The Astral Homepage

Esta página em Português

What is Astral?

Astral is a program to simulate Newton's mechanics. The program calculates the interactions between a set of particles with mass, and moves them according to Newton' laws. You can simulate our own solar system, the earth and the moon, astronomical objects, or anything you want! The program is relatively simple to use, but some basic knowledge of Physics doesn't hurt.

What kind of system do I need?

The minimum system is a PC-compatible computer with a 286 processor, VGA graphics, and at least 400 KB of free memory. It occupies less than 300 KB on your hard disk. The program is designed for MS-DOS, and thus works perfectly in Windows 3.x or Windows 95. Because of the intense floating point calculations, the faster the machine, the better. If you have an ultra-fast state-of-the-art Pentium Pro, then the program will fly!

Where can I get it?

Here! There are two versions of the program: in Portuguese and in English. They are essentially the same, except for the language. You can downloaded them directly from this site: just look below.

Is it for free?

Yes, the program is Public Domain. That means that it is free and you can copy it to all your friends! Of course that if you really like the program, you are feeling generous, and you want to show me your appreciation, you can always reward me for it, if you want...

Can I see what it makes?

Yes, you can download some images generated by the program. These will give you an idea:

CRAZY.GIF - Some weird trajectories...
MOON.GIF - A simulation of a planet with a moon.
SIMM.GIF - Symmetry in motion.
3DSYS.GIF - A planet around a star seen in 3D.

I want to download it!

Ok, here it is...

AST-P31.ZIP - Version 3.1 in Portuguese, including 24 examples. (About 115 KB)
AST-I31.ZIP - Version 3.1 in English, including 24 examples. (About 113 KB)

Examples & utilities related to Astral

EXEM2P.ZIP - Pack of 10 more examples in Portuguese. (About 6 KB)
EXEM2I.ZIP - Pack of 10 more examples in English. (About 6 KB)

If you have any questions, suggestions, or whatever, contact me!

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Dario Oliveira Teixeira

si17836@ci.uminho.pt