Expensive Planetarium - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Expensive Planetarium is the star display written by Peter Samson

Peter Samson

Peter R. Samson is an American computer scientist, best known for creating pioneering computer software....

for Spacewar!, one of the first interactive computer games. Conceived and written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

(MIT) students including Stephen Russell

Steve Russell

Steve "Slug" Russell is a programmer and computer scientist most famous for creating Spacewar!, one of the earliest videogames, in 1961 with the fellow members of the Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT working on a DEC Digital PDP-1...

who programmed it, the Spacewar! game first ran in early 1962 on the PDP-1

PDP-1

The PDP-1 was the first computer in Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP series and was first produced in 1960. It is famous for being the computer most important in the creation of hacker culture at MIT, BBN and elsewhere...

donated to the school by Digital Equipment Corporation

Digital Equipment Corporation

Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...

(DEC). The planetarium replaced the game's random dots of light in 1962 or 1963.

Samson encoded the night sky between 22½ degrees north and 22½ degrees south based on American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac

American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac

The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac was published for the years 1855 to 1980, containing information necessary for astronomers, surveyors, and navigators...

data. The planetarium displays all of the stars above fifth magnitude over Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

in their relative brightness. The stars can be fixed or can move from right to left.

Written in the PDP-1 assembler , the display got its name from the price of a PDP-1 at the time, about 120,000 in 1962 USD. Its predecessor Expensive Typewriter

Expensive Typewriter

Expensive Typewriter was a text editing program that ran on the DEC PDP-1 computer that had been recently delivered at MIT. Since it could drive an IBM Selectric typewriter , it may be considered the first word processing program, although it was not WYSIWYG, having no CRT display. It was written...

written by Stephen Piner and improved by Peter Deutsch

L. Peter Deutsch

L Peter Deutsch or Peter Deutsch is the founder of Aladdin Enterprises and creator of Ghostscript, a free software PostScript and PDF interpreter....

was the editor which allowed the MIT users to operate the TX-0

TX-0

The TX-0, for Transistorized Experimental computer zero, but affectionately referred to as tixo , was an early fully transistorized computer and contained a then-huge 64K of 18-bit words of magnetic core memory. The TX-0 was built in 1955 and went online in 1956 and was used continually through the...

and PDP-1 directly. Expensive Typewriter descended from Colossal Typewriter

Colossal Typewriter

Colossal Typewriter by John McCarthy and Roland Silver was one of the earliest computer text editors. The program ran on the PDP-1 at Bolt, Beranek and Newman by December 1960....

by John McCarthy

John McCarthy (computer scientist)

John McCarthy was an American computer scientist and cognitive scientist. He coined the term "artificial intelligence" , invented the Lisp programming language and was highly influential in the early development of AI.McCarthy also influenced other areas of computing such as time sharing systems...

and Roland Silver. Also during this period, Robert A. Wagner wrote the Expensive Desk Calculator

Expensive Desk Calculator

Expensive Desk Calculator by Robert A. Wagner is thought to be computing's first interactive calculation program.The software first ran on the TX-0 computer loaned to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Lincoln Laboratory...

, and David Gross created the Expensive Tape Recorder

Expensive Tape Recorder

Expensive Tape Recorder is a digital audio program written by David Gross while a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Gross developed the idea with Alan Kotok, a fellow member of the Tech Model Railroad Club...

with help from Alan Kotok

Alan Kotok

Alan Kotok was an American computer scientist known for his work at Digital Equipment Corporation and at the World Wide Web Consortium...

.

Nearly original Spacewar! can be played on the only functioning PDP-1, restored at the Computer History Museum in 2004–2006.

The complete source code

The source code was found here.

The pdf was found here.

Stars by prs for s/w 2b

6077/
/stars 1 * 3/13/62 prs.
decimal

define
mark X, Y
repeat 8, Y=Y+Y
8192-X Y
terminate

1j, mark 1537, 371 /87 taur, aldebaran
mark 1762, -189 /19 orio, rigel
mark 1990, 168 /58 orio, betelgeuze
mark 2280, -377 /9 cmaj, sirius
mark 2583, 125 /25 cmin, procyon
mark 3431, 283 /32 leon, regulus
mark 4551, -242 /67 virg, spica
mark 4842, 448 /16 boot, arcturus
1q, mark 6747, 196 /53 aqil, altair

