRO.EXE. If you want to
revise the list of locations, make the updates on the city page and then save a new default file to
ASTRO.EXE.
To add a new city permanently, follow these steps:
1.

Enter the new city name, latitude, longitude and time zone and press Enter.

Go to the Program Control Page (C).

Go to the File: field. It is fastest to get to the file name field with Ctl+End.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

4.
5.

Make sure the file name is ASTRO.EXE.

Go to the Action: field. Press Enter until File appears in the field.

Press Ctl+Enter.

The city will now be in the list every time you start the Electric Astrolabe. Note once again that the first
city in the list is your home location whenever the Electric Astrolabe is started. See Customization below
for how to set a new city as the default location when The Electric Astrolabe is started.
UNDER WINDOWS 95, SAVING A NEW CITY LIST MUST BE DONE UNDER NATIVE DOS.
The locations of major world cities provided with the Electric Astrolabe were taken from The New
International Atlas (Rand McNally, 1991). There are many sources for the latitudes and longitudes of
locations. Particularly accurate sources include geodetic survey maps and sectional maps used by pilots and
Google Earth. A good source for time zone information is the International Airline Guide.
Using the Electric Astrolabe to hop between cities has been useful for determining the hours of daylight for
trip planning, duplicating conditions for a specific location such as an observatory and following history in
the making by noting the astronomical conditions during historic events.

ADDITIONAL OBJECTS
You can define up to ten additional celestial objects to be displayed with the Messier objects by entering
the right ascension, declination, magnitude and display symbol on this page. A name or very brief
description can also be entered. The object is created when the type is entered. This is an important
point. If you add an object and then go back and change the coordinates or magnitude, you must move the
cursor to the Type field and press Enter for the new values to take effect. The name or description can be
changed at any time.
The added objects are displayed when the O switch is ON (depending on the magnitude). Specifying a
magnitude of zero or one allows you to set the object display magnitude so only the added objects are
displayed.
If the precession switch (Alt+P) is ON when the added object is created, its displayed position will be
precessed to the current date and time. If the precession switch is OFF, the added object will be inserted at
the coordinates specified without precession. This allows you to go to a distant date, enter the J2000.0
coordinates of an added object and then display the position of the object at that date.
The symbol displayed for an added object is specified with a code letter indicating the object type. The
object types are:
G

Spiral galaxy

Globular cluster

Open cluster

Nebula

Elliptic galaxy

The number of the object is displayed as a small number equal to its index in the list.

Small filled square ()

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Small square outline ()

Small filled diamond ()

Small diamond outline ()

Small filled circle ()

Small circle outline ()

Small arrow pointing to object location ()

Do not display. Changing the object type to 0 allows you to temporarily prevent the object from
being displayed without losing the coordinates.

Added objects are saved with the program defaults thus allowing different lists to be constructed for special
purposes. You might find it useful to FILE lists of your favorite objects that can be loaded at will.
Inserted objects might be a star, deep space object not included in the Messier list, a comet for which you
know the right ascension and declination, Plutos position or anything else that appears in the sky (you
dont have to enter Plutos position often since it changes VERY slowly - once a year may be enough).
Added objects can also be used to mark a coordinate of interest such as the J2000.0 position of a star to
compare precessed and unprecessed positions or merely to mark a specific a point in the sky.

Star Positions
Date= 3/21/ 2004 UT=03:27 Time=22:27
AT=22:19:20 Sidereal Time=10:26: 6.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Star
RA 2000
Decl 2000
RA
Decl
Alt
Az
Aldebaren
4:35:55.2 1630'33.0" 4:36: 9.7
1631' 3.3" 12.155
281.543
Alkaid
13:47:32.3 4918'48.0" 13:47:42.3
4917'32.5" 52.980
56.575
Altair
19:50:46.9
852' 6.0" 19:50:59.1
852'45.3" -30.303
45.790
Antares
16:29:24.4 -2625'55.0" 16:29:39.9 -2626'27.5" -16.812
110.730
Arcturus
14:15:39.6 1910'57.0" 14:15:51.4
19 9'46.8" 37.015
94.432
Bellatrix
5:25: 8.0
620'59.0" 5:25:21.6
621'11.7" 15.514
265.685
Betelgeuse 5:55:10.3
724'25.0" 5:55:24.0
724'26.7" 21.996
261.636
Canopus
6:23:57.2 -5241'44.0" 6:24: 2.8 -5241'52.8" -15.342
213.164
Capella
5:16:41.3 4559'53.0" 5:17: 0.0
46 0' 8.8" 34.692
304.505
Castor
7:34:35.9 3153'18.0" 7:34:52.0
3152'44.0" 54.723
272.250
Deneb
20:41:25.8 4516'49.0" 20:41:34.4
4517'43.8" -2.779
18.073
Merak
11: 1:50.4 5622'56.0" 11: 2: 5.5
5621'34.1" 71.363
15.724
Pollux
7:45:18.9 28 1'34.0" 7:45:34.5
28 0'56.4" 55.128
264.437
Procyon
7:39:18.1
513'30.0" 7:39:31.5
512'54.4" 39.613
239.211
Regulus
10: 8:22.2 1158' 2.0" 10: 8:35.7
1156'47.2" 62.964
189.460
Rigel
5:14:32.2 -812' 6.0" 5:14:44.3
-811'49.3"
4.216
255.981
Sirius
6:45: 8.9 -1642'58.0" 6:45:20.2 -1643'14.5" 14.285
234.239
Spica
13:25:11.5 -11 9'41.0" 13:25:24.8 -1110'59.8" 24.945
130.296
Vega
18:36:56.2 3847' 1.0" 18:37: 4.7
3847'14.6"
3.593
41.066
3/21/04

22:26:49

Figure 15. Page of Star Positions

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The page of star positions shows the J2000.0 and current coordinates of 19 bright stars. This page allows
you to find or set a stars position very accurately.
It is not always easy to set the position of a star precisely on the astrolabe display. The computers monitor
is made up of many individual dots. The curves and points drawn on the computer monitor are calculated
very accurately, but what actually appears on the screen is necessarily rounded to the nearest screen dot
(called a pixel or pel picture element). For example, say you want to set the astrolabe to the exact instant
when Altair is at an altitude of 40. You can set it fairly closely by just positioning the dot representing
Altair on the 40 almucantars. The problem is that the dot may be on or right next to the 40 almucantars
for several minutes of time and you cant tell from the graphic display which is the exact time. Also, the
arcs themselves are subject to rounding when they are drawn and some points that are actually on the
theoretical circle fall between pixels and may not be able to tell exactly where the almucantars is on the
screen.
This page allows you to find the instant when one of the listed stars is at a specific altitude or azimuth.
Simply narrow in on the desired position using various values of time intervals until you have it at the
correct value. The rete is now positioned accurately and you can read the time, apparent solar time or
sidereal time at this instant.
This page is also useful for finding the precessed coordinates of the listed stars. The precessed values are
updated as determined by the Precession switch (Alt+P). All displayed stars are precessed to the computer
time when The Electric Astrolabe is started. The precessed coordinates are updated on each time change if
the Precession switch is ON. They are left at the values calculated when the program was started if the
Precession switch is OFF.
Thus, this page is a convenient reference for the coordinates of the listed bright stars and a tool for setting
the astrolabe to a specific event of interest.

PROGRAM CONTROL VARIABLES

The astrolabe that is initially displayed when the Electric Astrolabe is started is defined by values that are
stored in the program. These values include the latitude and longitude for the plate, the time zone, the
colors used to draw the astrolabe and other values that describe the size and shape of the image. The
content of the astrolabe is described by the setting of the switches (e.g. whether Messier objects are
included) and the status of daylight savings time, manual mode, free running mode, etc.. You can specify
the exact content of the Electric Astrolabe by selecting values for these variables and including them in the
program file. You can also describe other combinations and file them in small files that can be retrieved
separately. In this way you can customize the display to your location, color preference and screen content
and you can save particularly interesting conditions for immediate recall.
When you save or restore the Electric Astrolabe definitions, ALL values that are controlled from the
keyboard are saved. Thus, when a set of definitions is invoked the display content is completely defined.
For example, if you wanted to save the exact conditions of the solar eclipse of July 11, 1991, you would set
date, time and location, set manual mode and file the definitions. When you retrieve this set of values the
time will be set to the time saved because manual mode was in effect when the values were stored. If
manual mode is not active, the time displayed when a set of definitions is restored is the current computer
clock time.
You can use the Program Control screen to customize the Electric Astrolabe. This page contains variables
that specify your location, how you want the astrolabe to look and the switches that are set when the
program is started. You can change the customization variables at any time and the new values will be in
effect until you stop the program. Or, you can define new default values for a single session, reload the
default values in use when the Electric Astrolabe was originally started and/or write the new default values

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

to disk thus defining a new set of permanent defaults. Some of the values shown on this screen are
duplicated on other screens and are included here only for the convenience of being able to see the settings
while defining defaults. Note that ALL operating parameters are stored when the defaults are saved or
filed including values that are not shown on this screen.

------------------------------- PROGRAM CONTROL -------------------------------Latitude= 48 52

Longitude=
-2 20
Time Zone= -1
Home Zone=
5
Aspect Ratio= 1.000
Orbit Scale= 220

Video= V

Inner Orbit=

COLOR
Background
0
Plate
1
Numerals/Tic
2
Shading
3
Stars
4
Rule
5
Ecliptic
6
Objects(Mercury)7

Alt/Az= 10

0
63
63
0
21
63
63
42

0
0
63
0
21
63
63
42

0
0
63
0
63
63
63
42

Phase= 249

Outer Orbit=

4 Tic Marks

SWITCH
On
On
On
On
On
On

COLOR
Venus
Earth
Mars
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Sun
Phase Shadow

TEXT
Background

Numeral Scale= 0.36

8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

63
0
63
63
21
50
63
21

63
0
21
48
63
25
63
21

63
42
21
32
63
0
21
21

Foreground

HIGHLIGHTED TEXT

Foreground

Background

Description: Paris
Action:

File: ASTRO.EXE

Status:

Figure 16. Progam Control Screen.

Following is a description of the customization values and how to save and recover customized
configurations. Colors are discussed in the next section.
LATITUDE, LONGITUDE AND TIME ZONE
The normal definition. These coordinates will be stored as the current location when a the program
controls are stored in a default file. When the Electric Astrolabe is started, the coordinates of the first city
in the city list are used.
HOME ZONE
Home Zone designates the time zone reflected by the computer clock. The Electric Astrolabe needs to
know the time zone for times read from the computer in order to calculate Universal Time and local times
correctly when the display is set for a location in a different time zone. Normally, this value needs to be set
only once when the initial defaults are defined.
SCREEN ASPECT RATIO
It is not always immediately obvious that lines drawn on a graphics screen are not the same length when
drawn in the x (horizontal) and y (vertical) directions. The aspect ratio is defined as the length of a line in
the x direction divided by the length of a line containing the same number of dots in the y direction. For
VGA displays it is supposed to be 1.0 but it isnt always depending on the specific display and graphics
adapter. If your display has controls for horizontal and vertical size, adjust them until the VGA astrolabe is
exactly round with the aspect ratio set to 1.0. The aspect ratio will be correct for all modes after it has been
set for VGA if your monitor is working correctly. If your display does not have horizontal and vertical

