% ASTROSYM.TXT : AstroSym (Version 2.20,  Aug. 10, 2002) - file 1 of 8
% Peter Schmitt                      eMail: Peter.Schmitt@univie.ac.at
% Institute of Mathematics, University of Vienna       Vienna, Austria
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***************************************
*** AstroSym : astronomical symbols ***
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* ( Version 2.2 --- August 10, 2002 ) *
***************************************

ASTROSYM is a font containing astronomical symbols, including those
used for the planets, four planetoids, the phases of the moon,
the signs of the zodiac, and some additional symbols.
The shapes of the symbols are taken from various sources.
For some symbols more than one shape was found - for these
symbols variants are included.
Some shapes were reviewed by some historians and astronomers, and the
`main shape' reflects their preference.

The main style used for the symbols in AstroSym is calligraphic (strokes
of varying breadth). An additional version uses a uniform stroke.
It is supplied in two variants (thin and thick strokes).
The size of the symbols, and the breadth of the stroke, can easily
be changed in the driver file.
A particular set of symbols for the phases of the moon (with a `face')
is provided in one version only.
The MetaFont code of AstroSym uses the plain base, but is completely
independent of the cm-fonts.

The AstroSym-font contains the following characters:
    calligraphic style:
       \char0  - \char10 : main shape - the planetary system
       \char11 - \char22 : main shape - the signs of the zodiac
       \char23 - \char32 and
       \char56 & \char57 and
       \char68           : variant shapes
       \char33 - \char38 and
       \char58 - \char65 : additional astronomical and astrological symbols
       \char69           : a variant shape
       \char48 - \char55 and
       \char66 & \char67 : the four main planetoids, Chiron and Lilith
                           (and variants)
       \char10 and \char39 - \char47 : phases of the moon, and variants
    extra symbols:
       \char90 - \char95 : phases of the moon, with `face'
    uniform stroke, bold : \char100 - \char169
    uniform stroke, thin : \char200 - \char255 , \char178 - \char191

This is a preliminary version.
     The shape of some symbols may need improvement.
     In particular, symmetric symbols are not (yet) all guarded
     against rounding effects.

Remark: The original arrangement of symbols is retained for full compatibility.
        However, since the symbols should be used via macros,
        this seems not to be important and
        a more logical ordering may be used in a later version.

*** version 2.20
*** new : characters 55-69,155-169 and 178-191,255
          including: Lilith, Chiron (2 versions),
                     three signs for Pluto (Pluto 4,5,6), and
                     (there seems to be no agreement on this sign!)
                     nine additional astronomical/astrological symbols
Thus, version 2.20 contains 70 characters each in three styles,
                       plus  6 characters
      (compared to 55 characters in three styles in 2.00,
               and 29 characters in three styles in 1.00).
*** version 2.00 (preliminary) ***
*** new : characters 29-54,129-154,229-254 and 91-95
          including: symbols for phases of the moon
                     six additional astronomical characters
                     Terra 2, Mars 2, Pluto 3
                     Libra 3 (enlarged symbol)
                     symbols for four planetoids
                             ( Ceres, Juno, Pallas, Vesta
                               and Ceres 2, Juno 2, Vesta 2 )

The package contains the following seven files:
    ASTROSYM.TXT  this file
    ASTROSYM.MF   the driver file
    ASTROSYM.MAC  the macro file
    ASTROSYM.CMN  character definitions - common to both styles
    ASTROSYM.CAL  character definitions - calligraphic style only
    ASTROSYM.UNI  character definitions - uniform stroke only
    ASTROSYM.XTR  character definitions - extra symbols (one version only)
    ASTROSYM.TEX  sample file with symbol list (for plain TeX)

Sorry, so far no .fd file for LaTeX2e is provided ( I do not use LaTeX :-)

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Since I am curious if the font is useful (and how it looks in practice) 
I would appreciate a short message (with reference) - or even some sample
page(s) - if it is used in a publication.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%% License %%

Since CTAN requires a license a statement:
 This is free software, LPPL (LaTeX Project Public License).


%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%% History %%

version 1.00   May  1, 1992 : \char 0-28,100-128,200-228
version 1.90 March 17, 1997 (preliminary, never published)
             added : \char 29-47,90-95,129-147,229-247
         corrected bugs :
         (1) font_size : cm#    sharp dimension needed    (pointed out by ** )
                                `cm' can cause checksum error
         (2) [10] Luna (calligraphic) : improved calculation
                       to avoid potential arithmetic overflow
                                                   (reported by Jochen Cammin)
         (3) [111] [211] Aries :
                         wrong point (Br instead of br) in computation of b
                               has caused a distorted shape
version 2.00 February 14, 1999
             added \char 48-54,148-154,248-254
         corrected bugs :
         (1) [11] slight change to avoid `strange path'
                  with certain resolutions (hopefully)
         (2) renamed ASTROSYM.COM to ASTROSYM.CMN
                  ( extension .com has irritated some software,
                    e.g., during downloading )
version 2.00 June 25, 2002
  After adding various symbols (on special request) in 1997 and 1999
  I always intended to make the new versions available on CTAN
  (after some cleaning up, or so).
    But, alas, this never happened :-(
  Therefore, it probably is best to publish them as they are,
  saving improvments for some update in the future.
         (3) renamed ASTROSYM.DOC to ASTROSYM.TXT
                  ( to avoid confusion with Word documents :-)
version 2.10 March 3, 1999 (never published)
             added \char 55-65,155-165,255,178-187
  (I did not think of this extension when publishing version 2.00.)
version 2.20 August 10, 2002
             added \char 66-69,166-169,188-191
         (1) \char38,138,238 (Quadrature) : bug fix (missing semi-colon)
         (2) \char156,157,178,179 (Pluto 4,5) : fitting signs to their box
               ( modified macro REND
                 - this affects \char148,149,248,249 (Ceres,Ceres2) )
         (3) the following characters produce errors for some low resolutions:
             \char16 (Virgo)   : looks usable
             \char18 (Scorpio) : looks usable
             \char94 (moon face: last quarter - inverse) : missing
==========================================================
 Peter Schmitt                           Strudlhofgasse 4
 Institut f\"ur Mathematik                    A-1090 Wien
 Universit\"at Wien                               Austria
----------------------------------------------------------
                               Peter.Schmitt@univie.ac.at
==========================================================

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%%% end of ASTROSYM.TXT %%%
