Our email address is: mas
wmich-astro.orgConfigure Web Site
The following configuration form is broken down into an observing section and a miscellaneous section. The observing section lets you specify your location, configure the clear sky clock or the GOES map image. The miscellaneous section is for such features as night vision mode and background planetarium music.
To configure/customize this web site, fill out the following form and press [Submit]. The [Submit] button will create a new web address that includes your changes. If you're using Internet Explorer, this newly configured web address will be added to your "favorites" folder. Otherwise, you'll need to save this new web address in your browser's "favorite places/address" folder.
Note: Information about form parameters is provided below.
Hint: Visitors often press [Submit], then log onto our web site the next day and wonder what happened to their changes. Remember [Submit] only creates a new web address. You need to save this new address, so you can use it to log onto our web site.
Observing Section
Features on this web site, such as sun/moon rise/set times and the Night Sky hyperlinks, require the user's latitude and longitude. The Latitude and Longitude fields are in degrees, minutes, and seconds. If blank, the latitude field will default to 43°15'49"North and the longitude field will default to 86°01'25"West (Muskegon, Michigan U.S.A.).
The following are a few web sites to help determine your latitude/longitude coordinates:
Most of these sites will give your latitude and longitude coordinates in decimal degrees. Don't know how to convert decimal degrees? No problem! Just click here to change this configuration form to handle decimal degrees. You should then be able to [Ctrl]-[C] copy and [Ctrl]-[V] paste the decimal latitude and longitude figures into this form.
Note: This configuration form shows your current latitude/longitude. You can also see your location by hovering the mouse cursor over the date/time text box.
Many features on this web site need a time zone. The time zone is the number of hours west/east of Greenwich Mean Time. The default is 5 hours west, the current time zone for Muskegon, MI. U.S.A.
A time such as "15:30pm",indicate an incorrect time zone for the current latitude/longitude coordinates. For a simple city listing, click here. You could also try the time zone map.
Note: The default for the time zone used to come from your browser (). To keep calculations correct for Muskegon, MI., however, the time zone now defaults to 5 hours west. Just remember, when you change your latitude and longitude, also change your time zone.
Daylight Savings Time is the number of hours to subtract from your time zone. If left blank, the default is to the time zone. Daylight savings time is normally derived from your browser.
Examples
Eastern Standard Time: time zone = 5, daylight savings time = 0
Eastern Daylight Time: time zone = 5, daylight savings time = -1
Central Standard Time: time zone = 6, daylight savings time = 0
Central Daylight Time: time zone = 6, daylight savings time = -1
The satellite hyperlink needs to know your altitude, in meters. If blank, the altitude field will default to 208.
City Name/State/Zip Code/Country
The weather hyperlinks requires either a 5-digit zip code or your city/state/country. If blank, the city field will default to "Muskegon", the state field will default to "MI", the zip code field will default to 49442, and the country field will default to "US" (country only used in wunderground.com).
Note: If you do not know your zip code, leave it blank. Instead, just fill in the city name field and either the state or country fields. Oh, you only need to select a state or zip code if the country is "US".
To really customize, you can specify your observatory location description. If blank, the location field defaults to "M.A.S. Facility". And yes, now you can include spaces (example: "Allen Observatory").
The clear sky clock hyperlink provide 48 hour forecast of cloudiness, seeing, and transparency conditions for your location. The default is a hyperlink for Muskegon, Michigan U.S.A., but you can define this hyperlink to any clear sky clock available. To find a clear sky clock near you, visit http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/.
Note: If you cannot find such a hyperlink, simply leave this field blank. When the left frame is reloaded, the "Clear Sky Clock" hyperlink will disappear.
You can get the latest visible GOES satellite images from two different sources. The Research Applications Program (RAP) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) or the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. You decide on which image sector, or select (no selection) for no hyperlink at all. The default is the Madison, WI. sector of SSEC. For more information about RAP images, click here. For more information about SSEC images, click here.
Miscellaneous Section
After this web site loads, a selection of background planetarium music (mp3 files) can be played. From the selection list on this form, you can play a particular piece of music, a single piece of music randomly selected (random selection), or you can play the entire list of available music (all selections). With any selection, once the piece is finished it will repeat. With "all selections" you will hear every mp3 file except "radio signal", repeating for 20 minutes.
When a selection is played, a small console is created in a hidden frame located in the lower-left corner of this web site. This music frame also contains a selection list (allowing you to change music), a volume control (0 to 100 default 50), and a hyperlink to the music author's web site. To view this music frame, click the "Music" hyperlink found in the "Web Site Links" section. To hide this music frame, click the "Music" link once again.
If you play a selection and the volume is either too loud or too quiet, check your browser plug-in's volume control. If the volume is not what you defined, your plug-in might not be using the standard 0 to 100 scale. Try enabling the -4000 to -0 scale. When enabled, a volume of 0 is converted to -4000, a volume of 100 is converted to -0, etc.
A cascading style sheet determines the look of a web site. For browsers that can handle dynamic style sheets, this web site offers a variety of style sheets. Remember night vision mode? That's a style sheet. Recently we had the W. Tirion Sky Atlas deluxe edition look. That's the printer friendly style sheet.
Each sheet offers a different background image. Most sheets have white foreground and black background text. The night vision sheet uses dark red foreground and black background text. The printer friendly sheet uses black foreground and white background text. Oh, and the printer friendly sheet is always used in printing, regardless of the current sheet.
Note: Only the browser window is effected. If you wish to switch the colors on the fly for the entire Windows desktop, try http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~oliver/niteview/.
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Copyright © 2005 Muskegon Astronomical Society, Inc.
Our email address is: maswmich-astro.org
This web page was last updated 04/03/08