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News: LunarPhase Pro V3.10 Released September 1st, 2006
The author welcomes comments or suggestions on LunarPhase Pro (and reports of any bugs you might find) and can be contacted at: Contact Author
If you bought LunarPhase Pro through a retailer, consider sending in your CD Key and email address so you can be notified of product updates, which happen frequently, (and to register your software). Any information provided is strictly confidential and will not be passed on to any third parties. Information can be forwarded to the above contact link.
If you’re not already a member of the LunarPhase Pro discussion group, you should consider signing up. You’ll have the opportunity to communicate with other LunarPhase Pro users, exchange observing notes and images as well as keeping up to date with the software. You can submit a request to join the group below:
Buy an Acre of Land on the Moon
...and help fund a public/private mission to return humans to the Moon by 2012.
*** Version 3 Is Now Available ***
If you originally purchased (rather than upgraded to) any release of LunarPhase Pro prior to V2.51 (i.e. V2.50 or earlier), you may upgrade to Version 3 at a reduced price. For Version 1 users, there's a 33% discount and for Version 2 users, a 66% discount. Fees and ordering options are listed at the:
LunarPhase Pro Upgrade Order Page.
If you are not a licensed user of LunarPhase Pro, please go to the Main Order Page to buy a a copy of the software. LunarPhase Pro is $39.95 for the Digital DOwnload and $49.95 for the CD.
I know what it's like having just bought a piece of software only to find out a later version is available. So, if you puchased a release of LunarPhase Pro, between V2.51 and V2.53 (inclusive), you may upgrade to Version 3 for free. Please email me and request LunarPhase Pro V3.00 Download Instructions. Include your name, CD Key and email address with the request.
The Version 3 upgrade requires that LunarPhase Pro was installed from an original CD or Digital Download. It will not work otherwise.
If you have already purchased Version 3 or upgraded to Version 3, no further upgrade fee will be required for V3.xx updates.
You can upgrade from any previous version V3.xx release to V3.10 with this upgrade.
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The difference between fully zoomed Hires maps (top) and Very Hires maps (bottom). Click for full-size view |
V3.10 (released September 1st, 2006) is the current release of the software. If you already use V3.xx of the software, you can download the upgrade via the Check for Upgrade button on LunarPhase Pro's About screen.
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V3.10):
New: Watch over 200 videos about the Moon and other astrnomy-related topics (nedds a broadband connection).
Bug Fix: The 1-hour discrepancy for the age of the Moon on the Crescent Moons screen has been fixed.
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V3.00):
New: Higher 1280x994 screen resolution option added to Lunar Explorer screen
New: Top-Down feature viewing facility added. Lets you see features on the Moon from directly overhead
New: Moon Rotation option added. Rotate the Moon to get the views we can't here on Earth
New: The Grid Overlay colour for 3D views can now be changed
New: Higher 1280x994 screen resolution option added to Lunar Explorer screen
New: The feature identify ring has been improved
New: When changing to a view of the opposite side of the Moon, the Near or Far side now rotates into view
New: Search for feature name in a feature list by keying in part of that feature's name
New: Chart icons beside feature names in feature lists indicate that that feature has at least one Moon Chart associated with it
New: In the pane that displays feature information when a feature has been identified, the camera, notes and chart icons (when available) can be clicked as a shortcut to open the associated screens
New: Moon Charts Screen that displays detailed charts of particular lunar features downloaded from the internet. The charts can then be saved locally to your PC so that time and bandwidth is not wasted repeatedly downloding the charts. The screen allows you to pan over the charts, zoom into them and print them out
New: Moon In The News Screen has been completely revamped. It now presents news in three categories from two news sources. Categories are: Moon in the News, Astronomy & Space News and General Science News. The sources are Webnews (i.e. news stories drawn for a variety of news sources on the internet) and Podcasts (audio/video files that include news, reports, interviews, etc.) Some of the Podcasts are actually Vodcasts (play video rather than just audio). Podcasts are categorized in the same way as web news.
New: Online Moon Books that lists a number of books about the Moon, Moon Landings, etc. that are available on the internet. Click on a book to open it in your browser.
New: Data on Lunar Features Database screen can now be sorted (in ascending or descending order) by clicking on the column titles on the screen.
