From: malcolmr@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca (Malcolm Reeves) Subject: Re: pc software for astro Date: 21 Jul 92 02:09:54 GMT A Review of Freeware and Shareware MS-DOS Star Map Programs THIS REVIEW IS COMPILED BY THE AUTHOR OF ASTRO. ASTRO will shortly be released as freeware. It is designed as a teaching tool for introductory Astronomy and Astrophysics courses and specifically supports minimal hardware configurations (2-color CGA). There are a significant number of excellent freeware and shareware programs available for study of the stars and planets. Many of these programs have been supported for a number of years and have become recognized as reliable and robust applications. Others are relatively new and untried. All have strengths, weaknesses and unique features. This review is as factual as possible and consists of a series of tables comparing features. The programs reviewed and their version numbers and disk/memory requirements are: Program Name Version Date Lang $US Author ASTRO 2.0 Jun 1992 C - Malcolm Reeves COSMOS 14.11 Mar 1991 C 31 Gene Lee ECU (Earth Centred Universe) 1.1 Mar 1992 C 35 David Lane SKYGLOBE 3.0 Feb 1992 ASM 20 Mark Haney STARRY (Starry Nights) 6.2 Mar 1991 PAS 20 Rob Crocket STARS (EGAStars & VGAStars) 4.1* Mar 1989 BAS - David Ransom Costs are given for registration of Shareware products. * the authors version number is 8911 but 4.1 based on the updates is a better reflection of the relative maturity of the program. Hardware Requirements Min. Min. Math Co Mouse Disk Space Docs Memory ASTRO Opt Opt 128K 63K 140K COSMOS Opt Opt 264K 116K 253K ECU* Opt Opt 434K 95K 600K SKYGLOBE Opt Opt 255K 39K 431K STARRY Opt Opt 398k 30K 484K STARS Opt Opt 136K 29K 138K * ECU is the only Windows application. All programs optionally support a mouse and math-coprocessor. The extent of mouse support varies greatly. ECU (the only Windows application) has the expected quality graphical interface. ASTRO has a "button" interface in graphics mode. STARRY and STARS make limited use of the mouse-pointer. The disk space requirement is the executable and essential support files only (no docs). The memory requirement was obtained using the "eatmem" utility. All programs exit fairly gracefully if insufficient memory is available. STARS and STARRY may load then have insufficient space to load data or be unable to enter graphics mode. COSMOS will load as much data as it can and run with a reduced number of stars. ASTRO and STARS require the least hardware resources. All other programs fail to load and return to the command line (with no message). Only STARRY and ECU are likely to have memory problems on a small system. None of the programs require excessive amounts of disk space even when the documentation is included. Display and Output Formats Video Devices Output Formats Epson VGA EGA CGA ATT Herc IBM HPCL PS GIF ASTRO x x x x - x x x x COSMOS x x x - x x x - - ECU x x - - - - - - - SKYGLOBE* x x - - x x x - - STARRY x x x - x x x - - STARS x x - - - - x - - * SKYGLOBE supports SVGA resolution for HPCL devices. ASTRO supports GIF 87a image files and Postscript printers. ECU has no built-in hardcopy support. If you have only a CGA, Hercules, or ATT video adapter, your choice is severely limited. Astronomical Objects Star Names Select by Planets Stars Constel Pick Find Mag Clr Comets Deep Sky ASTRO x xx - - - x x - - COSMOS x xx(xx) x x x x - x x ECU x xxxx x x x x - (x) xx SKYGLOBE x xxxx x x - x - - x STARRY x xxx x x x x x x x STARS - xxx x x x x x - - Parentheses are used for features only available in the registered version of shareware products. For stars xx = 100-1000, xxx = 1000-10000, xxxx = >10000. All programs have object databases that can be extended. Unfortunately there is no format standardization. Most programs allow stars to found by entering the name and identified on the screen by picking the point with the mouse cursor. All programs allow star selection by magnitude classes, some display and allow selection by B-V color index and spectral classes. ECU has by far the best support for deep sky objects. ASTRO and STARS are most limited in terms of number and types of objects that can observed. Graphical Interaction and Animation Animation Features Toggles Pick Co-ords Pan Steps SS Star Object Grds Lins Labs Az/Alt RA/Dec Zoom Sol Sid Objs Rotn Prop Trails ASTRO x x x x - x x x x x x x COSMOS x x x x x x x x x x - x ECU x x x x x x x x x x - x SKYGLOBE x x x x x x x x x x - - STARRY x x x x x - - - - - - - STARS x x x - x x - - - - - - All programs all various grids, lines and labels to be switched on and off. The sophistication of such features varies widely. Only STARS allows the user to write and draw on the star map. Most programs operate in both Az/Alt or RA/Dec co-ordinates and display cursor co-ordinates. ASTRO and STARS operate in a single co-ordinate system. All programs except STARRY offer pan-zoom through single keystrokes or mouse-clicks. ASTRO, COSMOS, ECU and SKYGLOBE allow the display to be stepped through time (animation). ASTRO, COSMOS and ECU have toggles for object trails. Most programs have time-range limitations. Only ASTRO computes and animates the proper motions of stars. Documentation and On-Line Help Documentation Help Pages TOC Index Apps Hist Menus Screens Pop-up Context ASTRO 29 x - x x x - x x COSMOS 53 - x x x x x - - ECU 33 x - - - x - x x SKYGLOBE 14 - - x x x - x - STARRY 11 x - - - - x - - STARS 9 - - - x - x - - ASTRO, COSMOS and ECU have the most comprehensive documentation. ASTRO and ECU have numbered sectional organization with tables of contents and complete command reference sections. Only COSMOS has a keyword index (15/53 pages are index). Most documentation has a revision history section (useful for assessing the extent and frequency of support). ASTRO and COSMOS, and to a lesser extent SKYGLOBE, suggest some applications and exercises for users to try. On-line help is provided in some form by all programs. ECU (the Windows application) has the usual array of pop-up windows, menus and dialog boxes. ASTRO has a similar range of features but switches between a graphical and text interface to implement help and status displays. COSMOS and STARRY also switches to text-mode for help screens/menus. STARS switches to a single help screen. SKYGLOBE pops-up a series of somewhat criptic menus and lists on the graphics screen. User-Configuration Save Star SS Deep Coord Obsvr Anim Anim Screen Screen File Mag Clr Objs Sky Sys Loc Time Step Period Status Save ASTRO - x x x - x x x x x - x COSMOS x x - x x x x x x x x - ECU x x - x x x x x x x x - SKYGLOBE x x - x x x x x x x x x STARRY x x x - x x x - - - x x STARS - x x - - - x - - - - - All programs have default settings to start-up. All except STARS and ASTRO will load initial settings from a user-saved file or file(s). STARS has relatively few settings many of which are function key toggles explained on the help-screen. Malcolm Reeves original 15 March 1992 revised 15 June 1992 reeves@rocky1.usask.ca malcolmr@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca