BoPlanets planetarium / News: Recent posts

Changes:
Most browsers do not support Java Plugin and Java Web Start anymore. So running BoPlanets as an applet is removed.

Changes in Version V1.5

1. Unified user interface

2.Because most browsers do not support Java Plugin anymore, the applet of BoPlanets is now started by Java Web Start. The web address of the server, which hosts the applet, must be added to the exception site list of the Java Console, tab Security.

1. Open Help file:
   If BoPlanets runs as a local Java application the help file is opened in the local browser.
   If BoPlanets runs as a Java applet, opening in a local browser is not supported by most browsers.
   The help file is opened within a Java component with some restrictions e.g. external links could not be opened.... read more

BoPlanets-V1.3-Up2 is the second update of release V1.3.

Changes and bug fixes:
1.)Input of decimal numbers
In menu Observer Locations, when horizontal view was selected, and in menu Rise,Transit&Set-Times the decimal numbers of latitude and longitude were formatted with the Java decimal separator ".".
In Release V1.3-Up2 decimal numbers are formatted according to the current default locale.
2.)Results of rise, transit and set times
The results can now be viewed without horizontal scrolling.
3.)Rise, transit and set times observed by the sun
In V1.3-Up1 the results were incomplete and it took a pretty long time to produce the results.
This was corrected in V1.3-Up2. May be, that not many people are interested in this exotic data.

In V1.3-Up1 the calculation of minimum and maximum altitude for the
horizontal view was corrected.
If the absolte values of minimum and maximum declination are different,
then minimum and maximum altitude were determined incollrectly in release V1.3.
For the natural orbital parameters of the planets this difference is quite small;
so the effect of incorrect minimum and maximum altitude is hardly to see.
But if orbital parameters are modified, then the difference may be
quite significant.
Example:

• observer: Mercury
• planet: Mars
• excentricity of Mars=0.9
• inclination of Mars=-45 degrees

BoPlanets V1.3 was released.
The new release contains improvements concerning the presentation of the equatorial and horizontal view. All views show the orbitals of the planets so, that maximum and minimum of the coordinates are close to the margins of the actual window. In former releases maximum and minimum declination, which are required for the equatorial and horizontal view, were approximated. This worked fine, if planet and observer were not adjacent.
In release V1.3 maximum and minimum declination is determined mathematically exact by using the numerical gradient method and the 2 dimensional Newton method.
Now all combinations of planet and observer with standard orbital parameters are fitting within the actual window size. This holds for most combinations of modifiable orbital parameters.... read more

An update V1.2-U1 of BoPlanets was released at September 26, 2008.
Linux users reported, that the start window is not displayed completely, because of the fixed sized window.
This was fixed in this update release by increasing the minimum size and making the start window resizable.

An update of BoPlanets was released as release V1.2.
The changes mainly concerns the graphical user interface and clearness of control:

• Documentation:
  Viewing the documentation the window can no be resized.
  This makes it easier to read.

• Decimal numbers in localized form
  Decimal numbers in input and output fields are now handled due
  to the localized form.

• Termination of text field stepsize:
  In adition to terminating input of the field "stepsize" by clicking
  the adjacent ok-button this can be done by pressing the Enter-key.... read more

Beside bug fixes the new release V1.1 was enhanced by a new feature, by which rise, transit and set times of a planet are determined as seen by the selected observing planet. The position of the observer on the observing planet can be given by it's geographical coordinates or my be selected out of a list of named locations. Up to 366 consecuting rises, transits and sets may be determined. The resulting times are given as GMT date&time or as local date&time of the location.
Bug fixes/changes:

• more precise start positions of the planets were taken from Jet Propulsion Lab
• the era designator BC/AD was added to date&times
• only one window OrbitalParameters can be open
• the time zone offset of the local time was corrected.

The first version of BoPlanets was released.

BoPlanets is a virtual planetarium written in Java. It shows the movements of the planets relative to a selectable observing planet. The planets may be shown in the ecliptical, equatorial or horizontal view. The planets may be moved step by step or in continuous mode.

You may see the epicycles of the planets with the earth as center of the universe. Or you may see the dayly motion of the sun as seen by the mercury.... read more