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

size adjustments and your display is not exactly round with an aspect ratio of 1.0, carefully measure the x
and y diameters of the astrolabe and calculate the aspect ratio and enter it on the program control screen.
For example, if you display the astrolabe plate with the aspect ratio = 1.0 and the circle is not round,
measure the length of the horizontal (i.e. x axis) diameter. Say the result is 175 mm. Measure the length of
the vertical (i.e. y axis) diameter. Say the result is 183 mm. The aspect ratio is then x/y = 175/183 = 0.956
The measurement does not have to be very precise since you can easily fine tune the value by changing the
aspect ratio on this screen. You should adjust your display for an aspect ratio as close to 1.0 as possible for
VGA. Once it is set correctly on your display it will be correct for all VGA application. Aspect ratios
greater than 1.0 might cause some of the images to contain black lines.
Some newer monitors will display SVGA images with an aspect ratio of 1.0. If your astrolabe is round in
VGA mode with an aspect ratio of 1.0 and oval in SVGA mode with an aspect ratio of 0.88, reset the
aspect to give a round SVGA image and FILE the result to ASTRO.EXE.
Note that for printing on a matrix printer the aspect ratio may be wildly different than for the screen. An
IBM ProPrinter, for example, requires an aspect ratio of 0.831 to get round figures when using the DOS
GRAPHICS command and Print Screen. Laser printers should print perfectly round images using the DOS
GRAPHICS program.
VIDEO
VIDEO= controls the graphic screen resolution and requires a little explanation.
All computers that are equipped to run the Electric Astrolabe have a video graphics adapter that supports
VGA (which was developed by IBM and stands for "Video Graphics Array"). All VGA adapters,
regardless of the manufacturer, support several graphics modes but the one most commonly used provides
a picture area that is 640 dots wide and 480 dots high with 16 colors displayed at a time. The dots in a
graphic picture are called "pels" (for PictureELementS) or "pixels". 640x480, 16 color graphics has
several advantages: it is supported by almost all graphics cards, has sufficient clarity and flexibility for
most applications, does not require a fancy or expensive display and is supported by almost all software.
On the other hand, 640x480 pel resolution is really not sufficient resolution for applications that display
pictures (images) and 16 colors is simply not enough to properly represent color images. Therefore, the
graphics card manufacturers have developed graphic adapter cards that offer higher resolution and more
colors for graphics applications.
When you bought your computer or upgraded your graphic adapter card you probably got one that
advertised SVGA (Super VGA) with resolutions of 800x600 and 1024x768 pels and claimed to offer
these resolutions at up 256 concurrent colors or more. These claims are true. What you may not have
realized is that each card manufacturer provides these graphics modes in a different way and each card
requires special software to use them. A hint that this is the case is that you probably received some
software drivers for specific applications such as Windows that needed to be installed before you could
use the card in the higher resolution modes. You also may not have realized is that the higher resolution
modes require a higher quality display. This may not become obvious until you try higher resolution and
find the picture is fuzzy or worse.
In an attempt to make some sense out of the chaos resulting from every manufacturer offering the same
function in different ways, an organization called the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has
published a programming standard that allows software developers to program specific functions that will
work on a wide range of graphics cards. All of the legitimate graphic card manufacturers offer a piece of
software that will convert the VESA standard to their specific implementation. You probably received the
software when you bought your computer or card but, if you didnt, the VESA software can be
downloaded from CompuServe and other subscription services. Some of the newest cards implement the
VESA standard in the card itself. For those that dont, it is necessary to load the VESA interface as a little
resident program that is used by application programs such as the Electric Astrolabe.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe supports standard VGA (VIDEO= V) or 800x600, 16 color SVGA(VIDEO= S or
H). In order to use SVGA you must have either a graphics adapter that supports VESA in hardware or
have loaded the VESA interface program. You will have to refer to your graphics adapter card literature to
see if you can use SVGA. For reference, the VESA SVGA 800x600, 16 color mode is 102H and the
VESA standard hardware mode is 6AH (the H after the number means that it is a base 16 or hexadecimal
number).
Before going further it is should be pointed out that there is really no need to use SVGA. The screen
resolution is a little better and the display will use a little bit more of the glass but you can't see anything
that you cant see with regular VGA. Also, the higher resolution means that the Electric Astrolabe must
process more pels so the performance is slower by 20-30%. But, if you have a really fast computer and
graphics adapter and a really good monitor, you will want to use the higher resolution.
If your graphics card supports VESA in hardware then all you have to do to use 800x600 graphics is
specify VIDEO= H (but see the technical note below). If it does not support this mode then load your
VESA interface program before starting the Electric Astrolabe. This is most easily done by starting the
Electric Astrolabe with a BAT file that loads the VESA program and then starts the Electric Astrolabe (you
can also load the VESA program automatically when you start your computer by making an entry in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file). Then, put an S in the MODE field on the PROGRAM CONTROL screen. If
your computer does not support VESA or the VESA software is not loaded the message, VESA not
available. will appear in the Status: field. If everything is working correctly, the Electric Astrolabe will
change to SVGA mode. You will notice that the aspect ratio is changed to 0.880 and the roman numeral
scale changes to 0.50 and that the planet and Messier object images are smaller. Everything else works the
same but you might want to change the Orbit Scale to about 280 and the Phase picture size to about 200.
There is one other complicating factor. Some card manufacturers supply VESA programs that do not
supply the correct information on text character sizes. This is most likely to show up when you display the
constellation or planet names. If all the names are on the top row, your VESA program is lying to the
Electric Astrolabe about the character sizes.
Default and color files that are LOADed or RESTOREd use the current video mode regardless of the
mode in effect at the time they were SAVEd or FILEd.
IMPORTANT: Some display monitors will not support 800x600 graphics. If your screen starts to
roll or break up, turn off the computer IMMEDIATELY. Your display and graphics adapter card
can be physically damaged if driven beyond their capability for a long period of time.
The Electric Astrolabe is guaranteed to work in VGA mode.
Technical Note: Video Mode 6AH assumes the following parameters: 800x600 resolution, 16 colors, 4
plane planar memory organization, 100 bytes per row, text x-width = 8 pels, text y-height = 14 pels and
identical controller port and register usage to VGA mode 12H. If your card does not support these exact
specifications then it is safer to use Video Mode = S (but try H to see if it works)
Alt/Az
Alt/Az= controls the resolution of the astrolabe plate by defining the number of degrees between the
altitude and azimuth arcs. Valid values are 5 and 10. The altitude and azimuth arcs for each 10 are drawn
in the plate color (color 1) and, if 5 resolution is chosen, the 5 arcs are drawn in the background color
(color 0) and will only be visible when shading is on. You may find that the 5 resolution makes the
screen a little busy during the day when the sky background is blue. You can control the visibility of the
5 arcs at night by choosing a background color that has low contrast such as a fairly dark gray.
PHASE
The Phase= field is used to define the size of the enlarged pictures of the planet phases. The number
entered is the width of the picture in pels and can be any number between 100 and 250. The size of the

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

box containing the image is adjusted for the specific planet being displayed. The box for Jupiter and
Saturn are much larger in order to hold the entire picture.
NUMERAL SCALE
The roman numerals around the limb of the astrolabe are stored as vectors that can be scaled to any size.
You can make them larger or smaller by changing this value.
ORBIT SCALE
The sizes of the orbits on the orrery are determined by dividing this number by the length of the semimajor axis in AU for the largest orbit being displayed. You can make them larger or smaller by varying
this value. The default value of 220 in VGA mode uses about 92% of the screen but causes the orbit of
Mercury to go off of the screen when it is the only orbit displayed due to its large eccentricity. A scale of
280 for SVGA mode works well.
INNER ORBIT, OUTER ORBIT
Allows you to change the default for which orbits are displayed. Normally, a maximum of four orbits can
fit on the screen together but you can use these values to change the number of orbits displayed. For
example, if you want only Earth and Mars, set the inner orbit to 3 and the outer orbit to 4. To go back to
four orbits on the screen just select the outer planet on the orrery screen with the number keys. You can
define up to 8 orbits to be on the screen together but the center gets very congested. A realistic maximum
is Mercury (1) to Jupiter (6) or Earth (3) to Neptune (8).
TIC MARKS
You can change the length of the tic marks on the ecliptic and around the limb by changing the values.
These values are the number of dots that make up each tic mark line.
SWITCHES AND COLORS
Default switch values can be defined on this page as can the colors you prefer as described below.
DESCRIPTION
The description field can be used for a brief text description of a FILEd set of defaults. For example, if
you have saved the positions of the planets and stars as they would have appeared at Sunrise at the summer
solstice at Stonehenge in 1500 BC you could make a note to that effect in the description field. This
description is saved with the defaults and displayed when the file is LOADed as reminder of what is in the
file. The city name of the current location is normally displayed in this field.
ACTION:
This field defines the actions you can take with the Program Control values. To select an action, put the
cursor in this field and press Enter until the action you want is displayed. Then press Ctl+Enter to cause
the action to occur. The extra key (Ctl) and the relatively inconvenient location of the field on the screen
(hopefully) provide a small safeguard against accidentally invoking an action you did not want. The action
options are:
(blank). No action.
SAVE makes the values defined on the screen the defaults for this session. The values are not
stored to disk. This allows you to experiment, save a set of values and continue to experiment.
The status message, Defaults SAVEd is displayed in the status message when the operation
completes.
RESTORE makes the default values active. That is, make the program control values that were
in effect when the program was started (or the last set SAVEd) the current values. The message,

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Defaults RESTOREd is displayed in the status area. All program parameters are reinitialized.
If the RESTOREd values include manual mode, the program will be initialized to the stored date
and time. When a set of values is RESTOREd the screen automatically switches to the astrolabe
display.
FILE writes the current values to disk. If the file name is ASTRO.EXE, you will create a new
set of program defaults that will be used each time the program is started. This allows you to
customize the Electric Astrolabe for your location, time zone, color selection and screen contents.
You can update an ASTRO.EXE file in any directory by specifying the directory name in the File:
field but the ASTRO.EXE file must already be in the directory or you will get a File not found
message. If the file name is not the same as the program file, you will create a small file in the
specified directory containing the program control variables. This is the file name you use in the
LOAD option above. You can name the file anything you want but the file type (sometimes
called the extension) should not be .EXE, .COM or .BAT . SAVING TO ASTRO.EXE MUST
BE DONE UNDER NATIVE DOS UNDER WINDOWS 95!
LOAD reloads the default values from a file stored on disk. This option can be useful if you have
FILEd several sets of defaults. The file from which to load the values is shown in the FILE
NAME: field on this page. LOAD causes the current values to be replaced. Any values SAVEd
will not be affected. To make the LOADed values the permanent default, issue a FILE command
to ASTRO.EXE. If the file does not exist in the specified directory, a File not found message is
displayed in the status area. If the specified file exists but is not a set of default values, the
message Not a default file is displayed. Defaults can be LOADed from the ASTRO.EXE file.
LOAD causes all values to be recalculated for the current date and time as defined by the file
being LOADed. The screen switches to the astrolabe display when the LOAD is complete.
FILE:
File name for FILE and LOAD. You can enter any valid file name in this field. Note that any
character can be entered in the file name so the keys that normally change switch settings or jump
to a field for entry are not active when the cursor is in this field. This is also true for the Action
field.
For example, say you have set the display for the time Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon
(9:56:15 PM CDT on July 20, 1969, Julian day 2440423.62240) as seen from the Manned Space
Flight Center in Houston (29 34 N, 95 06 W). You would make sure the display is in manual
mode, go to the Program Control page, type something like, Sky at Houston when Apollo 11
landed., set the file name to something meaningful (e.g. APOLLO11.LUN), put the cursor in the
Action field, press Enter until FILE is displayed and, finally, press Ctl+Enter. The complete set of
times, places and formats will be stored in the file APOLL11.LUN in the current directory. For
what it is worth, the Apollo 11 mission liftoff was at 9:32 AM EDT on July 16, 1969, from Cape
Kennedy, Florida.
MENU shows that the file name specified is a menu file.
IMAGE means that the file name specified is a .GIF image file.
You might also want to store some color variations in default files as you test different combinations.
Once you settle on a preferred set of colors and astrolabe contents you can update the ASTRO.EXE file by
executing FILE with file name set to ASTRO.EXE.

