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README.TXT
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CyberSky 3.2 Shareware Version           September 28, 2000


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OVERVIEW
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CyberSky is an exciting, entertaining, and educational
astronomy program that transforms your personal computer
into your personal planetarium. CyberSky provides an
excellent way to learn about astronomy and to explore the
wonders of the sky visible in the distant past, the
present, and the far-off future.

CyberSky displays accurate charts of the sky as seen from
any location on the earth. Sky charts can include stars,
constellations, deep sky objects, and solar system objects,
and can be enhanced by the addition of labels, coordinate
system grids, and reference lines. CyberSky's user-friendly
interface allows you to easily change your view of the sky,
search for celestial objects, and display data about those
objects. CyberSky also prints attractive sky charts that
you can take outside with you.

CyberSky was designed to be simple enough to appeal to
people who are just beginning to discover astronomy, yet
provide enough information to be useful to people who've
already learned the basics. CyberSky has the ability to
quickly and easily show you what's visible today or next
weekend, but it is also accurate enough to help with
research involving the appearance of the sky in the distant
past, for example, during the era of pyramid construction
in ancient Egypt.

CyberSky's ease of use and amazing animation feature make
it an innovative and motivating learning environment.
CyberSky provides an excellent way to learn the names and
positions of the stars, constellations, and deep sky
objects, and to become familiar with the motions of solar
system objects across the sky. Many of the most basic and
interesting astronomical phenomena can only be observed
over weeks or months of time, and by observing the sky from
widely separated locations. CyberSky lets you do this; it
places the sky under your control.

CyberSky is used by people all over the world who want to
learn about astronomy, by amateur and professional
astronomers who need a straightforward planetarium program,
by parents who want to share the joys of astronomy with
their children, and by educators who want to empower their
students to learn in a way unimagined a decade or two ago.
CyberSky has something to offer you, regardless of your
level of astronomy knowledge.


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FEATURES
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Features of CyberSky 3.2 include:

GENERAL

- Displays detailed, accurate, and dynamic views of the sky
  as seen from any location on the earth. You can move your
  viewpoint in any direction, even below the horizon, and
  can select from a wide range of zoom levels.

- Allows you to search for stars, constellations, deep sky
  objects, solar system objects, and points on the
  celestial sphere.

- Allows you to customize colors and fonts, and to
  customize screen and printer colors and fonts
  independently of each other.

- Prints attractive sky charts on any type of printer
  supported by Windows.

- Saves sky charts as bitmap files that you can use as
  Windows wallpaper.

STARS

- The registered version of CyberSky includes 80,179 stars
  to magnitude 8.5, whereas the shareware version includes
  only 1,671 stars to magnitude 5.0.

- Displays stars in white or in colors based on their
  spectral types.

- Labels stars with their proper names, Bayer letters,
  Flamsteed numbers, or magnitudes.

- Displays information about any star, including the star's
  proper name, Bayer and Flamsteed designations, equatorial
  and horizontal coordinates, magnitude, the constellation
  it is in, its rising, transit, and setting times, and its
  spectral type.

CONSTELLATIONS

- Displays the official, internationally recognized
  constellation boundary lines that define each of the 88
  constellations.

- Displays attractive constellation figures, and allows you
  to view the figures of all 88 constellations or only
  those of the 12 zodiacal constellations.

- Labels constellations with their official three-letter
  abbreviations, their official Latin names, or equivalent
  English or German names.

DEEP SKY OBJECTS

- The registered version of CyberSky includes 472 deep sky
  objects to magnitude 8.5, whereas the shareware version
  includes only 68 deep sky objects to magnitude 5.0.

- Labels deep sky objects with their popular names or
  catalog numbers.

- Displays information about any deep sky object, including
  the object's name, catalog numbers, equatorial and
  horizontal coordinates, magnitude, the constellation it
  is in, its rising, transit, and setting times, and its
  type.

SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS

- Displays the positions of the sun, moon, and all planets
  in the solar system, including the phases of Mercury,
  Venus, and the moon, the four Galilean satellites of
  Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn.

- Displays the paths of solar system objects across the
  sky. The positions of objects along their paths can be
  marked and labeled with the date and time.

- Solar system objects can be locked to the center of the
  sky chart, making it possible to watch many interesting
  astronomical phenomena, including solar eclipses,
  occultations of stars by the moon, and the motions of the
  Galilean satellites around Jupiter.

- Displays information about any solar system object,
  including the object's equatorial, horizontal, and
  ecliptic coordinates, distances from the earth and sun,
  elongation from the sun, angular diameter, magnitude, the
  constellation it is in, its rising, transit, and setting
  times, and the illumination of its disk.

REFERENCE GRIDS, LINES, AND POINTS

- Displays and labels equatorial and horizontal coordinate
  system grid lines.

- Displays the ecliptic, celestial equator, and galactic
  equator.

- Displays and labels the north and south ecliptic poles,
  celestial poles, and galactic poles.

HELP SYSTEM

- Includes context-sensitive Help for all user interface
  items and for all dialog boxes.

- Includes reference information about constellations and
  solar system objects, diagrams and tables, and a glossary
  of astronomical terms.

- Includes explorations that suggest ways to use CyberSky
  to learn more about such topics as precession, proper
  motion, and the retrograde motion of the planets.


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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
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System requirements for CyberSky 3.2 are as follows:

- Personal computer with an Intel Pentium or compatible
  processor.

- Microsoft Windows 95, 98, Me, NT 4.0, or 2000 operating
  system.

- About 5 MB of disk space for the registered version;
  about 2 MB for the shareware version.

- Desktop area 800 by 600 pixels in size or larger.

- Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device.


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INSTALLING OR UNINSTALLING CYBERSKY
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To install CyberSky, simply run the SETUP.EXE file located
in the same folder as this README.TXT file.

To uninstall CyberSky, click the Start button, point to
Programs, CyberSky, and then click Uninstall CyberSky.


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PRODUCT SUPPORT
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If you encounter a problem while using CyberSky, or find an
error in the program's documentation, please report your
discovery to support@cybersky.com, or to Stephen Michael
Schimpf, 2444 West 230th Street, Torrance, CA 90501-5242,
USA. It is possible that the problem you've encountered has
already been corrected. Please visit www.cybersky.com to
find out if you're running the latest version of the
software.

When reporting a problem, please be as descriptive as
possible. Provide any relevant information about the
hardware and software you are using, describe any messages
you may have seen, and list the steps required to reproduce
the problem. Be sure to mention which version of CyberSky
and which version of Windows you are running. If the
problem involves printing a sky chart, be sure to mention
the make and model of printer you're using.


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ORDERING CYBERSKY
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CyberSky is not free software. You may use the shareware
version on up to 21 separate days, after which you must
either purchase the registered version, or remove the
software from your computer.

Please refer to the 'Ordering CyberSky' section of the
program's Help file for complete ordering information. Or,
visit www.cybersky.com to place your order by secure online
order form. Online delivery is available!

