Version History

Version 5.5.1: Released 2006-02-26.

• User may specify an MJD when setting clock to a fixed Earth time.
• UTC to TT conversion uses leap-second table lookup where possible rather than always use parametric formula.
• Switched to ImageIO for saving PNG images to disk.

Version 5.5: Released 2005-11-30.

• Internals of sunclock map projections overhauled (although primarily for use by Panoply and not because Mars24 needed it).
• Added analemma display.
• Specifically set anti-aliasing via rendering hints as some Java/OS combinations may not automatically provide it with Graphics2D.
• All timing sequences handled by a single thread initialized in the timekeeper object.
• Plot and time windows fully resizable; no longer limited to some number of preset sizes.
• Lessened use of offscreen images in order to reduce memory demands.
• Rewrote loading of resources from Jar file to consistently work under Java 1.4 for both application and applet.
• Timing code updated to allow for Jan. 1, 2006, leap second.
• Tentative Mars Phoenix landing site (May 2008) included among landmarks.

Version 5.2.3: Released 2004-11-13.

• Spirit and Opportunity are still operating!
• Lon-lat grid may be marked on any sunlock map projection.
• Mac OS X version compatible with Java 1.4 and Panther appearance.
• Removed Beagle from "current" landers.
• Explicitly queries UI Manager for system "look and feel". This should improve the look on Windows XP et al.
• Some improvements to control responsiveness.
• Darkness of sunclock nightside is user-configurable.
• Merged Earth and Mars time settings into a single panel.
• Updated user's guide to match all the changes.

Version 5.2.2: Released 2004-03-18.

• Bugfix: Landmark menu on Mars time control panel was crippled.

Version 5.2.1: Released 2004-03-17.

• Use Ellipse2D class to draw smoother ellipses in orbital positions plot.
• Lon-lat grid enabled for all map projections used in sunclock.
• Rewrote CubicCurve class to work with floating point values and generate results that could be used to generate Graphics2D Shapes. As a consequence, sunclock lon-lat grids and panorama solar and Earth paths are much smoother.
• Location of Opportunity landing site updated per JPL e-mail.
• Locations of MPF and Viking landing sites revised to use values of Folkner 1997, with prime meridian redefinition of 2000.
• Added positions of Venus and Mercury to orbital positions plot.
• Refined planetocentric to planetographic conversion formula. As a result, all calculations of solar and earth positions (e.g., in panorama display) slightly more accurate.

Version 5.2.0: Released 2004-02-20.

• Sunclock may be automatically centered on sub-Earth or subsolar point using centering selection menu.
• Saved preferences now include window locations, plot window sizes, and other additional settings.
• Bugfix: Show MER-A and MER-B option correctly selected on launch when set in prefs.
• Bugfix: Equirectangular projection distorted in case of large monitor and certain longitude values of center of projection.
• Altered Mars time settings organization to make it more apparent how to choose Exploration Rover mission times.
• Earth-Mars distance readout may be shown in units other than light-minutes.
• Added (small) FAQ to help windows choices.
• Additional locations in landmarks choices.
• Bugfix: Windows/non-Mac version correctly detects if all windows have been closed, saves prefs, and quits.
• Replaced suffix appended to local mean zonal time readouts, now using "MTC+n" or "MTC-n" to indicate hour ahead of or behind MTC.
• All graphic display classes rewritten and handled as JComponent subclasses. Correspondingly. rewrote animation threading of graphic display objects to make much fewer repaint calls and so reduce CPU demand. Only clock readout window still makes frequent (dt < 1 s) repaints.
• "Solar Path" display renamed (again) and now called "Local Panorama" display".
• Panorama display now also includes path that Earth traces during the sol. Solar position readout in panorama display turned into a scrollable table and expanded to included positions of Earth during the sol. Controls added for user to specify how solar and Earth paths in panorama are marked. Display may now be centered on any of the four cardinal directions.
• Panorama display uses MER-A or MER-B imagery as appropriate if MER-A or MER-B is selected as time site.
• Beagle 2 reclassified as an "unsuccessful" mission. This affects sorting order in landmark list and tick color if marked on sunclock.
• User's guide and time notes slightly revised.
• Added revert options to File menu.
• Location of MER-B Opportunity updated, but note use of planetographic latitude, approximately 0.02° different from announced planetocentric value.