COLORS
Most of the colors used on the Electric Astrolabe graphic displays can be changed to suit personal
preference. Up to 16 colors, numbered 0 - 15, can be displayed at one time on a VGA display. The colors

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

used by the Electric Astrolabe are not the standard colors used by DOS or Windows:
The default colors are:
Color
Number
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Use
Background
Astrolabe Plate
Numerals and Tic Marks
Shading
Stars
Rule
Ecliptic
Mercury/Messier objects
Venus/Jupiter stripes
Earth
Mars/Jupiter red spot
Saturn
Uranus/Jupiter stripes
Neptune
Phase shadow

Default Color
Gray
Red
White
Variable
Blue
Yellow
White
Light Gray
White
Light Blue
Red
Peach
Cyan
Brown
Dark Gray

TEXT AND HIGHLIGHTED TEXT

The numbers define the color to be used as the foreground and background colors for normal and
highlighted text. They are same colors as defined in color blocks above. Any combination can be chosen.
CHANGING COLORS
Each color is made up of a red, green and blue component. The amount of each color is defined by a
number between 0 and 63 with 0,0,0 being black and 63,63,63 being bright white. New colors can be
defined by varying the basic color proportions. To change the colors, position the cursor under the R
(Red), G (Green) or B (Blue) component and either type in a new number or use the Shift+Big+/- keys to
vary the value. Changes are instantly reflected in the color block.
The shaded sky color can be changed when shading is on AND the Sun is above the horizon. The sky
color during twilight is calculated depending on the Suns altitude and cannot be changed.
Note that some of the planet colors are used in multiple places and that the text screen colors are chosen
from the same palette of 16 colors that is used for the astrolabe and planets. If you change one of these
colors you will change the text screen colors. Conversely, you can change the text screen colors by
changing the planet colors. It is fun to play with the colors.
There are many opportunities to modify the Electric Astrolabe display by manipulating the colors. The
default colors have been chosen to maximize contrast in order to make reading the display as easy as
possible. However, other combinations create interesting displays. For example, a brass colored
background (R=63, G=44, B=0) looks nice with various combinations of colors for the plate and numerals.
If you make the plate lines a medium gray (30 or so) you get an interesting shading effect during twilight
as the Sun rises or sets.
Another option is to make the plate color the same as the sky shade (R=36, G=58, B=63) so the
altitude/azimuth lines disappear in the daytime. You can also manipulate the colors to highlight the area of

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

interest such as the Messier objects. A color combination that reduces contrast when shading is in effect is
to set the background to a medium gray (R=G=B=30), set the Ecliptic color to a lighter gray (48) and set
the rule to lighter gray still (54). This sort of color scheme reduces the sky contrast during daylight hours
and makes the night sky stand out. A starter set of color combinations is supplied with the Electric
Astrolabe.
There is a lot room for experimentation with colors.
PRINTING
It is possible to print both the graphic and text screens on your computer printer using the Print Screen
function of DOS or the Windows Clipboard. There are also some excellent screen capture programs
available. The results are quite good and the process is easy with a little practice.
You can print the text screens under Windows by copying the screen to the clipboard (Alt+PrintScrn) and
then pasting the clipboard into any Windows word processor. You will have to change to a fixed pitch font
such as Courier to get the text page columns to line up. You can then edit and print the word processor
file.
The Windows Clipboard will capture the VGA graphics screens (but not SVGA!) screen in black and
white but the operation seems to depend on the Windows version. Some versions treat the background
color as white and all other colors as black. Therefore, the shaded area above the horizon (color 3) comes
out completely black. You can draw the astrolabe without the shading color by causing the plate to be
redrawn with shading OFF. This can be done in several ways: do a SAVE with shading OFF (X) and then
RESTORE, turn shading off and switch to the southern projection and back to the northern projection
(Alt+N) or invoke a new city with shading off and return to the current location (=). This format is suitable
for copying the astrolabe to the Clipboard and then printing as described above. Windows 98 copies the
VGA astrolabe in color to the clipboard.
The Windows clipboard requires the background color to be something other than black (0,0,0) to capture
the image in blank and white.
You can print directly to the printer with the DOS GRAPHICS function under DOS. Just start
GRAPHICS before you start ASTRO and then use Shift+Print Screen to copy the screen to the printer.
You may have to modify the aspect ratio and colors to get a good printout. The IBM ProPrinter graphics
have become standard for many screen copy programs. With this technique you will have to change the
screen aspect ratio to about 0.831. Other values may be needed for other printers. The print screen
program uses various shadings of black to simulate colors. You may find it advantageous to set up a
default file for printing that uses the colors and aspect ratio that works best for your printer. For example,
you might make everything white except the plate. You can SAVE the current screen, LOAD the print
default file, print the screens using Print Screen and then RESTORE. With matrix printers you may be able
to get the astrolabe screen and the V text screen on a single page which is very handy for taking outside for
casual observing. Laser printers rotate the graphics image so it is larger, thus preventing putting both
screens on a single page.
Your printers standard character set (sometimes called a code page) must be one that includes the forms
design characters in order to get a proper printout of the text screens. This code page goes by various
names such as 837 or the PC-8 symbol set. All printers support this code page but you may have to invoke
it on your printer if it not the standard one you use.
If you have a laser printer that will print HP Laserjet II data streams you can get good quality prints
without modifying the aspect ratio. Just load the DOS graphics print program by keying GRAPHICS
LASERJETII under DOS and invoke the graphics screen copy function with Shift+Print Screen. Note that
the DOS GRAPHICS function works only for VGA mode. It will not print an SVGA screen.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

You can use the GRAPHICS function of DOS to print the graphics screens under Windows but you must
start both GRAPHICS and the Electric Astrolabe in a DOS session. If you start GRAPHICS under DOS
and then start the Electric Astrolabe under Windows, the GRAPHICS function is not recognized.

CUSTOMIZATION
You will want to customize the Electric Astrolabe for your location and color preferences. In order to
customize The Electric Astrolabe you will set up all of your color and location preferences and FILE the
configuration to ASTRO.EXE. The following steps might be useful in customizing:
1. Put your location (city name, latitude, longitude, time zone) as the first city on the page of city names.
2. Make your location the active city by moving the cursor to the first city and pressing Ctl+Enter..
3. Change your time zone and home zone to the correct values on the Program Control page.
4. Select the color combination you want to use.
5. Make sure the switch settings are the way you want since the switches define which astrolabe
components are displayed when the Electric Astrolabe is started. Some people prefer to leave out the
ecliptic and objects. Pay particular attention to Manual Mode and Precession since you will probably want
them OFF.
6. Add any cities of interest to the list on the cities page.
7. Add any deep space objects of interest to the list of added objects.
8. Make sure ASTRO.EXE is in the File: field. Put the cursor in the ACTION field and press ENTER until
you display FILE, then press Ctrl+ENTER to save the startup configuration.
9. You might also want to name the color combination you like the best and save a separate file that
describes the overall color combination (e.g. GRAY). This will allow you to continue to experiment with
the various display parameters and load previous values.
Of course, the defaults can be changed at any time and you will want to experiment with colors.
Note that under Windows 95 or Windows 98 you must Exit to MS-DOS to store the changes in
ASTRO.EXE. This is not necessary under Windows XP.
There is an alternative way to customize The Electric Astrolabe under Windows 95/98 that does not require
restarting your computer in MS-DOS mode.
You can create a file containing your location and display default and initialize The Electric Astrolabe with
this file when you start the program. The following steps outline the procedure:
1.

As above, set the defaults you want for latitude, longitude, time zone, colors, etc.

Make the first city the active location by moving the cursor to the city name and pressing Ctl+Enter.

Go to the Program Control page (C) and type the name of the location you want in the Description:
field. This is the city name that will be used when you start The Electric Astrolabe.

FILE the set of defaults using any easy to remember name such as HERE, HOME or any other
convenient name.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

Edit the properties of the shortcut that starts The Electric Astrolabe. Right click on The Electric
Astrolabe icon on your desktop or use Explorer to find the shortcut you use to start The Electric
Astrolabe and select the Program tab. Change the Cmd line: entry to ASTRO.EXE /F filename (e.g.
ASTRO.EXE /F HERE) and click OK. This will cause The Electric Astrolabe to use your file of
default settings whenever it starts. Similarly, if you start The Electric Astrolabe from DOS, use
>astro /f here as the command to start the program.

RUNNING THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE UNDER WINDOWS and DOSBox

The astrolabe graphics screens must be run full screen under Windows XP and before. The text screens
can be reduced to a window and returned to full screen with Alt+Enter.
Its easy to put The Electric Astrolabe on your desktop. Just right click on astro.exe and send it to the
desktop. An icon for Windows is supplied in the file ASTRO.ICO. To apply the icon to your desktop,
right click the Electric Astrolabe on the desktop, select Properties/Program, change icon and select the
Electric Astrolabe icon.
Windows evolution has created new opportunities to excel in the face of adversity. It works well on all
versions of Windows through XP. Windows Vista and 7 will not allow a DOS program to access the VGA
screen directly so The Electric Astrolabe will not run by itself. You can, however, run it under a free
program called DOSBox that can be downloaded. Just install DOSBox and follow the instructions to run
The Electric Astrolabe. The graphics screens will display in a window or full screen.
You can configure DOSBox to start The Electric Astrolabe directly. There is a little DOSBox file named
dosbox.conf you can edit to define how it starts. Dosbox.cnf is in \Program Files\DOSBox-0.74 (or
whatever version you have). You can modify the file with any text editor to select the startup mode
(window of full screen), screen resolution (640x480 or 600x800), etc.
To make DOSBox run The Electric Astrolabe when started, add the following lines to the bottom of the
file:
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount c c:\astrov (use your folder name here)
c:
astro
You can put DOSBox on your desktop and change the icon to The Electric Astrolabe icon if you like.
Performance under DOSBox is far, far slower than running natively, but you can speed it up some using
Ctrl + F12. Also, animation speed is dependent on which elements are displayed on the graphics screen.
You should reduce the displayed content, such as turning of ecliptic labels, unequal hours, bright stars,
objects, etc., to the minimum required for what you are doing.
The DOSBox documentation is fairly sparse, but complete. It is not difficult to set up with a little
persistence.
Note: Use the latest version of DOSBox, (0.74 as of this writing). Include the following statement in
dosbox.cnfg to get full graphics function in all display resolutions.
machine=svga_et4000
Experiment with cycles= in the [cpu] section to get smooth and fast animation.

Using The Electric Astrolabe

The Electric Astrolabe

THE ORRERY
The orrery display shows the planets in their orbits around the Sun. The planet images used are the same
as those on the astrolabe display with the addition of the Earth which is, of course, blue. The position of
Earths moon is also shown.
Refer to Figure 14. Up to four orbits, selected with the number keys, can be shown at once (but see Inner
and Outer orbit on the program control page). The orbits selected are determined by the number of the
outer planet. For example, to display the orbits of Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter press 5, Jupiter being
the 5th planet from the Sun.
The orbits are drawn and oriented accurately to the resolution of the display. The sizes of the planets and
the moon are, of course, not remotely to scale. The relative sizes of the orbits are to scale, but the distance
of the moon from the Earth is not.
The vernal equinox is an imaginary horizontal line extending to the right from the Sun. Perihelion is
shown as a dot the color of Venus (default = white) on the orbit. The ascending node is shown by a dot the
color of Mars (default = red). Note that Earth does not have an ascending node. Thus, a glance at the
orrery display will give you a feel for the position of the planets relative to each other, their distance from
the Sun and whether they are above or below the ecliptic.
The planets can be moved in their orbits using the big + and - keys to advance or retard one time interval or
in free running mode by pressing the F key. The date and time of the display can be shown with the
manual mode M key as on the astrolabe display. The animation rate can be slowed down and speeded
back up with the big - and + keys on the keypad.
Use of the orrery function can be useful for illustrating planetary phenomena such as conjunction,
opposition, elongation, synodic period, etc. Referring to the glossary, the page of calculated planetary
values (Alt+V) and the orrery display is instructive in getting an intuitive feel for orbital parameters and
how they apply to the real planets. The moons position is useful for visualizing lunar phases and
understanding lunar position measurements such the phase angle.
IF YOU ARE DISPLAYING THE ORBITS FOR A TIME SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS FROM THE
PRESENT THE ORBITS WILL HAVE TO BE REINITIALIZED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE CHANGE
IN POSITION OF PERIHELION AND THE ASCENDING NODE. TO REINITIALIZE SIMPLY SAVE
AND RESTORE ON THE PROGRAM CONTROL PAGE.
The planet phases and Jupiters moons can also be displayed on the orrery screen. There is one slight
difference; to display a phase picture press Shift+ the planet number. To remove the display press the same
pair of keys. Animation of Jupiters satellites is clearer on the orrery display.

The Orrery

The Electric Astrolabe

Mars

Earth

Sun
Mercury
Venus

Figure 17. Orrery Mercury to Mars

The Orrery

The Electric Astrolabe

MENUS
The Electric Astrolabe can execute without intervention for tutorials, exhibits and to eliminate typing to
recreate sequences of interesting astronomical events or to display sequences of images. MENU mode
allows the Electric Astrolabe to execute without manual intervention by reading commands from a stored
file. Menu mode is invoked by Ctl+M. The menu will run continuously until ESC is entered from the
keyboard or the menu file ends.
Menu mode was implemented in order to support a public display of the The Electric Astrolabe at the
Adler Planetarium. It is rather specialized and this chapter can be skipped entirely unless you are planning
an exhibit. On the other hand, some advanced users have come up with some interesting and entertaining
automated animations.
The Electric Astrolabe can be started in menu mode by entering /M on the command line as:
C:\ASTRO>ASTRO /M {FILEPATH]
astro /m menu.eam starts the menu stored in MENU.EAM when the Electric Astrolabe begins
execution. Any valid file path may be used to specify the menu file to be used.
To stop the menu and return to interactive operation, press Esc or Ctl+M.
You do not want display users to be able to stop the menu when the Electric Astrolabe is to be used in a
public display. Starting the display with C:\ASTRO>ASTRO /D {FILEPATH] removes the ability to
stop the display with Esc or Ctl+M. The /D switch should not be used until you are confident the display
functions as desired. The only way to stop the display under DOS when it is started with /D is to reboot. If
the display is started from AUTOEXEC.BAT, the system will have to be rebooted from a diskette to allow
changes to AUTOEXEC.BAT.
The display can be started automatically under Windows by creating a shortcut that specifies
C:\ASTRO\ASTRO /D (using a shortcut to start the display allows you to specify the default directory and
specify the needed XMS memory). Under Windows, the DOS session for the display can be ended with
Ctl+Alt+Del to return to Windows.
The MENU file:
Creation of a menu file requires a high level of understanding of Electric Astrolabe
commands.

