Astrolog 7.30
By Hank Friedman
By Walter Pullen http://www.astrolog.org/astrolog/astfile.htm Free
[Note: Underlined words in the article are links to graphics that you can see at: https://www.soulhealing.com/tma.htm]
October 2021 is the 30th anniversary of when Astrolog was first released. Over the past years, the program's author has steadily developed and improved it. The latest version of the program will run on Windows PCs running XP, Vista and beyond (including Windows 10), and a recent version will run on Macs. There are also a Spanish version and versions that run on Unix, Windows 3.1, and other older operating systems (like DOS). The author also provides source code in C for those who want to modify or add to Astrolog, and then compile it to run on Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.
Astrolog 7.30 has the Swiss Ephemeris and the Geonames and TZ time-change atlas. The built-in atlas has 24,000 places, and an additional atlas, with about 196,000 places, is available via download. The program can import AAF (Astrological Exchange Format) files, and the next version will be able to import Quick*Chart files.
Astrolog has a deceptively simple interface, but finding and learning how to use each of its features can take a bit of time, effort, and exploration. Fortunately, the program has excellent online documentation to help you along the way, and its author is also very responsive.
Sidebar on Command Line entries While most of Astrolog's functions can be run using the menu system, several require using the command line, i.e. entering the program name and path followed by a list of options. For those unfamiliar with this terminology, in the early days of computing, graphical user interfaces and program icons didn't exist. and programs had to be run by entering specific text. The command line is found in Windows by clicking on the Windows icon and clicking on Run and then typing in "CMD". A typical Astrolog command line looks like this: c:\Astrolog.exe -M30 "-Y10 Sun Asc" "-Y10 Asc Asc" "-Y10 Ear Asc" "-Y1 Ear Ear" -M0 1 "-i2 __1 -i3 __1 -r3 -c Whole _R Vul" -M 1 .Throughout the program's documentation, the needed command line sequences are provided.
The latest version of the program has way too many capabilities to cover in this short article, including many not found in any other astrological software. For example, it both calculates a person's orientation to Saturn's rings (above, below, or edge on) and the program's documentation interprets them. And its Planetary Moon module is very powerful, showing the major satellites for all of the planets, with interpretations and a Planetary Moons Report. The author has also pioneered two new Sinusoidal house systems and a unique Dispositors page. In addition, there are extensive Esoteric Astrology functions including Esoteric Astrology Bodies, Ray rulerships, a Graphic Ray chart, and the Triple Sun Chart -- which has concentric rings of the Solar Chart, the Ascendant rotated to the start of its own sign, and the Earth rotated to the start of the Ascendant's sign. Bravo!
Astrolog does offer a full set of standard calculations, including chart wheels (even hexawheels -- charts with six concentric rings), astrocartography, synastry charts, aspect and midpoint grid and listings -- with weightings, a mundane (transit-to-transit) transit calendar, progressed and transit graphs, a graphic ephemeris, a Gauquelin sector wheel, an Arabic Parts listing (177 Parts), and the ability to show Uranian points, Asteroids and the comet Chiron, 9 dwarf planets (transpluto planets), or up to 47 Fixed Stars in a chart. The program can also animate chart wheels, the calendar, and other screens, both one step at a time and automatically, setting the interval in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, decades, centuries, or millennia.
The charming Solar System Orbit depicts a person's chart looking down from above in outer space, and Astrolog includes 27 graphic animations including the comet Neowise orbit, Jupiter Saturn conjunctions, Solar and Lunar eclipses, asteroid orbits, dwarf planet orbits, 180 years of time zone changes, a rotating constellation globe, and star motions over millennia. These are both useful and well done. I especially like the Planet Visibility chart, which shows when one or more planets will be visible at a specific location.
The number of options and customizations available in Astrolog are amazing. There are 23 house systems including new ones, the ability to select the colors for over 50 points (including house cusps) and 18 aspects, three different 3D house settings, 5 Ayanamsha choices, and much more. The program also has other display options, e.g., one can change the background color, font, font size, and line thickness.
Astrolog can save graphic files to bitmap or PostScript format, or copy them to the Windows clipboard, to allow them to be transferred into word processing or other programs. Also, Astrolog features a customizable weighting system to rank the most dominant planets and signs, and also has simple keyword interpretations for beginners who want delineations. Astrolog 7.30 is a phenomenal program filled with capabilities not found anywhere else. Those facile with computers will have a field day exploring all of its features. What an asset to astrologers everywhere.
© 2022 Hank Friedman – all rights reserved
Click to Return to
Send e-mail to Hank Friedman by clicking here
Copyright © 2022 Hank Friedman --- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED