A S T R O N O M Y T I L E S The file ASTRONMY.TIL is a tile set for Mah Jongg 3.5 developed using the TILEMAKR utility bundled with the game program package. Kudos go to Nels Anderson for creating such a great program suite. The images on the tiles are objects, symbols and other miscellany encountered by amateur astronomers in the pursuit of their hobby. I hope you enjoy using the tiles and who knows...maybe you will get interested in amateur astronomy! Description of the individual tiles TILE IMAGE REMARKS ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Ocular More commonly known as an eyepiece 2 Binoculars VERY useful to astronomers, despite the proliferation of various telescopes of all sizes 3 Flashlight With a dull red lens, it doesn't destroy the dark adaptation of the eye 4 Diagonal Also know as a "star diagonal", this is useful in easing viewing positions, especially on refractors 5 Solar eclipse (Total) Just like last July... 6 Lunar eclipse (Total) The moon does turn various shades of red during this, due to the Earth's atmospheric refraction 7 Spiral galaxy Very impressive sight in a telescope of any size 8 Comet Relatively rare, but not too much so! Neat sight! 9 Focuser Ocular goes in, the rest is self- explanatory... 10 Equatorial mount Allows the telescope on it to accurately track the stars 11 Tripod The whole shebang sits on this... 12 Finderscope (Front view) Helps track down fainter objects 13 Planetary nebula Star atlas symbol for this type of object 14 Globular cluster Star atlas symbol for this type of object 15 Open cluster Star atlas symbol for this type of object 16 Double star Star atlas symbol for this type of object 17 Big Dipper Asterism in the constellation Ursa Major 18 Teapot Asterism in the constellation Sagittarius 19 Orion The bulk of this constellation 20 Lyra The bulk of this constellation 21 Alpha Greek letter, sometimes used in star designations 22 Beta Greek letter, sometimes used in star designations 23 Lambda Greek letter, sometimes used in star designations 24 Phi Greek letter, sometimes used in star designations 25 Variable star Star atlas symbol for this type of object 26 Bright nebula Star atlas symbol for this type of object 27 Black hole Star atlas symbol for this type of object 28 QSO (quasar) Star atlas symbol for this type of object 29 Barlow A negative lens system used to increase magnification 30 Telescope (Front view) Looking right down the business end of a reflector 31 Finderscope (Side view) Attaches to main telescope 32 Off-axis guider Sometimes used in astrophotography 33 Film Often used in astrophotography (!) 34 Controller box Used in astrophotography (controls fine movements of telescope) 35 Green filter Useful for planetary work, can increase the contrast of Martian surface features 36 Blue filter Useful for planetary work, can increase the visibility of features on Jupiter, including the Great Red Spot 37 Red filter Useful for planetary work, can increase the visibility of features on Mercury by reducing the glare of the sunset sky here on Earth 38 Violet filter Useful for planetary work, can increase the visibility of features on Mars at certain times 39 1st quarter The approximately 1 week old Moon 40 Full The approximately 2 week old Moon 41 4th quarter The approximately 3 week old Moon 42 New The approximately 4 week old Moon (my favorite!!) The tiles follow the "standard" suite structure with numbers 35- 38 (filters) in one wildcard suite and numbers 39-42 (moon phases) in another. Other than that, it's exact match only... If you are into amateur astronomy, you will most likely recognize all of these objects. If you are not and are still reading this, great! Maybe there is hope the bug will bite.... If you want to learn more about astronomy, check out your local bookstores and libraries. Look, in particular for a couple of magazines, Astronomy and Sky & Telescope. They will be most educational. Also, check out any local astronomy clubs that may exist. This is the BEST way to get into this educational and FUN hobby. Have fun! Len Philpot 356 Gary K. Street Pineville, Louisiana 71360