Hi Walter,

I finally got to downloading the latest release of your *stellar* software, and as usual, I am blown away with the new features it offers!

The most exciting one for me personally being the inclusion of planetary moons in a graphic chart - which you didn't even mention here, although you did inform us about this new option in another thread:

http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic ... 1&start=30

Safe to say, with every release, Astrolog is offering new ways of understanding astrology as an esoteric science based on a living Universe that has no limits!

For that matter, could you please provide some step-by-step instructions here how to take that virtual trip through our galaxy you described previously (in context with an earlier version):

Cruiser1 wrote:Astrolog supports fixed stars, and in version 6.50 star distances are available too. This allows unique features such as charts centered on other stars (and seeing what the constellations look like from other star systems) and 3D animations of flying through the galaxy:

Galactic regards,

Michael

Michael Sternbach wrote:The most exciting one for me personally being the inclusion of planetary moons in a graphic chart - which you didn't even mention here, although you did inform us about this new option in another thread: http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic ... 1&start=30

Yes, Astrolog has supported planetary moons for several versions now, however version 7.50 indeed introduced a "planetary moons wheel chart". (See above for an example.) It plots planetary moons around each planet's glyph, allowing one to see how moons are distributed around their planet. This chart is nice because it presents moons in the standard wheel chart format, allowing one to see the chart as a whole, but also allowing one to easily see planetary moons, and whether each moon is leading or following the planet in its orbit, or whether the moon is close/in front of or distant/behind the planet.

Michael Sternbach wrote:could you please provide some step-by-step instructions here how to take that virtual trip through our galaxy you described previously

Sure thing! In Astrolog, select "Chart / Solar System Orbit" to show a view of space. Right click and turn on "Show Full Star List" to include all 1000+ nearby stars in our galaxy. Now do "File / Export Chart Wireframe" to save this chart to 3D wireframe format.

This 3D wireframe format is from the graphics program Daedalus, so can be rendered and explored within Daedalus, which is another program I've written. Install it from http://www.astrolog.org/labyrnth/daedalus.htm if you don't have it already, and then start Daedalus and do "File / Open" and open the wireframe file Astrolog saved. Now inside Daedalus, do "Bitmap / Common Sizes / 1024x768" to give yourself a large enough viewing area. Then do "Draw / Render Wireframe Perspective" to get a 3D perspective view of the stars.

To actually explore interactively like in a flight simulator, set a few more Daedalus settings: (1) Turn on "Edit / Ignore Messages" so you don't get popup messages all the time. (2) Turn on "Draw / Draw Settings / Move With Arrow Keys" so you can use the arrow keys to move around (and the "u" and "d" keys to move up and down). (3) Turn on "Color / Show Color Bitmap" to get a color instead of black and white image. (4) In "Draw / Obscure Draw Settings" set the Sky (High/Low) and Ground (High/Low) colors to Black so it looks like you're flying in outer space.

The newest release of Astrolog, version 7.60, is now available!

Astrolog 7.60 can now display the Galactic Center and the Great Attractor as default objects, and other stars of your choice with the new Star Customization dialog seen above.

Astrolog 7.60 supports "distance aspects", such as determining when planets are equidistant from the observer. Astrolog can now show "distance aspect grids" with aspects such as (X is 1/2 the distance of Y), which aren't unlike the existing "vertical aspect grids" containing Parallel and ContraParallel aspects: http://www.astrolog.org/astrolog/astdist.htm

Astrolog 7.60 can also display the rings of Neptune, Jupiter, and Dwarf planet Haumea, which are astrologically significant. It could already display the rings of Saturn and Uranus in previous versions:

The newest release of Astrolog, version 7.70, is now available!

Astrolog 7.70 now supports exoplanets! Planets orbiting other star systems can now be considered in astrology, and Astrolog can detect when over 4000 exoplanets transit over their star. The strongest event in astrology is the eclipse or two bodies overlapping, and exoplanet transits are similar events which accentuate that fixed star’s energy.

Astrolog 7.70 can now display the rings of Dwarf planet candidate Quaoar. Astrolog supports the rings of 6 different bodies (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter, Haumea, and Quaoar). For information about the astrological significance of rings, and how to interpret the rings of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, see: https://www.astrolog.org/astrolog/astmoon.htm#ring

The newest release of Astrolog, version 7.80, is now available!

Astrolog 7.80 can display wheel charts with degree numbers on the wheel itself, in addition to listed on the side, as seen above. It can also display charts with antialiased graphics, so lines appear smooth instead of pixelated.

Astrolog 7.80 can display eclipse shadows showing the areas where a Solar Eclipse is taking place on the Earth. This is in addition to its existing abilities to detect whether an eclipse is taking place anywhere on Earth, or is visible at a particular location at a particular time.

Astrolog 7.80 can display constellation lines between stars, with an example celestial sphere chart seen below. Astrolog can also display which of the 88 constellations a planet is within, and subdivide a wheel chart into the 13 constellations along the ecliptic.