CompuServe Thread

John, 3-D start maps would be nice. Anybody know how to write a telescope-aiming device driver w/o using Forth? -Lee

John, 3-D start maps would be nice. Anybody know how to write a telescope-aiming device driver w/o using Forth? -Lee

John, 3-D start maps would be nice. Anybody know how to write a telescope-aiming device driver w/o using Forth? -Lee

John, 3-D start maps would be nice. Anybody know how to write a telescope-aiming device driver w/o using Forth? -Lee

I once saw a program which allowed the user to project a view of our galaxy from _any_ coordinates. That was for a very low-res machine, but it was FUN. I am in the Tucson (Astronomy Capital of Arizona) area. Wonder if anyone around here is smart in this subject…and if they have access to AMIGA? How's that for a _use_ of the machine, Hmmm Tara? Regards, Dave Nipper 75756,1645

I once saw a program which allowed the user to project a view of our galaxy from _any_ coordinates. That was for a very low-res machine, but it was FUN. I am in the Tucson (Astronomy Capital of Arizona) area. Wonder if anyone around here is smart in this subject…and if they have access to AMIGA? How's that for a _use_ of the machine, Hmmm Tara? Regards, Dave Nipper 75756,1645

I once saw a program which allowed the user to project a view of our galaxy from _any_ coordinates. That was for a very low-res machine, but it was FUN. I am in the Tucson (Astronomy Capital of Arizona) area. Wonder if anyone around here is smart in this subject…and if they have access to AMIGA? How's that for a _use_ of the machine, Hmmm Tara? Regards, Dave Nipper 75756,1645

I once saw a program which allowed the user to project a view of our galaxy from _any_ coordinates. That was for a very low-res machine, but it was FUN. I am in the Tucson (Astronomy Capital of Arizona) area. Wonder if anyone around here is smart in this subject…and if they have access to AMIGA? How's that for a _use_ of the machine, Hmmm Tara? Regards, Dave Nipper 75756,1645

John … well, gee, since you asked … how about a "Time Machine"? You could include the proper motions, etc. of the objects (stars, galaxies, whatever), and allow the user to enter a "time compression" factor, log/linear scale setting, and so forth. Then the user could watch the stars move, and see what the sky looked like 1985 years ago (or 20,000 yrs., or 4 billion years), or what it *will* look like off in the distant future. How about being able to go back to the Big Bang, or forward to The Grand Collapse? Let the user vary the total mass in the Universe to provide Open and Closed "end-games". Allow spatial "telescoping" on a selected object to watch its evolution … a cloud, a star, a solar system, H-burn, He-burn, C-burn, nova, supernova, compact object, … What I'm talking about, of course, is Simulation. I believe that this is where the Amiga can really distinguish itself, though it may well require a more advanced processor like the 68020, and *will* require a math chip like the 68881. The groundwork for all this can certainly be laid with a standard Amiga, perhaps using hueristics initially rather than analytic solutions. Visualization of complex systems; interacting with, and altering system parameters, and *seeing* the result of such changes; dynamic control of a "knowledge-base" … these are areas where we can make the Amiga shine! The astrophysical/cosmological area is a perfect place to begin such work since it is well-defined and reasonably well understood, and (depending on the "level" on chooses to look at) has many simplifing assumptions that can be made (e.g., Newtonian Mechanics vs. Special Relativity, etc.) BTW, be sure and take a look at the January 1986 issue of Scientific American in the Computer Recreations column … it may give you some more ideas. What an exciting product the Amiga is! /kim

John … well, gee, since you asked … how about a "Time Machine"? You could include the proper motions, etc. of the objects (stars, galaxies, whatever), and allow the user to enter a "time compression" factor, log/linear scale setting, and so forth. Then the user could watch the stars move, and see what the sky looked like 1985 years ago (or 20,000 yrs., or 4 billion years), or what it *will* look like off in the distant future. How about being able to go back to the Big Bang, or forward to The Grand Collapse? Let the user vary the total mass in the Universe to provide Open and Closed "end-games". Allow spatial "telescoping" on a selected object to watch its evolution … a cloud, a star, a solar system, H-burn, He-burn, C-burn, nova, supernova, compact object, … What I'm talking about, of course, is Simulation. I believe that this is where the Amiga can really distinguish itself, though it may well require a more advanced processor like the 68020, and *will* require a math chip like the 68881. The groundwork for all this can certainly be laid with a standard Amiga, perhaps using hueristics initially rather than analytic solutions. Visualization of complex systems; interacting with, and altering system parameters, and *seeing* the result of such changes; dynamic control of a "knowledge-base" … these are areas where we can make the Amiga shine! The astrophysical/cosmological area is a perfect place to begin such work since it is well-defined and reasonably well understood, and (depending on the "level" on chooses to look at) has many simplifing assumptions that can be made (e.g., Newtonian Mechanics vs. Special Relativity, etc.) BTW, be sure and take a look at the January 1986 issue of Scientific American in the Computer Recreations column … it may give you some more ideas. What an exciting product the Amiga is! /kim

