F Type P to Pause, S to Stop listing U. S. Naval Observatory FLOPPY ALMANAC GENERAL INFORMATION OVERVIEW The Floppy Almanac is an integrated package of software and astronomical data on one floppy diskette which brings the benchmark standards of the Astronomical Almanac, the Nautical Almanac, and the Air Almanac to microcomputers. Using this interactive system, high precision astronomical and navigational data for one year's time can be calculated for specific times and locations. The Floppy Almanac runs under MS-DOS on microcomputers compatible with the IBM PC, XT, or AT with at least 256k of memory. The Floppy Almanac diskette will be useful for professional and amateur astronomers, navigators, surveyors, meteorologists, engineers, and others who regularly need accurate information on the positions and motions of celestial objects. The development of the Floppy Almanac has drawn upon -More- ten years of experience producing the Almanac for Computers, an annual publication of the Nautical Almanac Office which provides astronomical formulas and algorithms which can be programmed for small computers and calculators. In contrast, the data from the Floppy Almanac will be immediately available to anyone with a microcomputer and the diskette; no programming or detailed knowledge of computers is required. Ease of use has been a specific design goal. DATA PROVIDED The Floppy Almanac will be distributed as an executable module on a microcomputer floppy diskette. Once loaded into computer memory, it can provide, for any date and time within the year, the following information: (1) Geocentric apparent and astrometric places of Sun, Moon, planets, and stars; (2) Heliocentric ecliptic longitude and latitude of planets; (3) Barycentric equatorial rectangular coordinates of planets; (4) Physical ephemerides (apparent illumination and rotation) of planets and Moon; (5) Sidereal times: Greenwich mean and apparent, and local apparent for any longitude; -More- (6) Topocentric rise, set, and transit times for any object for any location; (7) Navigation information sufficient for sight reduction; and (8) Topocentric altitude and azimuth of any object for any time and location. The Floppy Almanac uses an internal catalog of data on 200 bright stars. However, at the user's option this catalog may be temporarily replaced by any of three auxiliary catalogs also included on the diskette: the FK4 fundamental catalog of 1536 bright stars, converted to equator, equinox, and epoch J2000.0; the catalog of 233 compact extragalactic radio sources compiled by a working group of IAU Commission 24; or the 108 objects in the Messier catalog of clusters and nebulae. There is also a provision which allows users to establish their own special-object catalogs which can then be used by the Floppy Almanac. AVAILABILITY As of December 15, 1988, editions through 1999 of the Floppy Almanac are available from the U. S. Naval Observatory on standard 5-1/4 inch double- sided double-density (DS/DD) 360k MS-DOS compatible diskettes. Minimum ma- chine requirements are: IBM PC, XT, or AT computer or compatible machine, -More- with at least 256k bytes of memory and one floppy diskette drive, running MS-DOS release 2 or higher. No screen graphics are used, so any type of monitor can be used. Two versions are now available: Version 1.3P for a standard PC (or XT or AT), and version 1.3C for a PC with an arithmetic coprocessor (8087 or 80287 chip) installed. The standard version will work on a PC with or without a coprocessor, since it does not test for or use a coprocessor. The coprocessor version, however, will run only on a machine with a coprocessor installed. The coprocessor version can be up to 5 times faster than the standard version, depending on the machine and application. The standard version is also available on 3-1/2 inch (720k) diskettes compatible with many portable PC's. Complete documentation is included with each diskette. The 1988 edition of the Floppy Almanac is now available for the DEC MicroVAX, on 5-1/4 inch RX50 (400k) diskettes. About this time, a version for IBM 370-type mainframes running the VM/CMS operating system will also become available on standard 9-track 1600 bpi computer tape. The feasibility and demand for versions of the Floppy Almanac for computers of other architectures (for example, the Apple Macintosh and HP A900) are being investigated, but these versions, if produced, would not -More- be available until mid-1988 at the earliest. An order form for the Floppy Almanac is provided below. ============================================================================ F L O P P Y A L M A N A C Mail to: Nautical Almanac Office ------- Code FA O R D E R F O R M U. S. Naval Observatory Washington, DC 20390-5100 Each Floppy Almanac diskette is $20, and includes one copy of the paper documentation. Additional copies of the documentation may be ordered for $4 each. Please enclose full payment, BY CHECK ONLY, with this order. Make checks payable to "U. S. Naval Observatory". Please indicate the quantity ordered in the boxes: -More- 1988 1989 ------ ------ Floppy Almanac 1.3P, standard PC version, ! ! ! ! on 5-1/4 inch DS/DD MS-DOS diskette, ------ ------ with documentation ($20 each) ------ ------ Floppy Almanac 1.3C, for PC with coprocessor, ! ! ! ! on 5-1/4 inch DS/DD MS-DOS diskette, ------ ------ with documentation ($20 each) ------ ------ Floppy Almanac 1.3P, for portable PC, ! ! ! ! on 3-1/2 inch DS MS-DOS diskette, ------ ------ with documentation ($20 each) ------ Floppy Almanac 1.3V, for DEC MicroVAX II, ! ! on 5-1/4 inch 400k RX50 diskette ------ (Available December 1986) ($20 each) ------ Floppy Almanac 1.3I, for IBM 370, 43xx, 30xx, ! ! on 9-track 1600 bpi computer tape, VM/CMS format ------ (Available December 1986) ($30 each) -More- - - - - - - - - - - - ------ Additional copy of paper documentation for ! ! MS-DOS versions of Floppy Almanac ------ ($4 per copy) Amount of check enclosed: $ _________________ Name: _________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ City & state: _____________________________________ Zip: _____________ Country (if not U.S.): ____________________________ -More- NAVOBSY WASH -Press Any Key- +-----------------------------+ | ASTRONOMY Bulletins | +-----------------------------+ | oodbye; Log off System | | ..to Top Menu | | <->..Return to Last Menu | | <#>..User Utilities | +-----------------------------+ aily rise, transit, set, 10 pm Positions ky Watcher's Guide

ublications available from USNO loppy_Almanac Info & Order Form