The menu file can be any name. The default menu file name is MENU.EAM (EAM = Electric
Astrolabe Menu).
The menu file must be an ASCII file. ASCII files can be created with any text editor.

The menu file can contain Electric Astrolabe commands, comments and labels. Menu commands are
described below. Comments can be used to make notes in the file about functions the menu is
performing. Labels are used to identify sections of the menu file.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

The file must begin with the letters EAMENU so the program can be sure it is a menu file. Each line
in the file is a command, comment, label or blank line. There can be only one command to a line.
Comment lines must begin with *. Comments can be to the right of any command delimited by *.
Blank lines are ignored. Labels begin with a colon (:).

Following are examples of valid menu file lines:

EAMENU
* Menu sample
:BEGIN
A3
*Turn plate on and wait 3 seconds.

Menu commands are not exhaustively validity checked. Only the commands for the graphic pages are
supported. If the file contains an invalid command, there will be a beep to warn you that the menu
file contains an error. The menu will execute up to the invalid command and return to the astrolabe
display. A brief error message is displayed in the status area on the program control page. If the
TRACE file is active, the error message is written to the trace file (see ^C below).

Each command has an associated time in seconds. The minimum time delay is approximately 0.055
sec (1/18 sec. which is the timer interrupt frequency). The result of commands with a 0 delay time are
not displayed. This allows you to change one or more display elements without causing an annoying
flicker on the screen.

Menu entries are the command, any prompt values, time to next command (may be 0) separated by
blanks or any punctuation mark. Command codes may be either upper or lower case.
Command key {Prompt values| Switches} time
N.B. Prompt values are not validity checked by MENU and the proper number of prompt
responses and formats must be entered in the Menu file. All prompt responses must be enclosed
in double quotes ( } so the program can know the embedded blanks are part of the response. If
a response is expected and none is in position, the program will beep twice and return a null
response. Null responses (just Enter with no value) are entered as #.
Examples:
A3

= Execute A command and wait 3 seconds. The same command could be entered as:
A 3 sec. The sec are ignored. A 3 seconds is also valid. A - turn off plate, 3 sec. is NOT
valid (next non-blank character to right of command must be valid input.

D 3/7/1949 10 = change date to March 7, 1949 and wait 10 seconds.

L 41 28 73 30 New Fairfield 5 = change latitude to 41 28 and longitude to 73 30.
Place = New Fairfield and wait 5 seconds.
L 38 58 # # 1 = Change Latitude to 38 58, no change in longitude and no entry for place
name. One second delay.

Commands that use the Ctl key are prefixed with ^. Commands that use the Alt key are prefixed with
@.
^E 5 = Label ecliptic and wait 5 seconds.
@S 18:32 0 sec = Set sidereal time to 18:32 and immediately execute next command.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

A SAVE is executed when MENU is entered and a RESTORE is executed when the menu ends to
preserve astrolabe settings while the menu is running. The astrolabe display screen is set to a known
state with all elements OFF when menu mode is entered.

Function keys are identified as Fn.

F6 0 = Set interval to one day and immediately execute next instruction.

Commands that use punctuation are entered exactly as from the keyboard. Punctuation key commands
are ; (DST), + (increment one interval), - (decrement one interval), = (here).

The Start Free running mode command (F) uses the time parameter differently. Instead of seconds you
specify the number of free running cycles.
F6 0
F 90

*Set time interval to 1 day

*Free running mode for 90 days

Changed commands are: > = up one page, < = down one page, ^< = switch to orbit mode page
(equivalent to Ctl+PgDn). ^> = switch to astrolabe page (equivalent to Ctl+PgUp)

Functions not supported in menus:

a. Speed up/ Slow down free running mode (this can be done with an interval specification, sort
of). The animation rate used is the rate in effect when the menu starts.
b. Program controls (home zone, video mode, etc.)
c. Add objects and cities.
d. SAVE, RESTORE, FILE, LOAD defaults.
e. QUIT (Q)
f. Input for updating values on text pages are not supported for menus (J, tab, insert, delete,
backtab, rubout, etc.)
g. ESC to return to previous page.
h. Ctl+PgUp and Ctl+PgDn to go directly to astrolabe or orrery. Use successive > and < with time
= 0.
i. The screen resolution cannot be changed in a menu. The resolution in use when the menu starts
is used throughout.

Invalid commands in the menu cause a beep and return to normal operation with the state of the
astrolabe as left by the menu commands that have executed so far. The last command in the menu file
should be ^M for an orderly end to the menu. This will cause the astrolabe to be restored to the state it
was in when the menu started.

The display components are set OFF (i.e. to a blank screen) when menu mode is entered. All switches
are set OFF. This always gives you a known state for the screen. The astrolabe elements will have to
be turned on by the menu to display. Switches that do not affect the content of the display are not
reset ( precession, high precision calculations, dynamical time).

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

MENU COMMANDS
Following are definitions for commands that are unique to menu mode.
I

DISPLAY .GIF FORMAT GRAPHIC FILES

The I command is used to display .GIF format graphics files. It is a very common command when
the Electric Astrolabe is used as a display or tutorial
Command is: I {file path} {switches} Time
e.g. I INTRO.GIF 5 sec.
The file path must precede any switches. The maximum length of the file path is 18 characters.
Image switches can be used to control how the image file is processed. Valid switches are:
/Sn

Save image in memory as index number n. Redisplay of an image saved in memory is

much faster than reading from a disk file. n can be from 1 to 9. If the save index is the
same as a previously saved image that has not been cleared, the current image will
replace the saved image. n must be specified. If n is not specified, no action takes
place.
example: I COVER.GIF /S1 10 will draw the image COVER.GIF on the screen for 8
seconds and save the image in memory as #1.

/Dn

Draw image saved as index n. e.g. I /D1 8 will redraw the image store as index #1 and
keep it on the screen for 8 seconds. n is required.

/Cn

Clear stored image n. This switch removes image n from memory. Only one image can
be cleared in a single command. If multiple C switches are on a line, only the last one is
used.

Image list. A sequence of images can be displayed without the annoying screen flicker
caused by switching display modes.
I COVER.GIF /S1 /L 5 *Display and save COVER.GIF
I OVERLAY.GIF /T /L 5 *Overlay COVER.GIF with OVERLAY.GIF
I /C1 0
*Clear COVER.GIF

No display. The /N switch allows images to be decoded and stored in memory for later
fast display. This function is useful if the images in the menu will be used many times.

/F I|O|N|B Fade control. The parameter controls whether and how images fade in and out. I =
fade In, O = fade Out (default), N = No fade, B = Both, fade in and fade out.
/T[n]

Transparent Image. A transparent image does not display the background color. This
allows images to be built up in layers on the screen. The background color is determined
by the color of the top left hand pixel of the image. When the image is displayed, all
colors are drawn on the screen except the background. Transparent images can be
prepared with a draw program by setting the background to any solid color. Most draw
programs will not export a .GIF image of full size unless the background color is
specifically set. Therefore, leaving the background blank when creating the transparent
image will not normally provide a full size image. The transparent image must be the
same resolution as the image being overlaid. Note also that transparent images use the

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

same color definitions as the image overlaid so color renditions may vary depending on
the image being overlaid. The image being overlaid must be in a list of images (/L) in
order to prevent the display from being reset when this image is shown. You will
normally not want to specify fade out (/F O) for the previous image. You can override
the color displayed in the transparent image to make overlays partially color compatible.
If the overlay image is text only, all of a single color, you can specify which color of the
background image to use. For example, if the dominant color in the background image
is color 7, you can specify that the transparent image should use only color 7 by using
/T7 in the menu specification for the image. You can determine the colors of the
background image (0-255) by displaying it using the I command on the astrolabe
display and pressing I again to show the background images color map. Note that if a
number is specified for the transparent image, only that color is displayed for the overlay.
You can also use the override color to make text overlays of different colors by selecting
the colors from the background image.
.GIF images are centered on the screen. The .GIF display program attempts to provide a suitable
background color for images that are smaller than the full screen by filling in the rest of the screen with the
color of the upper left hand pixel of the image. The background color can be changed by manipulating the
color of the upper left hand pixel with a draw program or an image processing program such as HiJaak
PRO.
TEXT BLOCKS.
You can specify a block of text to be displayed on the astrolabe screen. The specified text is displayed in
the block exactly as entered. The location of the center of the text block can be specified using /x and /y
following the text. Text block text is enclosed in double quotes () optionally followed by the location.
The text block will be centered on the screen if a location is not specified. If /x is not specified, the text
block is centered horizontally, similarly, is /y is not specified the text block is centered vertically on the
screen. x and y are specified as the percent of the screen size. For example, /Y 75 centers the text block
75% of the screen from the top. /X 25 centers the box 25% of the width of the screen from the left side.
Specifying /X and /Y as the percent of the screen size makes the text independent of the screen resolution
used to display the astrolabe.
Example: This is a computer created astrolabe plate. 6 will draw a text block in the center of the screen
and wait 6 seconds. The text block will have a border of one blank line at top and bottom and one
character space on each side of the text.

A different plate is needed for each location.

This plate is for Chicago.
/Y 75 5
will center the text block 75% of the screen height from the top (at line 450 on an 800x600 screen) and
wait 5 seconds before processing the next menu command. Notice that padding lines are used to provide
more blank space in the block.
The text block stays on the screen until a command is issued that causes the astrolabe to be redrawn. A
command has been added that is active only in menu mode to make this easy. The W command redraws
the astrolabe with the current settings. The following command sequence will write a text block, keep in
on screen for 10 seconds and then restore the screen to the astrolabe:
Text 10
W0

Menus

*Write text box

*Rewrite screen and clear text box.

The Electric Astrolabe

CONTROL FUNCTIONS
A new command for menu mode has been added to perform certain control functions such as changing
astrolabe colors, controlling which astrolabe elements are displayed and debugging menus. The command
is:
^C {/n R,G,B} | {/P HHHH} | {/T + | - | text}
Only one function can be executed in each instance of the ^C command. Note that no delay time is used.
/n R,G,B changes color n to the values R,G,B where R = Red, G = Green and B = Blue. Color values can
range from 0 to 63. For example, /0 0,0,0 changes the background color to black and /1 63,0,0 changes the
plate color to red. The color changes take effect immediately regardless of the delay time value.
/P HHHH specifies which plate elements are to be displayed. HHHH is a hexadecimal word which
identifies the plate elements to be displayed. The default is FFFF which displays all elements. The plate
elements are:
Pos.
15.
14.
13.
12.
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
0.

Value
8000
4000
2000
1000
0800
0400
0200
0100
0080
0040
0020
0010
0008
0004
0002
0001

Element
Horizon
Altitude arcs
Azimuth arcs
Roman numerals on limb
Time tic marks
Degree tic marks on limb
Tropic of Capricorn
Equator
Tropic of Cancer
Latitude label
Altitude labels
Twilight arcs
Meridian line
East/West line
Not used
Not used

To determine the value of HHHH, add up the elements to be displayed as a hexadecimal number. For
example, the value 8200 will display just the horizon and Tropic of Capricorn and 8380 will cause the
horizon and tropics to display.
/T controls a special file, the trace file, that can be used to debug menus. /T + turns the trace file on. /T turns the trace file off. When the trace file is on, all menu commands and menu messages are written to a
file named TRACE.EAM. The file is an ordinary ASCII file that can be displayed with any text editor.
The file will contain all menu commands executed and all generated messages from the time the file is
turned on with /T + until it is turned off with /T -. The trace file is started from the beginning whenever a
/T + is encountered in the menu. Note that only the first line of each command in the menu file is written
to the trace file. Therefore, multiple line commands, such as may occur with text blocks, will show only
the first line.
textcauses the text to be written to the trace file as a note to yourself that a certain point in the menu was
reached. For example, ^C /T Entering uses submenu causes the command including the text, Entering
uses submenu to be written to the trace file if it is open. No action is taken if the trace file is not open.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

DISPLAY ALTITUDE AND AZIMUTH ARCS.

