		     The Earth Centered Universe (ECU)
			   for MS-Windows 3.1

		  A Shareware Sky Visualization Program
			 for Amateur Astronomers

			       Version 2.0
			    Released April 1995

			     Nova Astronomics
			      (David J. Lane)
			   4-26 Randall Avenue
			       PO Box 31013
			   Halifax, Nova Scotia
			     Canada  B3K 5T9

		   Voice: (902) 443-5989 (evenings GMT-4)
			    Fax: (902) 445-5790
			      CIS: 71601,247
		    Internet: dlane@hercules.stmarys.ca

	     ECU is also available in French (currently V1.5)

      Available on Compuserve in Lib 7 or ASTROFORUM as ECUSHA.EXE
	 Available on Internet by FTP at "hercules.stmarys.ca" 
		       as "/pub/ecu/ecushare.exe"

	ECU V2.0 is a shareware Sky Visualization Program for Microsoft 
 Windows 3.1 called "The Earth Centered Universe".  It is capable of 
 simulating many of the features of the Earth's sky.  You only need to 
 enter your geographic location and the time and the local sky is
 simulated on the screen in a colourful display.  This includes, but 
 is not  limited to the stars, planets, Sun, Moon, comets, asteroids, and
 "deep sky" objects.  Constellation, Constellation boundary, coordinate 
 grid, ecliptic, and local horizon lines are also displayed.  It prints 
 high quality star charts to any Windows-compatible printer and also controls
 modern computerized telescopes.

	ECU is designed as an observing tool for the observing amateur 
 astronomer, but is equally useful to the "armchair" astronomer or 
 other interested person interested in the night sky.

	Some of the features of ECU are listed below:

       - the sky is simulated in either a "sky atlas" or "local horizon" mode   
       - fast operation - mostly integer math so math processor is not 
	 needed, but is supported to improve speed of solar system 
	 calculations, etc.
       - colourful display - colours of all screen elements controllable
	 by user with scroll bars
       - high quality customizable star charts can be printed on any Windows
	 compatible printer or plotter.  All fonts are fully programmable
       - continuous display of LMT, UTC, latitude and longitude, RA/DEC, 
	 AZ/ALT, field size, and star and deep sky mag limit
       - the display of Siderial and Julian Date are available
       - databases: Yale star catalogue to 6.5 magnitude
		    SAO star catalogue to 9.5 magnitude 
		    SAC deep sky database (over 10,000 objects)
		    planets, Sun, Moon, comets, and asteroids
		    supports the Hubble Guide Star Catalog CD-ROMs which
		      contain about 15,000,000 stars
       - very easy to use - zoom box, center image, zoom in/out, etc. all
	 done with the mouse.  Scroll bars for RA and DEC or Alt/Az.  Hot
	 keys and buttons for common functions
       - click on an object and an information box pops up.  All objects 
	 give RA, Dec, azimuth, altitude, rise and set times, and magnitude.
	 Planets/Sun/Moon give distance (AU or km), angular size (" or '), 
	 and phase (or age).  Comets and asteroids give distance to the Sun 
	 and the Earth in AU.  Yale stars give Yale number, HD number, SAO 
	 number, Flamsteed/Bayer designation, Spectral type, and proper 
	 motion.  SAO stars give SAO number, and spectral type.  Hubble stars
	 give their catalog number, deep sky objects provide a varying amount 
	 of info but usually provide the name (an other name), Dreyer 
	 description, size, classification, etc.  Their coordinates can be 
	 precessed to the current date/time.
       - the user can display up to 25 images of each object, if they exist,
	 through the use of an external viewer.  No images are provided with ECU.
       - measure angular separation on the sky with the mouse.  It also 
	 provides the difference in RA/Dec and Alt/Az
       - load and save all settings to named configuration files
       - load and save comet and asteroid elements to separate ASCII files      
       - undo last operation
       - time set as LMT, UTC, or system clock (daylight savings flag, too.)
       - time format as 24 hour or am/pm
       - observer's location entered by lat/long or pick list of preprogrammed
	 cities (add your own, too)
       - control the effects of observer's parallax, nutation, precession, light travel
	 time, aberration, and atmospheric refraction
       - show sky as white on black background or black on white background, 
	 or in full colour 
       - also supported are two "red" modes to protect your night vision if used 
	 at the telescope
       - set magnitude limits of deep sky and stars (with scroll bars)
       - select type of deep sky objects displayed (with check boxes)
       - displays horizon line, ecliptic line, ra/dec grid (auto scaling),
	 zenith marker, constellation lines, and IAU constellation boundary lines
       - labels for bright stars, constellations, messiers, coordinate grid, etc.
       - extensive labelling of objects.  
       - fully configurable font support is provided 
       - Two circles and one rectangle of a programmable angular size 
	 can be draw at the centre of the sky display that are intended
	 to represent field of view of your main telescope, finder scope,
	 and camera respectively.
       - center on - RA/DEC
		   - Azim/Alt
		   - bright stars
		   - constellations
		   - messiers
		   - points on horizon (north, south, etc.)
		   - solar system objects
		   - search the database and center on the object found
       - animation mode - time increments in steps from 1 minute to four years or a 
			  user selected arbitrary increment
			- set direction either forward or reverse
			- lock to Sun, Moon, Planet, alt/az or ra/dec
			- trails of objects supported
       - extensive support is provided for the Meade LX200 (and LXD) 
	 telescope series.  This includes a moving cross hair or variable size 
	 field indicator on the screen, a real-time coordinate readout, and hand
	 controller support.  It also allows the scope to be "slewed" to an selected 
	 object
       - extensive support is provided for many models of digital setting circles.  
	 This includes a moving cross hair or variable size field indicator on the 
	 screen and a real-time coordinate readout.  It also aids the user in 
	 finding a selected object
       - prints high quality star charts on any Windows-compatible printer
	 with customized titles, programmable borders, scale factors for 
	 deep sky and stellar symbols, etc.
       - A dialog box to display the rise/set times of the sun and moon
	 on the current day is provided.  It also shows the times of civil, 
	 nautical, and astronomical twilight
       - and much, much more!

       - system requirements:  386/486 100% PC compatible
			       486 recommended  
			       Math co-processor beneficial
			       MS-Windows 3.x (standard or enhanced mode)
			       EGA/VGA or better color screen
			       1M Bytes free memory from within MS-Windows
			       80x87 (or 486DX) recommended but not required
			       Mouse
			       Windows compatible printer supported

       - Distributed Name: ECUSHARE.EXE (ECUSHA.EXE on Compuserve)
       - Shareware fee - $50.00US ($70.00CDN) 
		       - $15.00US ($20.00CDN) for upgrades
       - Customer Support is provided by free e-mail, telephone, or mail support