2j, mark 1819, 143 /24 orio, bellatrix
mark 1884, -29 /46 orio
mark 1910, -46 /50 orio
mark 1951, -221 /53 orio
mark 2152, -407 / 2 cmaj
mark 2230, 375 /24 gemi
mark 3201, -187 /30 hyda, alphard
mark 4005, 344 /94 leon, denebola
2q, mark 5975, 288 /55 ophi

3j, mark 46, 333 /88 pegs, algenib
mark 362, -244 /31 ceti
mark 490, 338 /99 pisc
mark 566, -375 /52 ceti
mark 621, 462 / 6 arie
mark 764, -78 /68 ceti, mira
mark 900, 64 /86 ceti
mark 1007, 84 /92 ceti
mark 1243, -230 /23 erid
mark 1328, -314 /34 erid
mark 1495, 432 /74 taur
mark 1496, 356 /78 taur
mark 1618, 154 / 1 orio
mark 1644, 52 / 8 orio
mark 1723, -119 /67 erid
mark 1755, -371 / 5 leps
mark 1779, -158 /20 orio
mark 1817, -57 /28 orio
mark 1843, -474 / 9 leps
mark 1860, -8 /34 orio
mark 1868, -407 /11 leps
mark 1875, 225 /39 orio
mark 1880, -136 /44 orio
mark 1887, 480 /123 taur
mark 1948, -338 /14 leps
mark 2274, 296 /31 gemi
mark 2460, 380 /54 gemi
mark 2470, 504 /55 gemi
mark 2513, 193 / 3 cmin
mark 2967, 154 /11 hyda
mark 3016, 144 /16 hyda
mark 3424, 393 /30 leon
mark 3496, 463 /41 leon, algieba
mark 3668, -357 /nu hyda
mark 3805, 479 /68 leon
mark 3806, 364 /10 leon
mark 4124, -502 / 2 corv
mark 4157, -387 / 4 corv
mark 4236, -363 / 7 corv
mark 4304, -21 /29 virg
mark 4384, 90 /43 virg
mark 4421, 262 /47 virg
mark 4606, -2 /79 virg
mark 4721, 430 / 8 boot
mark 5037, -356 / 9 libr
mark 5186, -205 /27 libr
mark 5344, 153 /24 serp
mark 5357, 358 /28 serp
mark 5373, -71 /32 serp
mark 5430, -508 / 7 scor
mark 5459, -445 / 8 scor
mark 5513, -78 / 1 ophi
mark 5536, -101 / 2 ophi
mark 5609, 494 /27 herc
mark 5641, -236 /13 ophi
mark 5828, -355 /35 ophi
mark 5860, 330 /64 herc
mark 5984, -349 /55 serp
mark 6047, 63 /62 ophi
mark 6107, -222 /64 ophi
mark 6159, 217 /72 ophi
mark 6236, -66 /58 serp
mark 6439, -483 /37 sgtr
mark 6490, 312 /17 aqil
mark 6491, -115 /16 aqil
mark 6507, -482 /41 sgtr
mark 6602, 66 /30 aqil
mark 6721, 236 /50 aqil
mark 6794, 437 /12 sgte
mark 6862, -25 /65 aqil
mark 6914, -344 / 9 capr
mark 7014, 324 / 6 dlph
mark 7318, -137 /22 aqar
mark 7391, 214 / 8 pegs
mark 7404, -377 /49 capr
mark 7513, -18 /34 aqar
mark 7539, 130 /26 pegs
mark 7644, -12 /55 aqar
mark 7717, 235 /42 pegs
mark 7790, -372 /76 aqar
3q, mark 7849, 334 /54 pegs, markab

