This new point program, written from scratch in Ada, finds stars with high accuracy using SLA by P.T. Wallace, and provides good finding for Sun, Moon, and planets.
POINT82 is my new standalone positional astronomy program, written in Ada and Starlink Library A. The web version for the 36" does not print FLEXURE estimates, since the 36" does not have a mount model. For the 82" (substitute p82.cgi for p36.cgi in the links below), the calculation includes flexure and dome azimuth. It has several distinct advantages over the old software:
1. You can access it by web browser from anywhere - no need to login. Just paste and bookmark these URLs into your browser.
2. It can find the moon - old 'point' can miss the moon by its diameter.
3. It can find Yale Bright Stars with large proper motion - although now repaired except on the 107", old 'point' multiplied all Yale Bright Star RA proper motions by a factor of 15. Large proper motion stars like Arcturus could be right out of the field.
4. It finds the correct dome azimuth, even for the 30", where the telescope is not centered in the dome (call for pricing.)
Here are the provisional links. I may eventually put this web server elsewhere (it now runs on my office iMac.) Some examples:
Get a list of FK5 stars with ZD<30 and VMag<4
Get a list of FK5 stars with ZD<15 and Vmag<6Get a list of Yale Bright Stars
Find Albireo, FK5 732
Find Yale Bright Star Catalog number HR 4000
Find the MoonFind JupiterFind the Sun on June 22, 1960 at 9:47:21GMTGet Help.