Mobile Planetarium

這是一個Open-source的軟體，還在開發階段，由德國Jürgen Treml為西班牙馬德里Polytechnical University的Faculty for Computer Science所開發的。這個軟體是一個利用純Web2.0(AJAX)的技術在Browser上顯示當地星圖的服務，使用Google API(GWT)等的介面呈現。今晚作者丟MSN給我，告訴我有初步結果了！大家來看看吧！

Ciclope Astro Demo



介面就像google map，而render出來的星圖，正是我寫的MobileStarChart所計算並畫出來的。Jürgen把他改成J2SE，並說未來的計劃會把他改成Java Beans，使用J2EE以及AJAX。看起來還真不錯！

Ciclope簡介
Ciclope @ Sourceforge

這篇分類是在Mobile Planetarium，也就是手機星圖軟體的下個版本什時釋出勒？

現在平均每個禮拜都會有人寄信來，我是固定每封都會回啦，只是有時候會慢點，集了三四封在一起回。大部份這些信都是回報錯誤，以及問我能不能增加功能的問題，以及手機不相容的回報。看來我得認真點作這軟體了。有些leisure time應該分點給這軟體才對，已經成為open source software，就得為這些同是喜愛看星星的世界各地朋友們做些事情。

我承認這軟體我沒花很多時間在弄，0.09 release時，我大概只花兩天就從0.08改到0.09了，然後現在又4個多月沒有更新，也沒有發布任何新版的消息，只是不停回信回信這樣...

需求愈來愈多，功能要求也愈來愈多，手機相容的問題也隨著用的人越多而越出現了。或許該找個週末犧牲出去騎車的一天，專心動工0.1版吧！我相信到了0.1版，這軟體就是世界上最好的open source手機java星圖軟體了(我敢這麼說不是沒有原因的啦，這是因為目前手機星圖軟體也很多，就我所知只有我open source...)

直到po文的現在，sourceforge上下載0.09版的人次已經達到3300多人，包含古早的0.08/0.07版本，總下載人次已經有6600左右了。

anyway... 我還是頗喜歡在google analytics看到瀏覽手機星圖軟體網站的人，遍布世界各地的這種感覺
為了這些畢生可能都沒機會見面的世界各地朋友們，我還是得努力些~

This is a screenshot from Google Analytics showing where the vistors of MobileStarChart's Home page come from. As you can see, most users of my little software come from Europe, and there are relatively fewer users who come from Asia, or America.

I wonder why Europeans love to seek astronomical softwares more than others do? Or is there any other reason which perfectly explains this? Really interesting, as I can recall there were really few people who speaks the same languages as I do (Chinese) asked about questions about this software...

This update focuses on improvement of functions, such as Search, Goto, and Time Jumps are implemented. Minor fixes about info box are added and some reported bugs are rid off.

 

Download:

Sourceforge Project Home Page

Updated: Newest version: 0.1alpha, please download here.

New Feature:

1.Search:
    Simply type any keyword(case insensitive, not whole word match) in the search box, and search for the whole sky database. Currently searchable objects include “stars with common name”, “constellation name/abbr”, “planets name, including the Sun and the Moon”(this one is whole-word matched), “Messier Objects by its ID number or common name.” [2006/11/18 updated]

2.Goto:
    when browsing in information box(planet, messier, bright star, or constellation info box), if it is visible in the current time and location, a new Goto button appears which takes you directly to the position where it is. [2006/11/18 update]

3.Fast Jump over Time
   When in starchart display mode, user can now quickly jump to a time point with various time steps, and watch the sky changing over time. Controllable without jumping out of the main sky screen. [2006/11/20 update]

4.New way to quickly view Messier Info:
    just type the number and press Display. Faster than before.

5.Customize whether to load objects:
    Currently only for solar system planets. User can choose not to load planets into the system, hence enhance the speed of start-up. (The Sun is always loaded, thereby, calculated.)

6.Enhanced Messier Info and info of other objects:
    Add the “size” and “distance” information into messier object info box. There are two more types of objects which are now displayed in a separate info box: Stars with common name, and constellation. Use search function to view them. [2006/11/18 updated]

Other:

Slightly more locations in the list. (about 15, most of them are in Asia and Taiwan)  I CANNOT add too much, for the operation of RMS is slow, and it takes up time to start up. (NOTE: When using this software in the first time, it will take LONGER to open up!! Not a bug, but it is something to be improved. --> due to more built-in locations)

 

Screenshots:

Search Screen, Search Result Screen of keyword = “neb”

Planet Info Screen with Goto Function, Time Mode on Main Screen

 

Bug Fixes:

1.fix incorrect timezone saving:
     using TextField instead of ChoiceGroup, which leads to problem when the number of entry is large. Still unsolved and I cannot figure out why it is so. (ChoiceGroup’s getSelectedIndex simply returns incorrectly)

2.persistant backlight can be turned off:
    some devices report flashing when using persistant backlight feature in v0.08, possibly due to implementation difference of JVM in the devices. If it does not work on your phone, now user can choose not to use the feature in the preference screen.
 

Mobilestarchart 20061112


Bug Fixes:

1.fix incorrect timezone saving:
     using TextField instead of ChoiceGroup, which leads to problem when the number of entry is large. Still unsolved and I cannot figure out why it is so. (ChoiceGroup's getSelectedIndex simply returns incorrectly)

2.backlight can be turned off:
    some devices report flashing when using persistant backlight feature in v0.08, possibly due to implementation difference of JVM in the devices. If it does not work on your phone, now user can choose not to use the feature in the
preference screen.


New Feature:

1.Search:
    Simply type any keyword(case insensitive, not whole word match) in the search box, and search for the whole sky  database. Currently searchable objects include "stars with common name", "constellation name/abbr", "planets name, including the Sun and the Moon"(this one is whole-word matched), "Messier Objects by its ID number or common name." [2006/11/18 updated]

2.Goto:
    when browsing in information box(planet, messier, bright star, or constellation info box), if it is visible in the current time and location, a new Goto button appears which takes you directly to the position where it is. [2006/11/18 update]

3.New way to quickly view Messier Info:
    just type the number and press Display. Faster than before.

4.Customize whether to load objects:
    Currently only for solar system planets. User can choose not to load planets into the system, hence enhance the speed of start-up. (The Sun is always loaded, thereby, calculated.)

5.Enhanced Messier Info and info of other objects:
    Add the "size" and "distance" information into messier object info box. There are two more types of objects which are now displayed in a separate info box: Stars with common name, and constellation. Use search function to view them. [2006/11/18 updated]

6.Slightly more locations in the list. (about 15, most of them are in Asia and Taiwan)
    cannot add too much, for the operation of RMS is slow, and it takes up time to start up. (NOTE: When using this software in the first time, it will take longer to open up!! Not a bug, but it is something to be improved. --> due to more built-in locations)

====================

TODO: (for 0.09 final release, or even 0.1...)

1. Add NGC and other interesting celestial objects. About 100-200 ones. (still searching for appropriate database source)
2. Add Search function (search for sun, moon, planets, star names, messier objects, NGC, and any other)
    either by name, or by its number (almost finished, 2006/11/18)
3. Add user defined objects
4. Time shifting function. Say, forward/backward by 10min, 30min, 1hr, 1day, month or year... Yeah, this should be easy. I'll try.