4j, mark 1, -143 /33 pisc
mark 54, 447 /89 pegs
mark 54, -443 /7 ceti
mark 82, -214 /8 ceti
mark 223, -254 /17 ceti
mark 248, 160 /63 pisc
mark 273, -38 /20 ceti
mark 329, 167 /71 pisc
mark 376, 467 /84 pisc
mark 450, -198 /45 ceti
mark 548, 113 /106 pisc
mark 570, 197 /110 pisc
mark 595, -255 /53 ceti
mark 606, -247 /55 ceti
mark 615, 428 / 5 arie
mark 617, 61 /14 pisc
mark 656, -491 /59 ceti
mark 665, 52 /113 pisc
mark 727, 191 /65 ceti
mark 803, -290 /72 ceti
mark 813, 182 /73 ceti
mark 838, -357 /76 ceti
mark 878, -2 /82 ceti
mark 907, -340 /89 ceti
mark 908, 221 /87 ceti
mark 913, -432 / 1 erid
mark 947, -487 / 2 erid
mark 976, -212 / 3 erid
mark 992, 194 /91 ceti
mark 1058, 440 /57 arie
mark 1076, 470 /58 arie
mark 1087, -209 /13 erid
mark 1104, 68 /96 ceti
mark 1110, -503 /16 erid
mark 1135, 198 / 1 taur
mark 1148, 214 / 2 taur
mark 1168, 287 / 5 taur
mark 1170, -123 /17 erid
mark 1185, -223 /18 erid
mark 1191, -500 /19 erid
mark 1205, 2 /10 taur
mark 1260, -283 /26 erid
mark 1304, -74 /32 erid
mark 1338, 278 /35 taur
mark 1353, 130 /38 taur
mark 1358, 497 /37 taur
mark 1405, -162 /38 erid
mark 1414, 205 /47 taur
mark 1423, 197 /49 taur
mark 1426, -178 /40 erid
mark 1430, 463 /50 taur
mark 1446, 350 /54 taur
mark 1463, 394 /61 taur
mark 1470, 392 /64 taur
mark 1476, 502 /65 taur
mark 1477, 403 /68 taur
mark 1483, 350 /71 taur
mark 1485, 330 /73 taur
mark 1495, 358 /77 taur
mark 1507, 364 /
mark 1518, -6 /45 erid
mark 1526, 333 /86 taur
mark 1537, 226 /88 taur
mark 1544, -81 /48 erid
mark 1551, 280 /90 taur
mark 1556, 358 /92 taur
mark 1557, -330 /53 erid
mark 1571, -452 /54 erid
mark 1596, -78 /57 erid
mark 1622, 199 / 2 orio
mark 1626, 124 / 3 orio
mark 1638, -128 /61 erid
mark 1646, 228 / 7 orio
mark 1654, 304 / 9 orio
mark 1669, 36 /10 orio
mark 1680, -289 /64 erid
mark 1687, -167 /65 erid
mark 1690, -460 /
mark 1690, 488 /102 taur
mark 1700, 347 /11 orio
mark 1729, 352 /15 orio
mark 1732, -202 /69 erid
mark 1750, -273 / 3 leps
mark 1753, 63 /17 orio
mark 1756, -297 / 4 leps
mark 1792, -302 / 6 leps
mark 1799, -486 /
mark 1801, -11 /22 orio
mark 1807, 79 /23 orio
mark 1816, -180 /29 orio
mark 1818, 40 /25 orio
mark 1830, 497 /114 taur
mark 1830, 69 /30 orio
mark 1851, 134 /32 orio
mark 1857, 421 /119 taur
mark 1861, -168 /36 orio
mark 1874, 214 /37 orio
mark 1878, -132 /
mark 1880, -112 /42 orio
mark 1885, 210 /40 orio
mark 1899,-60 /48 orio
mark 1900, 93 /47 orio
mark 1900, -165 /49 orio
mark 1909, 375 /126 taur
mark 1936, -511 /13 leps
mark 1957, 287 /134 taur
mark 1974, -475 /15 leps
mark 1982, 461 /54 orio
mark 2002, -323 /16 leps
mark 2020, -70 /
mark 2030, 220 /61 orio
mark 2032, -241 / 3 mono
mark 2037, 458 /62 orio
mark 2057, -340 /18 leps
mark 2059, 336 /67 orio
mark 2084, 368 /69 orio
mark 2084, 324 /70 orio
mark 2105, -142 / 5 mono
mark 2112, -311 /
mark 2153, 106 / 8 mono
mark 2179, 462 /18 gemi
mark 2179, -107 /10 mono
mark 2184, -159 /11 mono
mark 2204, 168 /13 mono
mark 2232, -436 / 7 cmaj