New: Rows are now sorted by name on the Feature Search Screen to make things easier to find. A row clicked on the screen now becomes highlighted in navy so you don't lose track of where you were.
New: LST Clock, on the main screen, previously only showed LST for the current time (based on you PC's clock). Now updates to show LST for selected time/date. This includes changes in Daylight Savings Time
New: New option added to Configuration screen to allow selection of Overlay Grid colour (on Lunar Explorer screen)
New: New option added to Configuration screen to allow selection of the default screen resolution when the Lunar Explorer screen opens
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V2.53):
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V2.51):
New: New Apogee/Perigee Phase Correlation screen. Shows when major Moon phases occur near Apogee or Perigee.
New: Eclipse Circumstances screen updated to show enter/exit positions of Moon in relation to Umbral and Penumbral shadows.
Bug Fix: A bug in identifying features by click on maps in the Lunar Explorer has been fixed. This bug only occurred for the very largest features on the Moon.
Bug Fix: The last letter in month names for the Apogee & Perigee figures on main LunarPhase Pro screen sometimes became corrupted. Now fixed.
Bug Fix: Web Links Menu: Fixed some broken links.
Bug Fix: Find Similar Illumination Screen: CoLongitude field now only accepts values between 0 and 360 degrees.
Bug Fix: Find Similar Illumination Screen: Minutes and Seconds fields now restricted to 0-59 range.
Bug Fix: LApogee/Perigee Correlation screen: Tighter checks added to the selection of months and years.
Bug Fix: Lunar Explorer screen: When Very High Res maps are being loaded for display, the hourglass now remains on screen to show image loading is still taking place.
Bug Fix: Lunar Explorer screen: The Grid overlay is no longer obliterated when Very High Res maps are displayed and the grid is active.
Bug Fix: Date Information screen: This screen (right-click on a date in the calendar) would only come up for the first date clicked. Now fixed.
Bug Fix: Rise/Set Times For Month Screen: Now shows the correct LST at Midnight time when Daylight Savings Time is in effect
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V2.45):
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V2.42):
New: LunarPhase Pro is now fully compatible with OpenGL 2.0
New: An option to print out scaled maps has been added (for those who want to save ink/toner)
Bug Fix: Low specified Win98 systems had problems printing out maps. A fix has been introduced to circumvent the problem.
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V2.35):
New: Moon Rise & Set Positions screen shows the compass directions for the rising and setting Moon for the selected date.
Bug Fixes: Clicking the Standard View icon on the Lunar Explorer screen returned to using a low resolution map if the high or very high map resolutions were being used. Now fixed.
Bug Fixes: Switching screen resolution on the Lunar Explorer screen from 1024x768 to 800x600 left the three slider controls in the wrong positions. Now fixed.
Bug Fixes: Switching screen resolution on the Lunar Explorer screen caused the list of Terminator features to blank out (if that option was selected on the dropdown menu). Now fixed.
Bug Fixes: If the user had selected to show the Moon's parallactic angle, Rukl Chart outlines were displayed in the wrong positions. Now fixed (the parallactic angle is turned off for Rukl charts to mimic the charts as prestented in the original printed atlas).
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V2.30):
New: Very High Resolution (VHR) Maps have been introduced into this version (V2.30) which show more surface detail when the maps are zoomed in. For information about using these maps, you need to read the Map Resolution section of the helpfile (it's on the Helpfile Navigation Bar in the Lunar Explorer section).
New: The "Moon in the News" screen lists current news stories relating to the Moon. Stories are updated when the "Get Latest News" button is clicked. Needs an internet connection to work.
New: The Help file now has dark text on a white background so it should be easier to read.
Bug Fixes: The 'Feature Search', 'Feature Label Setup' and 'Sunrise and Sunset Position' screens were drawn incorrectly on systems that weren't using Windows' Small Fonts resolution setting. These have now been fixed.
Bug Fixes: The missing Astronomical Twilight start and end times were added into the Sun Rise & Set Positions screen.
Bug Fixes: The problem with white blocks/areas that some users were seeing on the Daily View screen has been corrected.
Bug Fixes: The Moon's age is now calculated correctly when DST is in effect (instead of being out by an hour).
