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As a web designer with specific interest in astronomy, I have prepared this reference site to try and demonstrate some possibilities of online astronomy.
The computation algorithms are implemented in Perl because PHP does not support global variables. JavaScript is used for the control of page elements, such as switching pages, hiding and showing page elements, etc.
Since pure HTML web pages are incapable of interactivity, scripting languages
such as Perl, PHP and JavaScript perform the required mathematical computations
upon user provided parameters, such as geographical coordinates and time information.
Perl and PHP act on the server side, while JavaScript is downloaded embedded in HTML
and executed on your computer. These three languages are similiar to the C syntax.
The work horse for this site is an extensive Perl library containing subroutines which are called by individual interface scripts, such as the star chart, solar system ephemerides and the moon calendar scripts. Perl executes extremely fast on the server. For instance, a star chart is plotted and returned in a second or two, depending on your online speed. This tremendous speed also qualifies Perl for searching huge databases, such as the NGC deepsky and Hipparcos Star Catalogs.
The examples presented on this site demonstrate to what extend Astropical Web Design can help construct a web site for astronomy clubs, observatories, magazines and other astronomical facilities. Please stay tuned.
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