A new command has been added to display the astrolabe plate elements that is active only from a menu.
The Y command will draw an altitude or azimuth arc in a selected color. The command syntax is:
Y {/C n} {/A d | /Z d} t
where /A specifies that an altitude arc is to be drawn and /Z to draw an azimuth arc. d is the angle of the
azimuth or altitude arc. d must be evenly divisible by 5 or 10. /C optionally specifies the color number. If
/C is not specified, color 1, the plate color, is used. For example:
Y /C 8 /A 0 3
draws the horizon (altitude angle = 0) in white (color 8) and hold for 3 seconds. The highlighted arc will
stay on the screen until the screen is refreshed by another command.
To cause the altitude arc to blink, you can use:
Y /C 8 /A 20 0.5
Y /A 20 0.5

*Draw 20 altitude in white

*Restore 20 altitude to plate color

Y /C 14 /Z 30 3 draws the 30 azimuth in yellow (color 14 = suns color) and waits 3 seconds.
Note: An azimuth angle of 0 or 180 is ignored.
INTERACTIVE OPERATION.
You can leave the menu temporarily to allow interactive operation of the Electric Astrolabe using ^I, a
command that is unique to menu mode. The commend syntax is:
^I n

where n is the number of minutes to allow interactive operation.

At the end of n minutes, the menu resumes at the next command. All astrolabe elements are turned off on
return from interactive execution just as if the menu were starting. The astrolabe state that is restored when
the menu ends is the state it was in when the menu started, not the state at the end of interactive execution.
If the Quit command is entered during interactive execution, the menu resumes.
N.B. In the Adler version, the only keys that are active in interactive mode are the unshifted
function keys for changing location.
If the ^I command is the last command in the menu file, the menu starts over at the beginning.
A small amount of interactive control can be achieved with Wait for Any Key; @K. When a @K
command is encountered in the menu, the display pauses for the user to press any key. The command
syntax is @K t where t is the maximum time in seconds to wait. Normally, a text block or an image should
be displayed before the @K command instructing the user to Press any key to continue.
LABELS AND SUBMENUS
Menus can be broken into sections that can individually executed. A section of a menu is identified by a
label. Labels are a word, beginning with a colon (:) on a line by themselves. Labels must start on the first
character of the line. Examples of labels are :BEGIN or :Reset. There are two types of labels. Labels that
begin with a colon (:) identify routines. Labels that begin with a slash (/) refer to places within a routine.
In general, labels beginning a colon (:) are the only ones needed. /labels are only used to restart a routine
at a specific point.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

A menu section can be executed by pressing a key defined with the K command (see below). This allows
long menus to be constructed in pieces that can be executed in any order. A section of a menu that is
executed as a unit is called a submenu. The astrolabe tutorial is constructed using submenus. Submenus
can be defined with a label or can be separate files. Any Electric Astrolabe menu file can be executed as a
complete menu or as a submenu file.
The state of the astrolabe is cleared when a submenu begins execution. That is, all astrolabe elements are
OFF and all key definitions (see K command below) are reset.
A complete menu can contain a maximum of 10 submenus.
Submenus begin with a label that identifies the submenu and end with either ^Z, to terminate the submenu,
or ^Z :label to execute another submenu. The ^Z command is:
^Z
- End submenu or
^Z {:label} - Start the submenu at :label in this file
When a ^Z command is encountered in the currently executing menu, the section of the menu containing
the ^Z command ends and a new submenu execution begins at the specified label. If no label is specified,
execution resumes after the last command executed when this submenu was invoked (if the submenu was
invoked by a key specified with the K command, the return is to the same command that was executing
when the key was pressed - this allows returns to menu screens). A ^M in a submenu terminates the entire
menu and returns control to the Electric Astrolabe. A ^M in a submenu file returns control to the menu file
that was executing when the submenu file was invoked. ^Z and ^M are equivalent if the ^Z is encountered
in the main menu. This allows submenu files to be tested independently.
When a new submenu is started, the astrolabe is set with all switches off and all key definitions are cleared.
Keys to invoke submenus are specified with the K command:
K key [:label | \filepath | ^Z]
key is the letter or number which is being defined. Alphabetic, numeric or the characters :, ;, <, =, >, ?, @
can be specified. Upper or lower case alphabetic character can be specified but the case of entered keys
does not matter. A label in the current menu file, the path of another menu file or ^Z to end this submenu
can be specified. :label is a label in this menu file. The label must be entered exactly as it appears in the
file (e.g. if the label is :BEGIN, neither :Begin nor :begin will work). filepath is the path for a valid menu
file. The filepath must begin with \. The special case of the K command with ^Z allows you specify that
the key definition is used to end the submenu. You should not end a submenu with a key definition that
points to a label followed by ^Z as this will treat the label as a new submenu and the ^Z will merely return
control to the previous submenu level that was active when the key was pressed.
K commands, which would typically be placed at the beginning of the main menu or submenu, specify a
label where execution is to begin when the key is pressed. For example:
K A :OVERVIEW
specifies that the submenu :OVERVIEW is to be executed when the A (or a) key is pressed. The label
:OVERVIEW must be in the current menu file. Similarly,
K C \USES.EAM
specifies that the menu file \USES.EAM is to be executed when the C (or c) key is pressed.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

If the label is not in the current menu file exactly as specified or the filepath does not specify a valid menu
file, the program will beep when the key is pressed and ignore the key.
K R /RESTART
will cause execution to begin at the command following the /RESTART label in the same routine. That is,
since /RESTART is in the same routine, all settings and hot spot definitions are preserved.
A section of a menu can be executed repeatedly while waiting for a key to be pressed by using the J (for
Jump) command:
J :label
When a J command is encountered in a menu, execution resumes at the command following :label. J does
not create a submenu and the astrolabe and key definitions are not reset. Use ^Z if you need different
interrupt key definitions in a section of the menu.
Following is an example of how submenus might be combined into a complete menu. The intention is to
present a brief sequence of screens that provide menu options and to execute the options depending on
which key is pressed.
EAMENU
*

Main Menu

K A :OVERVIEW
K C \USES.EAM
K Q ^Z
:BEGIN
I WELCOME.GIF 5
I MENU.GIF 10
J :BEGIN
*

:RETE
.
.
.
^Z

*Display WELCOME .GIF image

*Display key options ( A for overview, C for uses, Q for quit)

Overview submenu

:OVERVIEW
K P \PLATE.EAM
K R :RETE
K Q ^Z
I OVERVIEW.GIF /L 10
^Z
*

*Execute OVERVIEW submenu if A is pressed

*Execute USES.EAM submenu file if C is pressed
*Exit menu if Q is pressed

*Execute PLATE submenu file if P is pressed (Return to this menu on ^M)

*Execute RETE submenu if R is pressed
*Return to main menu if Q is pressed (Allows submenu to be interrupted)
*Display key options
*End submenu and return to menu screen if key not pressed in 10 sec.

RETE submenu

*Submenu commands
*Return to Overview loop

Notice how the J command can be used to cause sections of the menu to execute repeatedly. Also notice
that the same key (Q) can be used for different purposes in different submenus.
Use of the K and ^Z commands provide enormous flexibility in constructing interactive menus.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

In some situations it is important to know the exact state of the astrolabe display. The % command (with
no time parameter) does a complete reset of all astrolabe components. The following example illustrates
the use of the % command. This submenu executes an example and then gives the user the option to repeat
the example or continue to the next subject (the .GIF file CKPRST16.GIF contains two buttons:
Repeat and Next. If Repeat is selected, the routine restarts at /RUSES. If Next is selected, the next
command is executed (note that no function is associated with the X key emitted by the second hotspot).
/RUSES
%
*Reset Astrolabe - this command required to reset astrolabe if routine is reexecuted
^Q 0
*Set quiet mode
L "41 52" "90 00" "Adler Planetarium" 0 *Set to center of time zone
A0
*Plate on
X 0
*Shading on
W0
*Draw screen
D "9/1/1994" 0 *Set date so EQT = 0
T "12:00" 0
*Set the time
E2
*Ecliptic on^E 2
@A 0
*Sun only
P2
*Planets on
R2
*Rule on
F1 0
*Interval = 1 minute
F 168
*Rotate to 14:48
Y /A 40 /C 9 0.5 *Turn alt = 40 on
"
The rule points to the time: 2:48PM.
" /Y 75 1
K R /RUSES
*Set R to jump to /RUSES
^H /U 17 541 /L 124 580 204 R
*Restart hot spot
^H /U 670 540 /L 777 583 204 X
*Continue hot spot
I \GIF\NXTPRV16.GIF /L /T14 /F N 60
*Display option screen
.
.
Note: Any option screen that overlays an Electric Astrolabe screen must be a transparent image stored as
an 800x600, 16 color .GIF file.
Three actions are possible: 1. Select R to reexecute from /RUSES, 2. Immediate execution at next
command if X selected, 3. Image display times out and falls through to next command.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

Menu Command Reference

Menu files must be ASCII text files. The file can be any size up to the amount of memory remaining
when the Electric Astrolabe is running.
The first characters in the menu file MUST be EAMENU to identify the file as an Electric Astrolabe
menu.
The default menu file name is MENU.EAM. The name of the menu file can be changed on the
program control page with the MENU option.

The following list of commands is provided as a convenient reference for the syntax of menu commands.
Format:

@ = Alt shift key

^ = Ctrl shift key
Parameters in braces ({}) are optional. Where one of a choice of parameters must be entered, the
parameters are separated with |.
Lower case letters are integers.
t is a time in seconds (decimals are allowed).
# is a null entry.
Parameters can be separated by any number of spaces.
With the exception of text blocks (), commands must be on a single line.
Blank lines are allowed.
Lines beginning with * are comments.
Text to the right of * on a command line are treated as comments.

text {/X n} {/Y n} t

*Text block centered at X, Y. n = percent of screen size (default = 50)
%
*Reset astrolabe
; t
*DST on/off.
= t
*Here.
0t
*Longitude = 0
n t
*Display phase for key n.
A t
*Turn plate display on or off.
@A t
*Display sun only when planet display is on.
B t
*Turn bright star display on and off.
@B t
*Display all stars
^C {/n C,C,C} | {/P HHHH} t
*Control colors and plate elements. n = color, C=color value, H = hex
D mm/dd/yyyy t
*Specify date. m = month, d = day, y = year.
E t
*Ecliptic display on/off.
^E t
*Label ecliptic with zodiac symbols.
F n
*Free running mode for n cycles.
Fn t
*Function key n (set interval to function key n value).
Gt
*Gregorian/Julian calendar switch
I {fn.GIF} {/Cn} {/Dn} {/L} {/N} {/Sn} t
*Display image. n = image index number.
J :label
*Jump to :label
K c [:label | filepath]
*Specify interactive key target as :label (this file) or menu file on key c
@K t
*Wait for any key to be pressed for maximum of t seconds.
L d {m}|# d {m}|# p|# t
*Specify latitude/longitude. d = degrees, m = minutes.
Mt
*Manual mode on/off
^M
*End menu and return to normal Electric Astrolabe operation
N t
*Now. Set to system date/time.
@N t
*North/south projection switch.
O t
*Display Messier objects on/off.
@O m t
*Maximum object magnitude to display. m = magnitude, 0-12.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

^O t
P t
@P t
^P t
^Q t
R t
Rt
S t
@S hh{:mm} t
^S t
T h{:m} t
@T t
^T t
U h{:m} t
Wt
X t
@X t
^X t
Y {/C c} /A|/Z d t
Z z t
^Z
^Z {:label}

*Display Messier object number on/off.

*Planet display on/off.
*Precession on/off.
*Label planets on/off.
*Quiet mode on/off.
*Rule display on/off.
*Refresh screen
*Star display on/off.
*Set sidereal time
*Label constellations on/off.
*Specify time. h = hour, m = minutes
*Display time as 24hr/AM-PM.
*Dynamical time on/off.
*Specify universal time.
*Write screen. Refreshes screen to current settings.
*Turn shading on and off
*Display planets as +, on and off.
*High precision calculations on and off.
*Display altitude or azimuth arc. c = color (default = 1), d = angle
*Specify time zone. z = zone from Greenwich.
*End submenu
*Start submenu at :label in this menu file.

Hints
1. Most commands must have a delay. Forgetting to include a delay time is the most common error.
Commands with no delay time can produce unpredictable results. If you get a blank screen or other erratic
behavior, this is the first thing to check.
2. The screen is not redrawn if the delay time is zero. If you need to redraw the screen, use the W
command.
3. Dont forget that commands that change the time put the Electric Astrolabe in manual mode which
displays the date and time in the upper left hand corner. If you do not want the date and time displayed
you need to use Quiet mode (^Q).
4. All astrolabe display elements are turned off when the menu or submenu is started. If you are
confronted by a blank screen it is probably because you forgot to turn the astrolabe elements on.
5. If you specify /L for the last image in a list of images, you will get a blank screen. The last image in a
list should generally not have the /L switch set.
6. Forgetting to put a closing at the end of an input parameter will cause unpredictable results.
7. When writing a menu it is a good idea to keep a log of the screen components that are on and off. It can
get confusing and time consuming if screen elements do not appear when you expect.
Note: The commands in the menu file are processed as if they were entered from the keyboard but it is
possible to specify commands in a menu file that would be impossible to enter from the keyboard. When
this happens, the results are wildly unpredictable and the results can be range from being merely confusing
to bringing the computer to a complete halt.