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V2.23):
New: The Lunar Explorer screen can now show the Moon's orientation as seen in the sky (it's parallactic angle). Displaying the Moon this way requires the user to tick the "Show Parallactic Angle" checkbox on the Configuration screen.
New: A new map label type (called "Terminator") has been added to the Label Setup screen. If only this is ticked, then only labels for features along the terminator are displayed on the 3D maps on the Lunar Explorer screen. Display of these labels is not dependent on the Minimum Feature Diameter value (i.e. all terminator features as listed in the Terminator dropdown are displayed on the map).
New: A new option has been added to the Configuration screen which lets you specify if distances and feature sizes are displayed im kilometres or miles (It's at the bottom left of the second panel on the screen).
Bug Fixes: The Daily View bug that was supposedly fixed in V2.21 still appeared for high latitude settings. This has now been corrected. The sky background on this screen now more accurately reflects the twilight hours.
Bug Fixes: The shadow on the far side view of the Moon was drawn incorrectly. This is now fixed. The far-side view now also takes account of the parallactic angle (if it's being used).
Enhancements and Bug Fixes (V2.20):
New: A new Meteor Showers screen shows when the Moon interferes with possible observations of those showers.
New: A new Sun Rise & Set Positions screen shows the compass directions for the rising and setting Sun for the selected date.
New: The Moon's correct orientation as seen in the sky (it's parallactic angle) can now be displayed on LunarPhase Pro's main screen. This option can be turned on or off on the Configuration screen.
New: A print facility has been added to the Crescent Moon Visibility screen.
New: The constellation the Moon is in for the selected time and date is now displayed on the clock bar on the main screen.
New: The Telescope/Eyepiece Combinations screen has been modified to record eyepiece diameters with fractional values (e.g. 6.4 mm). The screen now shows calculated magnifications and Fields of View (FOV) to one decimal place. This provides greater accuracy for emulating eyepiece views on the Lunar Explorer screen.
New: Previous and Next buttons have been added to the "Did You Know?" popup screen to allow navigation through the various facts. Pressing the ENTER or ESC keys will now close the screen down.
V2.00 Enhancements and Bug Fixes (Previous Versions):
New: A new Feature Search screen allows the database to be searched for features based on different criteria. The results can be printed out.
New: The Terminator Features list can be printed out, including any
observation notes recorded (or preinstalled) for listed features.
New: LunarPhase Pro has been converted to use a database back end instead of flat data files. This makes some functions within the application faster.
New: Database now contains 9,264 named features. Most of the new additions are the smaller lettered craters such as Mosting A, etc.
New: The database can now be searched for features that match your criteria.
New: A new Find Similar Illumination screen lets you see future times and dates for when lunar features are under the same illumination.
New: Added Rukl Chart outlines to moon map - the chart to view is selected from a dropdown list.
New: Lists of features for each Rukl Chart can be viewed in a dropdown list. 76 charts and data are included.
New: The Lunar Explorer screen will now show you what the moon looks like through different telescope/eyepiece combinations. Select the telescope/eyepiece combination you want from a dropdown menu built from data entered on the new Telescope/Eyepiece Combinations screen.
New: A new Telescope/Eyepiece Combinations screen lets you enter the details of your telescope and eyepieces and calculates the Power and Fields of View for them.
New: A new Feature Notes screen lets you record any observations related to a selected feature (any feature can have notes associated with it). Notes can be added, edited and deleted. The screen also displays the general comment regarding the selected feature.
New: A new Feature Images screen allows you to link multiple images (from your hard disk) to any feature within LunarPhase Pro's database.
New: Image and Notes icons on the feature list section of the Lunar Explorer screen give a quick view as to which features have associated notes and images.
New: The list of Terminator features can be printed out for use at the telescope. The printouts include any observation notes that have been recorded for the features.
New: Lunar Explorer Screen: Right-click on any feature in the features list to add a note, image or jump to a webpage containing images of that feature.
New: Lunar Explorer Screen: Different map textures can now be selected - 3 mineral, one gravity and a Clementine Near infra-red map.
New: If you've bought a plot of land on the Moon, a new Lunar Property screen lets you enter the details of your plot(s). Their positions can then be identified on the maps as with any other feature. In addition, you can jump to a webpage that has satellite images of the area where your plot resides.
