Version 3.4.1 - 16th May 2017

Version 3.4.1 of AstroGrav is an upgrade containing a range of minor improvements and bug fixes. This information is intended for existing users who are already familiar with AstroGrav and want to quickly find out about the main changes. This is a free upgrade for customers who have already purchased an AstroGrav 2 or AstroGrav 3 license, so that all you need to do is download Version 3.4.1 and use it in place of your old version. If you have any problems with this new version, please don't hesitate to contact us so that we can help you out.

Version 3.4.1 of AstroGrav has the following new and improved features.

• Importing Objects
• View Windows
• Object Windows
• New Units
• Other Improvements

Importing Objects

The Edit / Import Objects... command reads data from addresses at NASA's JPL site that have recently changed. As a result, earlier versions of AstroGrav are now unable to read this data, and the import tables appear empty. Version 3.4.1 of AstroGrav fixes this problem, and also includes the following improvements to the importing of asteroids and comets.

• The sorting of the huge asteroid tables shown with the Edit / Import Objects... command has been speeded up.
• Descriptive popups have been added to the Category boxes of asteroid and comet import tables.
• The default export filename of an asteroid or comet import table has been improved.

View Windows

Version 3.4.1 of AstroGrav includes the following improvements to the way that view windows operate.

• Celestial grids are now displayed correctly at very high magnifications.
• Background star searching in solar system simulations with the Edit / Find... command has been enhanced to allow searching on any of the following catalogue numbers or designations.
  • Harvard Revised No
  • Flamsteed Designation
  • Bayer Designation
  • Durchmusterung ID
  • Henry Draper No
  • Hipparcos No
  • Tycho No
• Background star searching in solar system simulations with the Edit / Find... command has been greatly speeded up, although this will probably only be noticeable on slower computers.
• The frequent unwanted 180° flips of azimuth labels has been removed.
• The tendendancy for longitude labels to jump from one side of a longitude line to the other has been greatly reduced.
• Constellation skeleton lines running to or from the viewpoint are now suppressed when viewing from a background star that forms part of a constellation's skeleton.

Object Windows

Version 3.4.1 of AstroGrav includes the following improvements to the way that object windows operate.

• Long object names have been truncated so that object windows are no longer too wide as a consequence.
• The popups on labels have been improved so that they include the appropriate object's name.
• Descriptive popups have been added to the celestial coordinates boxes.
• The popups on celestial coordinates labels have been improved so that they contain more useful information.
• The popups on celestial coordinates values have been improved so that they are displayed to the maximum possible accuracy.

New Units

Version 3.4.1 of AstroGrav includes the following new units.

• The lunar distances unit has been added to the distance units.
• The modified julian days unit has been added to the date units. This is evaluated as JD-2400000.5, where JD is the number of Julian days.

Other Improvements

Version 3.4.1 of AstroGrav also has many other minor improvements and bug fixes, including the following.

• An object's editor can now be opened immediately by double-clicking on the object with the Alt key depressed. This provides an alternative to selecting the object and then using the Edit / Edit Object... command.
• There are significant improvements to evolution performance.
• A bug has been fixed that caused the Edit / Split Object... command to always create a three-dimensional rubble pile regardles of whether a two- or three-dimensional rubble pile was specified.
• The Ephemeris preferences have been removed, with the Home Location... button being transferred to the General preferences.
• The default export filename of an ephemeris table has been improved.
• Many other minor performance improvements have been made.

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