Menus

The Electric Astrolabe

EXERCISES
Following are some suggested exercises for getting familiar with the operation of the Electric Astrolabe.
Many other uses will occur to you as you gain familiarity with the program
SUNRISE / SUNSET
Make sure shading is ON (X).
Set the interval to 1 hour (F5) and move the Sun image near the eastern horizon.
Set the interval to 1 minute (F1) and hold down the Big+ or big- until the Sun is very close to the horizon.
Sunrise is just before the shading turns from gray to blue.
If you want to be quite precise, go to the V page, press F1 to set the time interval to one minute and use the
big+ or big- key to adjust the time until the altitude of the Sun is about -0.833. This is the defined time of
Sunrise.
Repeat for Sunset.
Now for a little more difficult exercise: Find the day of the year with the earliest Sunset; it is not the Winter
Solstice. (Answer: about December 9). Why is this the earliest sunset?
THE SEASONS
Find the times of the equinoxes and solstices. That is, find the exact times when the right ascension of the
Sun is 0h, 6h, 12h or 18h. Refer to the orrery to see the position of the Earth relative to the Sun. Notice
the little white dot on the Earth's orbit. This is the point of perihelion, when the Earth is closest to the Sun.
You will see that the Earth is quite a bit closer to the Sun in the northern hemisphere winter than in the
summer.
LATITUDE
Use the city page (Alt+C) to display the sky in Stockholm (put the cursor on Stockholm and press
Ctl+Enter). Notice how the horizon is nearly a circle. Find the times of Sunrise and Sunset for different
times of the year. See how the astrolabe projection gives a graphic view of how an extreme northern
latitude affects the length of the day during the year. Now, do the same for Singapore which is nearly on
the equator and notice how the length of the day is nearly constant all year.
LONGITUDE
Go to the astrolabe display and press 0 to set the longitude to Greenwich. Notice that the distance of the
Sun from the rule equals the equation of time. Use = to return to your location and see the combined
effect of the equation of time and your difference in longitude from the center of your time zone to change
the distance of the Sun from the rule. For an extreme example, select Madrid from the city page. The time
zone in Madrid is European Continental time but Madrids longitude is actually west of Greenwich,
resulting in over an hour difference between the Sun and the clock!
CIRCUMPOLAR CONSTELLATIONS

Exercises

The Electric Astrolabe

The circumpolar constellations never set. The circumpolar constellations depend on your latitude. Set the
interval to 10 min. (F3) and press F to go to free running mode. Notice that some of the constellations
never go below the horizon. These are the circumpolar constellations. Now try the same for a fairly
northern city such a Copenhagen and a fairly southern one such as Miami. You will see a significant
difference in which constellations never set.
PLANNING
Find a night when Saturn is on your meridian at about 9:00 PM and there is no moon. As a search strategy,
try setting the time to 21:00 (9 PM), set the interval to 1 day (F6) and go to free running mode. When
Saturn gets near the meridian turn free running mode off and find a night without a moon using Big+/-.
Your sailing club (scout troop, family, ...) wants to have an evening sail (campout, picnic, ...) this summer.
In the interest of safety and esthetics it is desirable to have as full a moon as possible. Find the Saturday
night this summer with the best conditions. Start with the first possible Saturday, set the time interval to 7
days on the Help screen and then find the Saturday with the best conditions.
SIDEREAL TIME, RIGHT ASCENSION AND DECLINATION
By definition, the sidereal time is the right ascension that is on the meridian. Using sidereal time, notice
how you can find the right ascension of any object on the display by adjusting the display until the object
of interest is on the meridian and then reading the sidereal time from the point that extends from Aries 0
on the ecliptic. Use the big dipper as a test case. The right ascension of the pointer stars is almost exactly
11 hours. Also note that the declination can be estimated by adjusting the time until the rule is over an
object and reading the declination from the rule scale. You can set the rule over any object by using the
long rule (Ctl+R) and rotating the rule with Ctl+ big+ or big-.
For circumpolar objects you can take an alternate approach. Set the latitude to 90. At this latitude the
horizon matches the equator so you can read declination directly from the altitude circles. Read right
ascension as above; position the object on the meridian and read the sidereal time pointer.
THE CALENDAR
You are in London on September 10, 1752. What is the day of the week? First, go to the city page, put the
cursor on London and press Ctl+Enter to make London the current location. Now, press D to get the
date prompt and enter 9/10/1752. The day of the week shows on the upper left corner with the date. Right?
Wrong! There was no September 10, 1752 in England. See the Gregorian Calendar entry in the glossary.
RETROGRADE MOTION
Put the Electric Astrolabe on February 11, 1984. Remove everything from the display except the planets
and stars. Set the time so Mars is near the meridian, set the interval to a sidereal day (F9), and enter Free
Running Mode. Watch Mars go from posigrade to retrograde to posigrade motion. It is very close to
Saturn during this period and you will see Mars and Saturn separate and than close back up as Mars goes
back to posigrade motion. If you watch closely you will see that Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all exhibit
retrograde motion at the same time. Go to the orrery at the same time and observe the conditions when
planets exhibit retrograde motion.
DECLINATION OF THE SUN
Put the Sun on the meridian, remove everything from the display except the plate and planets. Go to free
running mode with an interval of 1 day and watch the declination of the Sun change and trace out the
analemma for the location. The analemma defines the Equation of Time which is the difference between
the time shown by a Sundial and the time shown by a clock. The variation has two components. One
component is due to the fact that the Earth travels at different speeds around its orbit and is called the

Exercises

The Electric Astrolabe

equation of the center (equation in this context is used in the archaic sense as a value that is added to
make both sides of an equality match). The other component is due to the fact that civil time is based on an
artificial Sun that travels at a constant rate on the equator which is inclined to the true path of the Sun on
the ecliptic and is called the reduction to the equator. The values are added to derive the equation of
time. (Note: the earliest Sunset is not at the winter solstice because of the equation of time).
EXPLORING THE ECLIPTIC
Note that at a latitude of 90 minus the obliquity of the ecliptic (about 66 33 North) the horizon is the
same as the ecliptic. If you set the latitude to this value and, using manual mode, position the ecliptic to 18
hours sidereal time, the ecliptic and horizon circles will match. At this latitude the zenith is the ecliptic
pole and the altitude and azimuth lines correspond to geocentric latitude and longitude. Therefore, you can
read geocentric latitude and longitude of stars and planets directly from the plate (you can always read the
geocentric longitude of the planets directly from the ecliptic divisions since that is how the ecliptic is
divided).
THE ORRERY
Interpreting the orrery completely takes a little practice. Here are a few pointers. Orbital longitude is
measured from the vernal equinox (an imaginary horizontal line from the Sun to the right edge of the
screen) to the planet. This value is tabulated on the page of orbit calculations as True Longitude. True
Anomaly is measured from perihelion to the planet location. Perihelion is shown as a white dot on the
orbit. You should be able to relate the tabulated values to the screen positions.
All of the planet orbits are inclined a few degrees to the ecliptic. The point where the orbit crosses the
ecliptic plane from south to north is called the ascending node. The ascending node is shown as a red dot
on the orbits and the longitude of the ascending node is tabulated as Ascending Node. The descending
node (the point where the orbit crosses the ecliptic from north to south is directly opposite the ascending
node). All of the planets move counterclockwise around the Sun when viewed from the north. When a
planet passes its ascending node it will be above the ecliptic and the tabulated Ecliptic Latitude will be
positive. Similarly, when it passes the descending node it will be negative. A glance at the orrery shows
whether the ecliptic latitude is positive or negative.
ECLIPSES
An eclipse can occur whenever the moon is near one of its nodes (i.e. is close to the ecliptic) and is either
full or new. Specific eclipse conditions are rather more complicated but the Electric Astrolabe can be used
as a first order approximation of potential eclipses.
Some dates of lunar eclipses are: June 15, 1973, March 2, 1961, and April 24, 1967. Solar eclipses visible
in the United States were on July 9, 1945, June 30, 1954, March 7, 1970, October 2, 1978, and May 30,
1984. Set the Electric Astrolabe to these dates and see if you can determine the conditions of the eclipse.
Remember that the short line at the center of the astrolabe shows the line connecting the nodes of the lunar
orbit.
See Gingerich, Owen, The Making of a Prize Eclipse, Sky and Telescope, (July, 1991), pp. 15-17, for a
table of eclipse conditions between 1990 and 2010.
CONJUNCTIONS AND OPPOSITIONS
A planet is in conjunction with the Sun when the planet and the Sun have the same longitude (i.e. there is
a straight line from the Earth to the Sun through the planet). If the planet is on the same side of the Sun as
the Earth the conjunction is called Inferior Conjunction and if the planet is on the opposite side of the Sun
it is called Superior Conjunction. Only the inner planets can have Inferior Conjunctions. If the longitude

Exercises

The Electric Astrolabe

of a planet differs from the longitude of the Sun by 180 the planet is said to be in Opposition. Only the
outer planets can be in opposition with the Sun. Here is a list of some dates of conjunctions and
oppositions. See the table below. Set the Electric Astrolabe to these dates and see the results.

Venus

Superior
Conjunction

Inferior
Conjunction

Jun. 22, 1960

Jan. 27, 1962
Nov 9, 1966
Jan. 22, 1978

Apr. 10, 1961

Nov. 12, 1962
Aug. 30, 1967
Nov. 7, 1978

in 499 years there are 16 10631 + 12 354 + 7 355 = 176829 days. The Julian date of the beginning
of the year AH500 is 1948439 + 176829 = 2125268 or 1 Sep AD1106. AH1415 begins on 9 Jun 1994.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Set the time, date and location to the place and time of your birth. Do you see anything remarkable in the
universe to mark your arrival into it?
ASTROLOGY NOTE
Much of history of the astrolabe was tied to astrology. In fact, some of the most respected astronomical
minds in history including Johannes Kepler and Regiomantanus were as occupied with astrology as with
astronomy. The astrolabe was a convenient way to determine the aspects of a horoscope because much
astrological stress was placed on the position of the ecliptic. Of particular interest was the ecliptic angle on
the eastern horizon (the ascendent), the ecliptic degree on the western horizon (the descendent) and the
ecliptic degree on the meridian (the degree of mid-heaven). In use, the astrolabe is set to the time and date
of interest (birth, death, coronation, etc.) and the ecliptic degrees are read directly. It should also be noted
that many European instruments included additional astrological information on the plates most notably the
12 Houses of Heaven. Some lovely clocks with astrolabe dials went even further in including rotating
indicators showing more sophisticated aspects such as trines. Such decoration has not been included in the
Electric Astrolabe.

Exercises

The Electric Astrolabe

ADVANCED TOPICS: ORBITS

A few fundamental orbital mechanics terms must be understood in order to completely appreciate the
planetary information provided by the Electric Astrolabe. Following is a non-technical and nonmathematical description of planetary orbits:
Refer to Figures 15 and 16. Figure 15 shows a planets orbit in space. The orbit in the figure is much more
eccentric than any of the real planetary orbits in order to highlight the concepts. You may recall from basic
science that Johannes Kepler discovered the fundamental rules of planetary orbits. In particular, planets
travel around the Sun is elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus. f in the figure is the focus. P is
perihelion; the point on the orbit where the planet is closest to the Sun. A is aphelion; the point on the orbit
where the planet is farthest from the Sun.
The position of the planet in its orbit is described as the angle of the planet from the line that connects
perihelion and aphelion (the major axis of the ellipse). Angles measured from this line are called
anomalies. The angle is called the true anomaly and is the angle from the orbits major axis to the
planet measured from the focus (i.e. the Sun). Kepler used an auxiliary angle (E) called the eccentric
anomaly measured from the center of the orbit ellipse to calculate the true anomaly.
However, none of the planetary orbits have the same major axis. Therefore, if we are to describe planetary
positions in a consistent way it is necessary to measure the planets position from a fixed point that is
common to all the planetary orbits. Such a point is the vernal equinox. As seen from the Earth, the vernal
equinox is a fixed point in space that is easily and consistently measured and, incidentally, falls on both the
ecliptic plane and the plane of the equator which makes conversion between ecliptic and equatorial
coordinate systems rather simple. Planetary positions measured from the vernal equinox () are called
longitudes. The true longitude () of a planet is the angle of the planet from the vernal equinox. The
angle from the vernal equinox to perihelion is called the longitude of perihelion ( in the figure - is
sometimes used for this value but the symbol is so close to we prefer ). Thus, the true longitude of a
planet is = + . Calculation of a planets position in its orbit is performed using simple formulas
developed by Kepler in the 15th century.
However, knowing the position of a planet in its orbit gives no information about where it is in the sky as
seen from Earth. In order to calculate the geocentric position of a planet, the position must be measured
from some point that is fixed relative to the Earth. A good reference is the ecliptic plane since it is
relatively fixed in space and is well defined. A planetary orbit is completely defined by specifying only six
values for an orbit (see figure 16). These values define the position relative to the ecliptic and the vernal
equinox.
is the angle of the orbit with the ecliptic and is called the orbital inclination.
is the angle from the vernal equinox to the point where the path of the planet crosses the
ecliptic from south to north: the ascending node. Note that is measured in the ecliptic plane.
is the angle from the ascending node to perihelion and is called the perihelion argument.
a is the semi-major axis of the orbit.
The other required parameters are e, the eccentricity of the orbit and the exact position of the
planet at some specific time.
The precise position of the planet at any time in the past or future can be calculated from these values if the
gravitational effects of the planets on each other is ignored. These effects are, however, meaningful,

Exercises

The Electric Astrolabe

particularly for the very large outer planets. The gravity of the planets pull on each other and, depending
on where they are relative to each other, will change the orbits eccentricity, inclination and orbital speed.
These effects are called perturbations. Such effects are beyond the scope of this discussion.
All of the values that are calculated from these parameters are defined in the glossary.