mark 2239, -413 / 8 cmaj
mark 2245, -320 /
mark 2250, 227 /15 mono
mark 2266, 303 /30 gemi
mark 2291, 57 /18 mono
mark 2327, 303 /38 gemi
mark 2328, -457 /15 cmaj
mark 2330, -271 /14 cmaj
mark 2340, -456 /19 cmaj
mark 2342, -385 /20 cmaj
mark 2378, -93 /19 mono
mark 2379, 471 /43 gemi
mark 2385, -352 /23 cmaj
mark 2428, -8 /22 mono
mark 2491, -429 /
mark 2519, 208 / 4 cmin
mark 2527, 278 / 6 cmin
mark 2559, -503 /
mark 2597, -212 /26 mono
mark 2704, -412 /
mark 2709, -25 /28 mono
mark 2714, 60 /
mark 2751, -61 /29 mono
mark 2757, -431 /16 pupp
mark 2768, -288 /19 pupp
mark 2794, 216 /17 canc
mark 2848, -82 /
mark 2915, 138 / 4 hyda
mark 2921, 84 / 5 hyda
mark 2942, -355 / 9 hyda
mark 2944, 497 /43 canc
mark 2947, 85 / 7 hyda
mark 2951, -156 /
mark 2953, 421 /47 canc
mark 2968, -300 /12 hyda
mark 2976, 141 /13 hyda
mark 3032, 279 /65 canc
mark 3124, 62 /22 hyda
mark 3157, -263 /26 hyda
mark 3161, -208 /27 hyda
mark 3209, -53 /31 hyda
mark 3225, -17 /32 hyda
mark 3261, 116 /
mark 3270, -16 /35 hyda
mark 3274, -316 /38 hyda
mark 3276, 236 /14 leon
mark 3338, -327 /39 hyda
mark 3385, 194 /29 leon
mark 3415, -286 /40 hyda
mark 3428, 239 /31 leon
mark 3429, 3 /15 sext
mark 3446, -270 /41 hyda
mark 3495, 455 /40 leon
mark 3534, -372 /42 hyda
mark 3557, -3 /30 sext
mark 3570, 223 /47 leon
mark 3726, -404 /al crat
mark 3736, -44 /61 leon
mark 3738, 471 /60 leon
mark 3754, 179 /63 leon
mark 3793, -507 /11 crat
mark 3821, -71 /74 leon
mark 3836, -324 /12 crat
mark 3846, 150 /77 leon
mark 3861, 252 /78 leon
mark 3868, -390 /15 crat
mark 3935, -211 /21 crat
mark 3936, -6 /91 leon
mark 3981, -405 /27 crat
mark 3986, 161 / 3 virg
mark 3998, 473 /93 leon
mark 4013, 53 / 5 virg
mark 4072, 163 / 8 virg
mark 4097, 211 / 9 virg
mark 4180, -3 /15 virg
mark 4185, 418 /11 coma
mark 4249, -356 / 8 corv
mark 4290, -170 /26 virg
mark 4305, 245 /30 virg
mark 4376, -205 /40 virg
mark 4403, 409 /36 coma
mark 4465, -114 /51 virg
mark 4466, 411 /42 coma
mark 4512, -404 /61 virg
mark 4563, -352 /69 virg
mark 4590, -131 /74 virg
mark 4603, 95 /78 virg
mark 4679, 409 / 4 boot
mark 4691, 371 / 5 boot
mark 4759, 46 /93 virg
mark 4820, 66 /
mark 4822, -223 /98 virg
mark 4840, -126 /99 virg
mark 4857, -294 /100 virg
mark 4864, 382 /20 boot
mark 4910, -41 /105 virg
mark 4984, 383 /29 boot
mark 4986, 322 /30 boot
mark 4994, -119 /107 virg
mark 5009, 396 /35 boot
mark 5013, 53 /109 virg
mark 5045, 444 /37 boot
mark 5074, -90 /16 libr
mark 5108, 57 /110 virg
mark 5157, -442 /24 libr
mark 5283, -221 /37 libr
mark 5290, -329 /38 libr
mark 5291, 247 /13 serp
mark 5326, -440 /43 libr
mark 5331, 455 /21 serp
mark 5357, 175 /27 serp
mark 5372, 420 /35 serp
mark 5381, 109 /37 serp
mark 5387, 484 /38 serp
mark 5394, -374 /46 libr
mark 5415, 364 /41 serp
mark 5419, -318 /48 libr
mark 5455, -253 /xi scor
mark 5467, -464 / 9 scor
mark 5470, -469 /10 scor
mark 5497, -437 /14 scor
mark 5499, -223 /15 scor
mark 5558, 29 /50 serp
mark 5561, 441 /20 herc
mark 5565, -451 / 4 ophi