New: Lunar Explorer Screen: Added a Reports menu option which gives access to the Lunar Libration, Find Similar Illumination, Telescope/Eyepiece Combinations, Moon Maps and Lunar Property screens.
New: Lunar Explorer Screen: A new Standard View icon lets you quickly reset the view to standard map and view (e.g. if the display has been changed to emulate the view through an eyepiece.)
New: Lunar Explorer Screen: Is now linked to the main screen so any date/time change on main screen causes Lunar Explorer to update to the selected date and/or time. [Previously, the Lunar Explorer Screen had to be closed and reopened in order to get it to use a new time and date].
New: Configuration Screen: New Use Extended Data option lets you include lettered craters (or not) on any screen that references the features database.
New: Configuration Screen: New Check for Upgrade on Startup option added for Broadband users. This will let LPPro check for updates automatically when it starts up. 28k/56k modem users should leave this option unticked.
New: Configuration Screen: New Lunar Explorer Optics option added to allow the optics view for the Lunar Explorer screen to be selected independently of that used on the main screen.
New: Configuration Screen: New Eyepiece Sky Background Colour option added to allow you to set the sky background colour for the eyepiece emulation mode.
Change: Lunar Explorer Screen: Centering on a point on the map is done by right-clicking on map and selecting the "Center" option. Original icon removed .
Change: Lunar Explorer Screen: Measuring distance on the map is done by right-clicking on map and selecting the "Measure Distance" option from the menu, and then clicking on two points on the map. Original icon removed.
Bug Fixes: Broken links on the WebLink Menu have been fixed. Added three new links: Lunar Picture of the Day, Lunar Domes Program and LunarPhase Pro Support Page. Plus other minor bugs.
V1.78 Enhancements and Bug Fixes:
New: About Screen: If Check for Upgrade button clicked and no new version is available, a notice to that effect now appears.
New: A Check for Upgrade button has been added to the About screen. The upgrade check is a manual process so LunarPhase Pro does not attempt to dial out when it starts up. This to cater for modem users rather than broadband users.
New: Modified the Label Setup screen to cater for new Lunar 100 feature type.
New: Added Tick All Features and Untick All Features buttons to Label Setup screen to aid in selecting which feature types should display labels.
New: Modified the display of data in the features list on Lunar Explorer screen. Column widths were modified slightly to allow for longer feature names in the Lunar 100 list. Smooth left-to-right scrolling replaces the original scrolling which hopped from one column to the next. The new smooth scrolling will make it easier to read data.
New: Modified the display of data in the features list on Lunar Features Database screen. Column widths were modified slightly to allow for longer feature names in the Lunar 100 list. Smooth left-to-right scrolling replaces the original scrolling which hopped from one column to the next. The new smooth scrolling will make it easier to read data.
New: Lunar 100 features are now listed on the Terminator features list. They can be identified by their 3-digit numeric prefixes.
Bug fix: Lunar Explorer: Bug in libration animation for far side fixed (V1.74 artifact)
Bug fix: Lunar Explorer: Position of the moon now updated/positioned correctly (if offset from centre) when optics view is changed. Sliders in correct position also.
Bug fix: Lunar Explorer: Lunar Terminator now takes account of moon's axial tilt
Bug fix: Lunar Explorer: Lunar terminator is now drawn more crisply (i.e. It’s less fuzzy) when map zoomed in
Bug fix: Lunar Explorer: Feature labels now displayed correct way up for southern hemisphere users
Bug fix: Lunar Explorer: Feature labels were vertically offset from correct positions in “Diagonal” and “Refractor With Diagonal” views. Now fixed.
Bug fix: Fixed bug in Sunset and Moonset times for non-GMT timezones in the Crescent Visibility Screen.
Bug fix: Removed the Lunar 100 features 001, 002 and 003 from Features SunRise/SunSet Times screen as they didn't make sense being there.
Bug fix: Modified display of data in the Lunar Features Database screen so that Lunar 100 feature descriptions no longer overwrite the lunar latitude values.
Bug fix: An "Unable to create file" error message appeared for some users when the Lunar Libration screen was called. Now fixed.
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Looking for software to complement LunarPhase Pro? DeepSky Astronomy Software allows you to plan and organize your observing sessions. The DVD version includes over 410,000 images of galazies, nebulae and other other deep sky objects. Recommended.
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