Ol' Doc Martin's Desktop Moonphase Clock v2.0
This Flash animation gives the current moonphase. The illumination of Artemis's sleeping nymph also varies according to the phase of the moon. The nymph is based on a painting by 20th century painter Leonor Fini converted by hand into a vector graphic, and the nymph's blankets are by me.
new features in version 2.0
- I thought the nymph looked a bit cold when her blankets disappeared at full moon, so I have added a default blanket. This can be both removed and reinstated by clicking on it. The other blankets cannot be removed except by the action of moonlight.
- The digital date and time display remains on after you pass the mouse pointer over the hour star. To switch off the digital display, click once on the hour star.
- The moon phase now has enhanced accuracy, since its reference New Moon is set to the nearest minute, and the time from New Moon to New Moon is now correct to 5 decimal places (data from NASA).
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Instructions
problems seeing the clock?
- If you don't see the the left hand side of the page (where the moonphase clock goes), click here for the full page;
- if the left hand side of the page is present but blank, or if the moonphase constantly rotates, click here for the latest Flash plug-in.
getting a desktop moonphase clock
- click for resizable desktop clock if you want a desktop moonphase clock in a window of its own. (You must have Java enabled for this to work. Only click for the desktop moonphase clock if you are online, otherwise your browser may freeze up.)
download section
If you click on one of the links below you can download the file onto your hard disk so that it is there whenever you want it. The files below should self-extract and load themselves where you specify on your hard disk. Feedback welcome.
Alternatively you could email me for the file.
These files are virus-free, because I created them myself in Flash 5, and if there is a way of creating viruses in Flash, which I doubt, I have neither the desire nor the ability to do so (and in any case my contact details are on the site).
(The Moonphase Clock is freeware, but re-engineering is prohibited. The file was created in Flash 5 and compressed using Dropstuff from Aladdin systems.)
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clock controls
- The nymph's top blanket may be removed by clicking on it; the blankets underneath will be more or less visible according to the phase of the moon;
- If the constant movement of the second hand becomes irritating, you can switch it off by clicking the little star near the nymph's feet;
- Hours, minutes and the date are displayed digitally when the mouse pointer is moved over the hour star;
- To turn off the digital time display, click once on the hour star;
- When online, clicking the star near the nymph's head opens a new window to my website.
I do not yet know if the time is correct for all longitudes, but I think Flash takes the time from your computer's clock. Therefore the time and moonphase should be correct if the clock on your computer is set correctly (refer to your computer's help files for instructions).
launching the clock automatically on starting up your computer
- If you have downloaded the Moonphase Clock file, you can create an alias (shortcut) and put it in the startup items folder in your computer's system folder (this is how it works in Mac OS 9 anyway) which means that the clock will be on your desktop every time you start up your computer. Clever, eh?
If you don't have a Mac, then my commiserations. There's probably a way to put the clock in your startup file on Windows, but I don't know what it is. When I find out I'll put the instructions here.
let me know what you think
known problems
If the moon constantly rotates, or some other nonsense, then this is because either you are using an outdated browser or because you don't have the latest Flash plug-in. Click here for
the latest Flash plug-in.
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copyright of images
The clock may be copied but not altered. Anyone who wants hints on the code, please email me.