Main Features of Scientific Astronomer

Star Charts: Five types of charts are defined in Scientific Astronomer, including two wide field star charts. With the star charts you can zoom into any portion of the sky. All the charts have options to show star spectral colors, mesh lines, a skyline, the horizon line, and the Milky Way; and to label constellations, stars, planets, deep sky objects, and so on.

Planet Plots: Planet plotting is done in two- and three-dimensional forms. Surface features for the Earth, the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter are shown on the plots. Moons and their shadows are displayed for the Earth and Jupiter. Related functions allow you to produce planet position finder charts and planet rise/set timing charts.

Eclipses: Several functions are provided for dealing with eclipses. These functions provide information about both solar and lunar eclipses, and are general enough to handle Galilean moon eclipses, occultation of stars by the Moon, and transits of Mercury or Venus across the solar disk. You can produce umbra and penumbra track plots and perform eclipse prediction.

Satellite Tracking: Satellite tracking is another feature of Scientific Astronomer. You can create track plots, make visibility predictions, and project satellite tracks onto star charts.

Miscellaneous: Miscellaneous other features are available, such as producing planisphere plates, planet charts, and solar system plots. In addition, sunrise, moonrise, and full moon functions are provided, as well as functions for adding new objects, such as comets and satellites.

Scientific Astronomer is Mathematica 3.0 compatible. It has palettes and buttons and is fully integrated into the Help Browser system.

Terry Robb, March 1997.

Feature Labeling on the Moon

PlanetPlot3D[Moon, FullMoon[{1990, 1, 1}], FeatureLabels -> True]; 
    1;

Plot of a full moon with features labeled.

Star Chart of Ophiuchus

StarChart[Sector5, ConstellationLabels -> True]; 
    Graphics Gallery1;

Star chart showing various constellations in the direction of Ophiuchus. Scorpius is visible on the bottom right. The blue line near the bottom is the ecliptic, which is the fixed path of the Sun through the sky. The planets and Moon all roughly move along that line as well.

Mercury Finder Chart

RiseSetChart[Mercury, 1994, GeoLatitude -> -35 Degree]; 1;

Chart showing rising and setting times of Mercury during 1994 for an observer 35 degrees south of the equator. Green areas (or the darker shade of gray) show when Mercury is visible above the horizon.

RiseSetChart[HaleBopp,  1997,  Mesh  ->  True];

Chart showing rising and setting times of Comet Hale-Bopp during 1997 for an observer 40 degrees north of the equator. Green areas show when Hale-Bopp is visible.

Milky Way and Nebulae

StarChart[{{230,290},{-45-5,-5+10}},
  MilkyWay->True,StarLabels->True,
  StarColors->True,ConstellationLabels->True,
  Epilog->{RGBColor[1,1,0],DeepSkyMark /@ {
     EagleNebula,OmegaNebula,
    TrifidNebula,LagoonNebula}}];1;

Star chart showing the Milky Way in the region of Scorpius and Sagittarius. Four binocular-visible nebulae are indicated by the position of the yellow NGC numbers. Star spectral colors of stars, such as red for Antares, are also indicated.

Jupiter's Moons and Great Red Spot

Fragment of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy impacting on Jupiter. Two Jovian moons and the Great Red Spot are visible. This graphic is part of a large animation.

Eight-Year Venus Finder Chart

VenusChart[1994]; 1;

Finder chart for Venus for years 1994 through 2001.

Retrograde Motion of Mars

StarChart[{{60, 150}, {-20, 40}}, ConstellationLabels -> True, 
      Ecliptic -> False, 
      Epilog -> {RGBColor[1, 0, 0], 
          OrbitTrack[Mars, {1992, 6, 1}, {1993, 6, 1}]}]; 1;

Star chart track of Mars undergoing retrograde motion during 1992.