E
A

Figure 18. The Orbit in Space

Equator

Perihelion

Orbit
Plane

Figure 19. Orbital Parameters

Exercises

The Electric Astrolabe

Exercises

The Electric Astrolabe

APPENDIX A. STARS AND MESSIER OBJECTS

This appendix contains complete lists of all of the stars and Messier Objects displayed by the Electric
Astrolabe.
STARS
The Electric Astrolabe stores the constellation asterisms as vectors (i.e. as sequences of connected line
segments). Star positions are defined to the program as right ascension and declination for J2000.0 taken
from Starlist 2000 by Richard Dibon-Smith (John Wiley & Sons 1992). The asterism vectors are defined
by an indicator for each star; 0 means start a new line segment, 1 means draw a line segment to this point
from the previous point. The following list of stars is taken directly from the program. Shown are the
vector indicator, right ascension (HHMMSSs), declination (DDMMSS), star designation within the
constellation, name (if any) and apparent magnitude (v designates variable) :
Ursa Major - 9 stars
IND RA
DECL
'0','1103436','614503'
'1','1101504','562256'
'1','1153498','534141'
'1','1215255','570157'
'1','1254017','555735'
'1','1323555','545531'
'1','1347323','491848'
'0','1103436','614503'
'1','1215255','570157'

Cassiopeia - 5 stars
;alpha Dubhe (1.49)
;beta Merak (2.37)
;gamma Phecda (2.44)
;delta Megrez (3.31)
;epsilon Alioth (1.77v)
;zeta Mizar/Alcor (2.27/3.95)
;eta Alkaid (1.86)
;Dubhe
;Megrez

Ursa Minor (Polaris) - 1 star

'0','0009106','590859'
'1','0040304','563215'
'1','0056424','604300'
'1','0125489','601407'
'1','0154236','634013'

;beta Caph (2.27v)

;alpha Shedir (2.23)
;gamma (2.47v)
;delta Ruchbah (2.68v)
;epsilon Segin (3.38)

Auriga - 6 stars
'0','0516413','455953'
'1','0559317','445651'
'1','0559432','371245'
'1','0526175','283627'

;alpha Capella (0.08)

;beta Menkalinan (1.90v)
;theta (2.62v)
;gamma El Nath (aka beta

'1','0456596','330958'
'1','0516413','455953'

;iota Hasseleh (2.69)

;Capella

tauri)
'0','0231436','891551'

;alpha Polaris (2.02v)

Orion - 11 stars
Cygnus - 6 stars
'0','0540455','-015634' ;zeta Alnitak (2.05)
'1','0555103','072425'
;alpha Betelgeuse (0.50v)
'1','0535082','095603'
;lambda (3.66)
'1','0525078','062059'
;gamma Bellatrix (1.64)
'1','0532004','-001704' ;delta Mintaka (2.23v)
'1','0514322','-081206' ;beta Rigel (0.12)
'1','0547453','-094011' ;kappa Saiph (2.06)
'1','0540455','-015634' ;Alnitak
'1','0532004','-001704' ;delta
Canis Major - 2 stars
'0','0645089','-164258'
'1','0622419','-175722'

'0','2041258','451649'
'1','2022136','401524'
'1','1930452','275755'
'0','2046126','335813'
'1','2022136','401524'
'1','1944584','450751'
Lyra (Vega) - 1 star
'0','1836562','384701'

;alpha Sirius (-1.46)

;beta Murzim (1.98v)

;alpha Vega (0.03v)

Bootes - 6 stars
'0','1415396','191057'
'1','1431497','302217'
'1','1432046','381829'

Appendix A

;alpha Deneb (1.25v)

;gamma Sadr (2.20)
;beta Albireo (3.08)
;epsilon Gienah (2.46)
;Sadr
;delta (2.87)

;alpha Arcturus (-0.04)

;rho (3.58)
;gamma Seginus (3.03v)

The Electric Astrolabe

'1','1501566','402326'
'1','1515301','331853'
'1','1415396','191057'

;beta Nekkar (3.50)

;delta (3.47)
;Arcturus

'1','0419475','153739'
'1','0428369','191049'

;gamma (3.65)
;epsilon (3.53)

Gemini - 9 stars
Canis Minor (Procyon) - 1 star
'0','0739181','051330'

;alpha Procyon (0.38)

Aquila (Altair) 1 star

'0','1950469','085206'

;alpha Altair (0.77)

Pegasus (Great Square) and Andromeda - 10 stars

'0','0008232','290526'
'1','0013141','151101'
'1','2304456','151219'
'1','2303464','280458'
'1','0013141','151101'
'0','0008232','290526'
'1','0109439','353714'
'1','0203539','421947'
'0','0109439','353714'
'1','0049488','410444'
'1','0109301','471431'

; And & Peg Alpheratz

;gamma Peg Algenib (2.83v)
;alpha Peg Markab (2.49)
;beta Peg Scheat (2.42v)
;gamma Peg Algenib (2.83v)
; And & Peg Alpheratz
;beta And Mirach (2.06)
;gamma And Almach (2.18)
;beta And Mirach (2.06)
;nu And (4.53)
;phi And (4.25)

Ophiucus - 6 stars
'0','1734559','123336'
'1','1657400','092230'
'1','1614206','-034139'
'1','1637094','-103402'
'1','1710226','-154329'
'1','1743283','043402'
'1','1734559','123336'

;Alpha Ras Alhage (2.09)

;Kappa (3.20)
;Delta (2.72)
;Zeta (2.57)
;Eta Sabik (2.46)
;Beta Cheleb (2.77)
;Alpha Ras Alhage (2.09)

'0','0718055','163225'
'1','0720073','215856'
'1','0745189','280134'
'0','0720073','215856'
'1','0704065','203413'
'0','0744268','242353'
'1','0711083','301443'
'0','0734359','315318'
'1','0643559','250752'
Cancer - 5 stars
'0','0858292','115128'
'1','0844410','180915'
'1','0846418','284536'
'0','0844410','180915'
'1','0816309','091108'

;alpha Acubens (4.25)

;delta (3.94)
;iota (4.02)
;delta (3.94)
;beta Altarf (3.52)

Leo - 10 stars
'0','1114143','152546'
'1','1114064','203125'
'1','1149035','143419'
'1','1114143','152546'
'1','1008222','115802'
'1','1007199','164545'
'1','1019586','195025'
'1','1016414','232502'
'1','0952458','260025'
'1','0945510','234627'

Hercules (Keystone) - 4 stars

Virgo - 5 stars

'0','1642537','385520'
'1','1641171','313610'
'1','1700173','305535'
'1','1715027','364833'
'1','1642537','385520'

'0','1325115','-110941'
'1','1241395','-012658'
'1','1150416','014553'
'0','1241395','-012658'
'1','1255361','032351'

;Eta (3.46)
;Zeta (2.81)
;Epsilon (3.92)
;Pi (3.13)
;Eta (3.46)

;lambda (3.58)
;delta Wasat (3.53)
;beta Pollux (1.14)
;delta Wasat (3.53)
;zeta Mekbuda (3.79v)
;kappa (3.57)
;tau (4.41)
;alpha Castor (1.58)
;epsilon Mebsuta (2.98)

;theta (3.34)
;delta Zosma (2.56)
;beta Denebola (2.14v)
;theta (3.34)
;alpha Regulus (1.35)
;eta (3.52)
;gamma Algeiba (2.28)
;zeta (3.44)
;mu (3.88)
;epsilon (2.98)

;alpha Spica (0.98v)

;gamma Porrima (3.48)
;beta (3.61)
;gamma Porrima (3.48)
;delta (3.38)

Libra - 4 stars
The Zodiac
Aries - 2 stars
'0','0154383','204829'
'1','0207103','232745'

;beta (2.64)
;alpha (2.00)

Taurus (Hyades) - 3 stars

'0','0435552','163033'

;alpha Aldebaran (0.85v)

'0','1450411','-155950'
'1','1517003','-092258'
'1','1535315','-144722'
'1','1512132','-194730'

;alpha (5.16)
;beta (2.61)
;gamma (3.91)
;iota (4.54)

Scorpius (11 stars)

'0','1605261','-194819' ;Beta Graffias (2.55)
'1','1600199','-223718' ;Delta Dschubba (2.34)

Appendix A

The Electric Astrolabe

'1','1558510','-260651' ;Pi (2.90)

'0','1600199','-223718' ;Delta Dschubba (2.34)
'1','1629244','-262555' ;Alpha Antares (0.92)
'1','1650097','-341736' ;Epsilon (2.28)
'1','1654349','-422141' ;Zeta (4.80)
'1','1712091','-431421' ;Eta (3.33)
'1','1737190','-425952' ;Theta Sargas (1.87)
'1','1747350','-400737' ;Iota (1.87)
'1','1733364','-370613' ;Lambda Shaula (1.62)
Sagittarius (Teapot) - 12 stars
'0','1824103','-342305'
'1','1820596','-294941'
'1','1827581','-252518'
'1','1845393','-265927'
'1','1902366','-295249'
'1','1824103','-342305'
'1','1805484','-302527'
'1','1820596','-294941'
'1','1845393','-265927'
'1','1855158','-261748'
'1','1906563','-274014'
'1','1902366','-295249'

;epsilon (1.85)
;delta (2.70)
;lambda (2.81)
;phi (3.17)
;zeta (2.60)
;epsilon (1.85)
;gamma (2.99)
;delta (2.70)
;phi (3.17)
;sigma (2.02)
;tau (3.32)
;zeta (2.60)

'0','2017388','-123030'
'1','2105567','-171358'
'1','2147023','-160738'
'1','2126399','-222441'
'1','2051492','-265509'
'1','2017388','-123030'

;alpha (3.57)
;theta (4.07)
;delta Al Giedi (2.87v)
;zeta (3.74)
;omega (4.11)
;alpha (3.57)

Aquarius - 4 stars
'0','2131333','-053416'
'1','2205469','-001922'
'1','2221393','-012314'
'1','2254389','-154915'

;beta (2.91)
;alpha (2.96)
;gamma (3.84)
;delta (3.27)

Pisces - 10 stars
'0','0202027','024549'
'1','0131289','152045'
'1','2339570','053735'
'1','2327580','062244'
'1','2317099','031656'
'1','2326559','011520'
'1','2342027','014648'
'1','2339570','053735'

;alpha (4.33)
;eta (3.62)
;iota (4.13)
;theta (4.28)
;gamma (3.69)
;kappa (4.94v)
;lambda (4.50)
;iota (4.13)

Capricorn - 6 stars
Southern Constellations
Crux (Southern Cross) - 4 stars
'0','1226359','-630556'
'1','1231099','-570647'
'0','1247433','-594119'
'1','1215086','-584456'

;Alpha (1.58)
;Gamma (1.63)
;Beta (1.25v)
;Delta (2.80v)

'1','0947054','-591631'
'1','0947061','-650418'
'1','0913121','-694302'
(1.68)
'1','1013443','-700216'
'1','1042574','-642340'
'1','0947054','-591631'

;Iota (2.25)
;Nu (2.96)
;Beta "Miaplacidus"
;Omega (3.32)
;Theta (2.76)
;Iota (2.25)

Ara - 9 Stars
Centaurus - 9 stars
'0','1806377','-500530'
'1','1731504','-495234'
'1','1725179','-553147'
'1','1731059','-604101'
'0','1725179','-553147'
'1','1658371','-555924'
'1','1659350','-530938'
'0','1658371','-555924'
'1','1649470','-590229'

;Theta (3.66)
;Alpha (2.98)
;Beta (3.66)
;Delta (3.62)
;Beta (3.66)
;Zeta (3.13)
;Epsilon (4.06)
;Zeta (3.13)
;Eta (3.76)

'0','1439362','-605007'
'1','1403494','-602222'
'1','1339532','-532759'
'1','1355323','-471718'
'1','1435303','-420928'
'1','1406408','-362212'
'1','1320357','-364244'
'1','1241309','-485734'
'1','1339532','-532759'

;Alpha (-0.01)
;Beta (0.61v)
;Epsilon (2.30v)
;Zeta (2.55)
;Eta (2.31v)
;Theta (2.06)
;Iota (2.75)
;Gamma (2.17)
;Epsilon (2.30v)

Carina - 9 stars
Grus - 6 stars
'0','0623572','-524144'
0.72)
'1','0756467','-525856'
'1','0822308','-593034'
(1.86)

Appendix A

;Alpha "Canopus" (;Chi (3.47v)

;Epsilon "Avior"

'0','2208139','-465740'
(1.74)
'1','2229161','-432945'
'1','2242400','-465305'

;Alpha "Al Nair"

;Delta (3.97)
;Beta (2.10v)

The Electric Astrolabe

'1','2310215','-451448'
'0','2153556','-372154'
'1','2229161','-432945'

;Iota (3.90)
;Gamma (3.01)
;Delta (3.97)

Triangulum Australe - 4 stars

'0','1648399','-690140'
'1','1555084','-632540'
'1','1518546','-684046'
'1','1648399','-690140'

;Alpha "Atria" (1.92)

;Beta (2.85)
;Gamma (2.89)
;Alpha "Atria" (1.92)

Vela - 5 stars

'0','0809319','-472012'
'1','0907597','-432557'
'1','0922068','-550038'
'1','0844422','-544230'
'1','0809319','-472012'

;Gamma (1.78)
;Lambda (2.21v)
;Kappa (2.50)
;Delta (2.02)
;Gamma (1.78)

False Cross - 4 stars

'0','0822308','-593034'
'1','0922068','-550038'
'0','0947054','-591631'
'1','0844422','-544230'

;Epsilon Carinae
;Kappa Velae
;Iota Carinae
;Delta Velae

BRIGHT STARS
The bright stars that are highlighted with the B key are:
RA

Decl.

'0555103','072425'
'0525078','062059'
'0514322','-081206'
'0547453','-094011'
'1103436','614503'
,'1101504','562256'
'1153498','534141'
'1215255','570157'
'1254017','555735'
'1323555','545531'
'1347323','491848'
'0231436','891551'
'0645089','-164258'
'0009106','590859'
'0040304','563215'
'0056424','604300'
'0125489','601407'
'0154236','634013'
'0516413','455953'
'2041258','451649'
'1836562','384701'
'1415396','191057'
'0739181','051330'
'1950469','085206'
'0435552','163033'
'0745189','280134'
'0734359','315318'
'1008222','115802'
'1325115','-110941'
'1824103','-342305'
'1629244','-262555'
'1737190','-425952'
'1747350','-400737'
'1733364','-370613'
'1824103','-342305'

Name (mag.), Constellation

;"Betelgeuse" (0.50v) - Orion
;Bellatrix" (1.64) - Orion
; "Rigel" (0.12) - Orion
; "Saiph" (2.06) - Orion
; "Dubhe" (1.49) - Ursa Major
; "Merak" (2.37) - Ursa Major
; "Phecda" (2.44) - Ursa Major
; "Megrez" (3.31) - Ursa Major
; "Alioth" (1.77v) - Ursa Major
; "Mizar/Alcor" (2.27/3.95) - Ursa Major
; "Alkaid" (1.86) - Ursa Major
; "Polaris" (2.02v) Ursa Minor
; "Sirius" (-1.46) Canis Major
; "Caph" (2.27v) - Cassiopeia
; "Shedir" (2.23) - Cassiopeia
;gamma (2.47v) - Cassiopeia
; "Ruchbah" (2.68v) - Cassiopeia
; "Segin" (3.38) - Cassiopeia
; "Capella" (0.08) - Cassiopeia
; "Deneb" (1.25v) - Cygnus
; "Vega" (0.03v) - Lyra
; "Arcturus" (-0.04) - Bootes
; "Procyon" (0.38) Canis Minor
; "Altair" (0.77) - Aquila
; "Aldebaran" (0.85v) - Taurus
; "Pollux" (1.14) - Gemini
; "Castor" (1.58) - Gemini
; "Regulus" (1.35) - Leo
; "Spica" (0.98v) - Virgo
; (1.85) - Sagittarius
; "Antares" (0.92) - Scorpius
; "Sargas" (1.87) - Scorpius
;Iota (1.87) - Scorpius
; "Shaula - the sting" (1.62)
;epsilon (1.85) - Sagittarius

Appendix A

The Electric Astrolabe

Southern Bright Stars

'0623572','-524144'
'0137429','-571412'
'2025388','-564407'
'2257390','-293720'
'1439362','-605007'

;Alpha "Canopus" (-0.72) - Carina

;"Achernar" - Eridanus
;"Peacock" - Pavo (Globular cluster NGC 6752)
;"Fomalhaut" - Pisces Austrinus
;Alpha Centauri (-0.01) - Centaurus

MESSIER OBJECTS
Messier Objects are defined to the program by right ascension, declination, type and magnitude. The types
are:
N = Nebula
C = Globular Cluster
O = Open Cluster
G = Spiral Galaxy
E = Elliptic Galaxy
The source for Messier Object information is The Messier Album. An Observer's Handbook, by John H.
Mallas and Evered Kreimer (Sky Publishing, 1978).
Messier Objects in numeric order (RA, DECL, Type, Magnitude) are:
RA
0534
2134
1342
1624
1519
1740
1754
1804
1719
1657
1851
1647
1642
1738
2130
1819
1821
1820
1703
1802
1805
1836
1757
1818

DECL Type

Mag

No.

Name

2201
-0049
2823
-2631
0205
-3212
-3449
-2423
-1831
-0406
-0616
-0157
3628
-0315
1210
-1347
-1610
-1708
-2616
-2302
-2230
-2354
-1901
-1825

8
7
6
6
6
4
3
5
8
7
6
7
6
8
7
6
6
7
7
6
7
6
7
5

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Crab Nebula

Appendix A

N
C
C
C
C
O
O
N
C
C
O
C
C
C
C
O
N
O
C
N
O
C
O
O

Constellation

Taurus
Aquarius
Canes Venetici
Scorpio
Serpens
Scorpio
Scorpio
Lagoon Nebula Sagittarius
Ophiuchus
Ophiuchus
Scutum
Ophiuchus
see unaided
Hercules
Ophiuchus
Pegasus
Serpens
Horseshoe Neb. Sagittarius
Sagittarius
Ophiuchus
Trifid Nebula
Sagittarius
Sagittarius
Sagittarius
Sagittarius
Sagittarius

The Electric Astrolabe

1832
1845
2000
1825
2024
2140
0043
0043
0134
0242
0609
0536
0553
0529
2132
1222
0647
0535
0535
0840
0347
0742
0737
0814
1230
0703
1330
2324
1313
1855
1940
1917
1854
1238
1242
1244
1222
1701
1316
1257
1119
1120
0851
1239
1831
1843
1954
2053
2059
0137
2006
0142
0243
0547
0524

-1914
-0924
2243
-2452
3831
-2311
4116
4052
3039
4247
2420
3408
3233
3550
4826
5805
-2046
-0523
-0516
2000
2407
-1449
-1429
-0548
0800
-0821
4712
6136
1810
-3028
-3057
3011
3302
1149
1139
1133
0428
-3007
4202
2141
1306
1300
1148
-2645
-3221
-3217
1847
-1232
-1238
1547
-2155
5134
-0001
0004
-2431

O
O
N
C
O
C
G
E
G
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
N
N
O
O
O
O
O
E
O
G
O
C
C
C
C
N
G
E
E
G
C
G
G
G
G
O
C
C
C
C
C
O
G
C
O
G
N
C

5
10
8
8
7
8
4
9
5
6
5
6
6
6
6
10
5
5
9
4
2
6
5
6
9
6
8
7
8
8
7
8
9
9
10
10
10
7
10
9
9
10
6
8
9
9
8
10
10
10
9
11
8
10
8

25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79

Sagittarius
Scutum
Dumbbell Nubula Vulpecula
Sagittarius
Cygnus
Capricorn
Andromeda Gal. Andromeda
near M31
Andromeda
Triangulum
Perseus
Gemini
Auriga
Auriga
Auriga
Cygnus
double star
Ursa Major
Canis Major
Orion
Orion
Beehive Cluster Cancer
Pleides
Taurus
Puppis
Puppis
Hydra
Virgo
Monoceros
Whirlpool Gal. Canes Venatici
Cassiopeia
Coma Berenices
Sagittarius
Sagittarius
Lyra
Ring Nebula
Lyra
Virgo
Virgo
Virgo
Virgo
Ophiuchus
Canes Venetici
Coma Berenices
Leo
Leo
Cancer
Hydra
Sagittarius
Sagittarius
Sagitta
Aquarius
Aquarius
Pisces
Sagittarius
Perseus
Seyfert Galaxy Cetus
Orion
Lepus

Appendix A

The Electric Astrolabe

1617
0956
0956
1338
1225
1225
1226
1231
1232
1236
1237
1235
1717
0745
1251
1044
1047
1115
1214
1219
1223
1403
0000
0133
1240
1048
1219
1632
1112
1158
0040

-2259
6904
6942
-2952
1253
1811
1257
1223
1425
1233
1310
1430
4308
-2353
4107
1142
1149
5501
1454
1425
1549
5421
0000
6042
-1137
1235
4718
-1303
5540
5322
4141

C
G
G
G
E
E
E
E
G
E
G
G
C
O
G
G
G
O
G
G
G
G
0
O
G
E
G
C
G
G
E

8
8
9
7
9
9
10
9
10
10
10
10
6
6
8
9
9
11
11
10
11
8
20
6
8
11
8
9
10
10
9

80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
Owl Nebula
98
99
100
101/102
(102)
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110

Scorpio
Ursa Major
Ursa Major
Hydra
Virgo
Coma Berenices
Virgo
Virgo
Coma Berenices
Virgo
Virgo
Coma Berenices
Hercules
Puppis
Canes Venatici
Leo
Leo
Ursa Major
Coma Berenices
Coma Berenices
Coma Berenices
Ursa Major
(Does not exist)
Cassiopeia
Virgo
Leo
Canes Venetici
Ophiuchus
Ursa Major
Ursa Major
Andromeda

The Magellanic Clouds are not Messier Objects but are treated as such by the program:
0530
0055

-6900 N
-7230 N

Appendix A

2
2

"111"
"112"

Large Magellanic Cloud

Small Magellanic Cloud

The Electric Astrolabe

SATURNS RINGS.
The following assumptions on the sizes of Saturns rings were synthesized from a variety of sources:
Saturns equatorial radius to cloud top = 37,550 miles
Cloud top to C ring = 8,750 miles (The D region is not shown in the Saturn image).
Width of C ring = 10,885 miles
Width of B ring = 15,861 miles
Width of Cassini division = 2,800 miles
Width of A ring = 9,143 miles
These assumptions give an overall width of the ring system of 169,930 miles
GALACTIC CENTER.
The galactic center position at 17:44, -2859 was taken from Burnhams Celestial Handbook, Vol. 3, pg.
1638 (Dover, 1978).

Appendix A

The Electric Astrolabe

APPENDIX B. ABOUT THE ELECTRIC ASTROLABE

zone to first city in cities list.
Turn daylight savings time on and off.
Automatic DST on and off.
Advance time by current time interval
setting. Vary animation rate in free
running mode. Move long rule (Ctl+).
Use [ and ] on laptops.

FUNCTION KEYS (Alt+Fn reverses direction of

change. Ctl+Fn = City n)
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
F9
F10

F11
F12

1 minute
5 minutes
10 minutes
30 minutes
1 hour
1 day
5 days
10 days
0.997269568 day (one sidereal day)
29.53059 days (one lunation or
tropical month) The F10 value is
replaced by an interval entered on the
Help screen.
1 second (0.000011574 day)
365.242191 days (tropical year)

PHASE IMAGE KEYS

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Mercury
Venus
Moon
Mars
Jupiters moons
Saturns rings
Lunar Eclipses

ZODIAC SYMBOLS

Aries
Taurus
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Libra
Scorpio
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Aquarius
Pisces

115

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