Version 5.1.3: Released 2004-01-14.

• List of markable landmarks listed in sunclock controls now displayed on a table. In addition to planned and successful landers, user may toggle marking of failed landers and surface features.
• Messaging between controls and plots entirely rewritten and now passes through an intermediate settings object.
• Settings in controls window are now saved in a preferences file and remembered between uses.
• User may also save settings to named files and read from them. Settings files have .m24 filename extension.
• Sub-Earth point calculation added.
• Sunclock display may now display the sub-Earth point. Center an Orthographic projection of the sunclock on this point to get a "what does Mars look like in a telescope" view.
• Location of MER-A Spirit updated, but note use of planetographic latitude, approximately 0.17° different from announced planetocentric value.
• User's guide and time notes slightly revised.

Version 5.1.2: Released 2003-12-22.

• Fork in application and applet code eliminated. But applet now requires Java 1.3.1.
• Bugfix: Error in subsolar longitude calculation, which affects sunrise and sunset calculations.
• In Mars time controls, menu provides choice of various landmarks to obtain local mean/true time.
• Popup/contextual menus added to both graphic and time windows. Among menu options is resizing of window to one of several pre-defined sizes.
• Rewrote "Notes about Mars Time" in help documentation.

Version 5.1.1: Released 2003-12-15.

Changes to application version only:

• Bugfix: Help windows were not correctly (un)checked in Window menu when visible.
• Bugfix: Graphic display window was not correctly sized (too short by about 25 pixels) when running on Windows, and possibly also on some other OSes. Was okay on Mac OS X.
• Added error dialogs when unable to open needed resources or to save display image.
• Hyperlinks in help windows are now live and should cause user's default browser to load appropriate webpage.
• Solar path display (formerly "local horizon" display) now includes numeric readouts of local midnight, sunrise, noon and sunset times.
• Bugfix: Beagle 2 mission time display did not include correct mix of display elements.
• Bugfix: Mean solar time display was showing zonal time.
• Time display now examines user's screensize to better estimate what typesize to use.

Version 5.1: Released 2003-10-30.

Changes to application version only:

• Revised calculation of Mars heliocentric distance.
• Added calculation of Mars heliocentric latitude, which in turn allows for calculation of light-distance between Mars and Earth to within one second.
• Bugfix: Equirectangular projection transformations rewritten to correctly handle case of input and output maps being different sizes.
• Separated all-in-one window into (a) map/plot graphic display window, (b) time display window, and (c) controls window.
• Controls interface heavily re-designed. Messaging between controls and displays ditto.
• Map/plot window now sized to almost fill user's monitor rather than hard-coded 720×360 pixels.
• Day/night terminator in sunclock now rendered as a more "realistic" gradient.
• Time display also shows user's local time.
• Added option to show MER-A and/or MER-B mission time.
• User may individually select landers to mark on sunclock map.
• Time display may be set to an offset from the current time and date.
• Added several map projections to the sunclock options.
• Earth date may optionally be displayed as day-of-year, e.g., 2004-003 for Jan. 3, 2004.
• Ability to save time or graphic display image to disk in either PNG or GIF format.
• Added option to show Beagle 2 mission time.
• Rewrote help windows text.

Version 5.0.2: Released 2003-08-04.

Changes to application version only:

• Bugfix: No longer quits when any window is closed.
• Somewhat less demanding of CPU time.
• Controls appearance cleaned up.

Version 5.0.1: Released 2003-07-31.

Changes to all versions:

• Restored labels to equirectangular map's lat-long grid.

Changes to application version only:

• Added help windows accessible through new Window menu.
• Fixed possible path bug if started via shell command.
• All components switched from AWT to Swing. This specifically solves a bug with the menus when running on Windows, but has other positive effects such as a more native appearance on Mac OS X.

Version 5.0: Released 2003-07-28.

• First official release including stand-alone application version.
• Added orbital plot display.
• Added Winkel Tripel map display.

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