SOFTWARE FOR MODERN ASTROPHYSICS

An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics and An Introduction to Modern Stellar Astrophysics contain a number of problems designed to introduce students to the important area of computational astrophysics. To that end three computer programs are included in the Appendixes (two in Stellar Astrophysics) and are referenced extensively in the texts. Two of the programs are written in FORTRAN 77 and the third is in BASIC. The FORTRAN programs are available in source code and DOS executable code. The BASIC program is available as source code only and requires a BASIC interpreter, such as QuickBasic.

• ORBIT (FORTRAN) computes the orbits of planets or smaller objects around a single star (the mass is specified by the user). The listing is found in Appendix G.  Note that Fortran 95 and C++ versions of the source code are also available.

• STATSTAR (FORTRAN) builds static zero-age main-sequence stellar models for a range of masses and compositions. Many of the details of state-of-the-art research codes are avoided in favor of pedagogical simplicity (all of the fundamental ideas are developed in the text). Despite the simplifications, reasonable models are obtained. The listing is found in Appendix H.

• GALAXY (BASIC) is a small N-body code that simulates the collisions of two galaxies for a range of collision parameters specified by the user. The listing is found in Appendix J of An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics only.

Choose one of the following options:
    (TO DOWNLOAD THE FILES you should configure your browser to allow the files to be saved to disk.)

• All files are bundled in MODASTRO.ZIP.
• READ.ME describes the codes included in this package
• FORTRAN 77 source code for ORBIT.FOR (Appendix G); Fortran 95 source code for ORBIT.F90; C++ source code for ORBIT.cpp
• DOS executable file ORBIT.EXE (Appendix G)
• FORTRAN 77 source code for STATSTAR.FOR (Appendix H)
• DOS executable file STATSTAR.EXE (Appendix H)
• BASIC code for GALAXY.BAS (Appendix J; Modern Astrophysics only)

To unzip  MODASTRO.ZIP, you will need to use an unzip utility, such as PKUNZIP.

    A new, windows-based version of STATSTAR (known as STATSTAR99) is now available!  This version is designed to run on Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0.  Features of this version of the code include a graphical user interface, built-in looping for recalculation of models when input parameters are changed, a record of previous model attempts, and on-the-fly graphing of variables as a function of stellar radius.  The source code has also been rewritten in Fortran 95.  However, to modify and recompile the code will require Compaq's Digital Visual Fortran 6.0, which is integrated with the Microsoft's Visual Studio 6.0

Download STATSTAR99.exe now!  The source code (minus DVF 6.0 graphics modules) is also available for download.

Home Page

Last modified September 12, 2005.