John … well, gee, since you asked … how about a "Time Machine"? You could include the proper motions, etc. of the objects (stars, galaxies, whatever), and allow the user to enter a "time compression" factor, log/linear scale setting, and so forth. Then the user could watch the stars move, and see what the sky looked like 1985 years ago (or 20,000 yrs., or 4 billion years), or what it *will* look like off in the distant future. How about being able to go back to the Big Bang, or forward to The Grand Collapse? Let the user vary the total mass in the Universe to provide Open and Closed "end-games". Allow spatial "telescoping" on a selected object to watch its evolution … a cloud, a star, a solar system, H-burn, He-burn, C-burn, nova, supernova, compact object, … What I'm talking about, of course, is Simulation. I believe that this is where the Amiga can really distinguish itself, though it may well require a more advanced processor like the 68020, and *will* require a math chip like the 68881. The groundwork for all this can certainly be laid with a standard Amiga, perhaps using hueristics initially rather than analytic solutions. Visualization of complex systems; interacting with, and altering system parameters, and *seeing* the result of such changes; dynamic control of a "knowledge-base" … these are areas where we can make the Amiga shine! The astrophysical/cosmological area is a perfect place to begin such work since it is well-defined and reasonably well understood, and (depending on the "level" on chooses to look at) has many simplifing assumptions that can be made (e.g., Newtonian Mechanics vs. Special Relativity, etc.) BTW, be sure and take a look at the January 1986 issue of Scientific American in the Computer Recreations column … it may give you some more ideas. What an exciting product the Amiga is! /kim

John … well, gee, since you asked … how about a "Time Machine"? You could include the proper motions, etc. of the objects (stars, galaxies, whatever), and allow the user to enter a "time compression" factor, log/linear scale setting, and so forth. Then the user could watch the stars move, and see what the sky looked like 1985 years ago (or 20,000 yrs., or 4 billion years), or what it *will* look like off in the distant future. How about being able to go back to the Big Bang, or forward to The Grand Collapse? Let the user vary the total mass in the Universe to provide Open and Closed "end-games". Allow spatial "telescoping" on a selected object to watch its evolution … a cloud, a star, a solar system, H-burn, He-burn, C-burn, nova, supernova, compact object, … What I'm talking about, of course, is Simulation. I believe that this is where the Amiga can really distinguish itself, though it may well require a more advanced processor like the 68020, and *will* require a math chip like the 68881. The groundwork for all this can certainly be laid with a standard Amiga, perhaps using hueristics initially rather than analytic solutions. Visualization of complex systems; interacting with, and altering system parameters, and *seeing* the result of such changes; dynamic control of a "knowledge-base" … these are areas where we can make the Amiga shine! The astrophysical/cosmological area is a perfect place to begin such work since it is well-defined and reasonably well understood, and (depending on the "level" on chooses to look at) has many simplifing assumptions that can be made (e.g., Newtonian Mechanics vs. Special Relativity, etc.) BTW, be sure and take a look at the January 1986 issue of Scientific American in the Computer Recreations column … it may give you some more ideas. What an exciting product the Amiga is! /kim

John, Be sure to use interlaced video in your star maps, not only for the increased resolution, but also for an automatic "twinkling effect". –Wayne

John, Be sure to use interlaced video in your star maps, not only for the increased resolution, but also for an automatic "twinkling effect". –Wayne

John, Be sure to use interlaced video in your star maps, not only for the increased resolution, but also for an automatic "twinkling effect". –Wayne

John, Be sure to use interlaced video in your star maps, not only for the increased resolution, but also for an automatic "twinkling effect". –Wayne

John, if you haven't yet seen it, take a look at 'Sky Travel' for the 64, and start from there. Should be a good base, with capabilities of the Amiga allowing about a 500% improvement in features etc. (HOW did they get that much of the universe onto a 170K floppy?) Regards, Larry.

John, if you haven't yet seen it, take a look at 'Sky Travel' for the 64, and start from there. Should be a good base, with capabilities of the Amiga allowing about a 500% improvement in features etc. (HOW did they get that much of the universe onto a 170K floppy?) Regards, Larry.

John, if you haven't yet seen it, take a look at 'Sky Travel' for the 64, and start from there. Should be a good base, with capabilities of the Amiga allowing about a 500% improvement in features etc. (HOW did they get that much of the universe onto a 170K floppy?) Regards, Larry.

John, if you haven't yet seen it, take a look at 'Sky Travel' for the 64, and start from there. Should be a good base, with capabilities of the Amiga allowing about a 500% improvement in features etc. (HOW did they get that much of the universe onto a 170K floppy?) Regards, Larry.