mark 5580, 325 /24 herc
mark 5582, -415 / 7 ophi
mark 5589, -186 / 3 ophi
mark 5606, -373 / 8 ophi
mark 5609, 50 /10 ophi
mark 5610, -484 / 9 ophi
mark 5620, 266 /29 herc
mark 5713, -241 /20 ophi
mark 5742, 235 /25 ophi
mark 5763, 217 /27 ophi
mark 5807, 293 /60 herc
mark 5868, -8 /41 ophi
mark 5888, -478 /40 ophi
mark 5889, -290 /53 serp
mark 5924, -114 /
mark 5925, 96 /49 ophi
mark 5987, -183 /57 ophi
mark 6006, -292 /56 serp
mark 6016, -492 /58 ophi
mark 6117, -84 /57 serp
mark 6117, 99 /66 ophi
mark 6119, 381 /93 herc
mark 6119, 67 /67 ophi
mark 6125, 30 /68 ophi
mark 6146, 57 /70 ophi
mark 6158, 198 /71 ophi
mark 6170, 473 /102 herc
mark 6188, -480 /13 sgtr
mark 6234, 76 /74 ophi
mark 6235, 499 /106 herc
mark 6247, -204 /xi scut
mark 6254, -469 /21 sgtr
mark 6255, 494 /109 herc
mark 6278, -333 /ga scut
mark 6313, -189 /al scut
mark 6379, 465 /110 herc
mark 6382, -110 /be scut
mark 6386, 411 /111 herc
mark 6436, 93 /63 serp
mark 6457, 340 /13 aqil
mark 6465, -134 /12 aqil
mark 6478, -498 /39 sgtr
mark 6553, 483 / 1 vulp
mark 6576, -410 /44 sgtr
mark 6576, -368 /46 sgtr
mark 6607, 3 /32 aqil
mark 6651, 163 /38 aqil
mark 6657, 445 / 9 vulp
mark 6665, -35 /41 aqil
mark 6688, 405 / 5 sgte
mark 6693, 393 / 6 sgte
mark 6730, 416 / 7 sgte
mark 6739, 430 / 8 sgte
mark 6755, 17 /55 aqil
mark 6766, 187 /59 aqil
mark 6772, 140 /60 aqil
mark 6882, 339 /67 aqil
mark 6896, -292 / 5 capr
mark 6898, -292 / 6 capr
mark 6913, -297 / 8 capr
mark 6958, -413 /11 capr
mark 6988, 250 / 2 dlph
mark 7001, 326 / 4 dlph
mark 7015, -33 /71 aqil
mark 7020, 475 /29 vulp
mark 7026, 354 / 9 dlph
mark 7047, 335 /11 dlph
mark 7066, 359 /12 dlph
mark 7067, -225 / 2 aqar
mark 7068, -123 / 3 aqar
mark 7096, -213 / 6 aqar
mark 7161, -461 /22 capr
mark 7170, -401 /23 capr
mark 7192, -268 /13 capr
mark 7199, 222 / 5 equl
mark 7223, 219 / 7 equl
mark 7230, 110 / 8 equl
mark 7263, -393 /32 capr
mark 7267, 441 / 1 pegs
mark 7299, -506 /36 capr
mark 7347, -453 /39 capr
mark 7353, -189 /23 aqar
mark 7365, -390 /40 capr
mark 7379, -440 /43 capr
mark 7394, 384 / 9 pegs
mark 7499, -60 /31 aquar
mark 7513, 104 /22 pegs
mark 7515, -327 /33 aqar
mark 7575, -189 /43 aqar
mark 7603, -43 /48 aqar
mark 7604, 266 /31 pegs
mark 7624, 20 /52 aquar
mark 7639, 96 /35 pegs
mark 7654, -255 /57 aqar
mark 7681, -14 /62 aqar
mark 7727, -440 /66 aqar
mark 7747, 266 /46 pegs
mark 7761, -321 /71 aqar
mark 7779, -185 /73 aqar
mark 7795, 189 /50 pegs
mark 7844, 75 / 4 pisc
mark 7862, 202 /55 pegs
mark 7874, -494 /88 aqar
mark 7903, -150 /90 aqar
mark 7911, -219 /91 aqar
mark 7919, 62 / 6 pisc
mark 7923, -222 /93 aqar
mark 7952, -470 /98 aqar
mark 7969, -482 /99 aqar
mark 7975, 16 / 8 pisc
mark 7981, 133 /10 pisc
mark 7988, 278 /70 pegs
mark 8010, -489 /101 aqar
mark 8049, 116 /17 pisc
mark 8059, -418 /104 aqar
mark 8061, 28 /18 pisc
mark 8064, -344 /105 aqar
mark 8159, 144 /28 pisc
mark 8174, -149 /30 pisc
4q, mark 8188, -407 / 2 ceti

start 4

The complete source code

See also