Astro Bug

NOTTINGHAM, U.K. - AstroBug -- AstroGrav 5.2 includes major improvements to the faint background stars that are used with solar system simulations. Several of the sample simulations have been improved, an 'angular diameter' column has been added to ephemeris tables, recent landing sites have been added to the list of Moon locations, and there are many other improvements and bug fixes. Full details are available from:

http://www.astrograv.co.uk/version-5_2.html

Background Stars

The faint background stars are now derived from the more accurate Gaia DR3 data, instead of the less accurate Gaia DR2 data, with stars available down to magnitude 17, instead of down to magnitude 15. This increases the maximum number of faint background stars available from 36 million to 158 million. The stars now include accurate velocities, instead of having zero velocities, which provides a major improvement to the positional accuracy of stars with relatively large proper motions, particularly at times far from the base epoch of 2016 AD.  These improvements are important for anyone who uses AstroGrav to locate faint asteroids, and needs a very accurate background of faint stars to work from.

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Sample Simulations

The basic solar system sample simulations have had several minor improvements made to them, making them easier to use, and removing features that had previously been a source of confusion for users. Sample simulations that illustrate particular comets now use accurate absolute magnitudes for the comets, instead of using a default that was often very inaccurate.  Much more accurate visual magnitudes, masses, and diameters are a consequence of this improvement.

Other Improvements

A column for angular diameters has been added to ephemeris tables, and a bug has been fixed that sometimes prevented a search for a background star from working when specifying its Bayer designation.  The list of Moon locations has been brought up to date by adding the SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon), IM-1 (Intuitive Machines 1), and Chang'e 6 landing sites.  Several other minor improvements and bug fixes complete this major upgrade.

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The AstroGrav 5.2 update is free of charge, and may be downloaded and installed immediately from:

http://www.astrograv.co.uk/download.html

About AstroGrav Astronomy Software

AstroGrav Astronomy Software produces astronomical and gravity simulation software for astronomers, researchers, educationalists, and students. For more information, visit the company's website:

http://www.astrograv.co.uk/

Press Contact:
Russell Calvert
AstroGrav Astronomy Software
russcalvert@astrograv.co.uk