Tours, Orbital and 2 line element files for the Autostar

These are the standard "stock" tours and datasets, with some links to updated files and custom tours. See the LX90 Users Group, Files section, under "Autostar Guided Tours" for more custom tours. I've placed these files here as an alternative download site, since there are occasions when Meade's website and other locations are unavailable. You should always use the latest data available from the Harvard site for comets and asteroids, and the Celestrak site for satellites. For the ISS (and especially when the Shuttle is docked) you should get the data file for that day, or at the minimum, the most recent available. Heavens Above also carries updated element sets. For specific updated TLE sets of classified, high drag, visual, etc satellites, see Mike McCant's web pages.

To generate an ephemeris for solar system bodies, use this link: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eph

For instructions on updating the TLE's in your Autostar, see Dick Seymour's excellent descriptions of the process, either manually or with the PC/ASU software. The most recent release of the ASU software (3.51) will download and install the most recent Tours, TLE's, and orbital elements directly from the following sources (if you have an active internet connection):
Asteroids http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides (Harvard)
Comets  http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/ (Harvard)
Satellites http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/ (Celestrak)
Tours  http://www.meade.com/support/auto/AutostarTourFiles/ (Meade)

Note that downloading is an option, and must be specified by the user. The ASU software will not "automatically" update these files without being requested by the user. These files can be be downloaded manually and added to the Autostar later, or optionally, individual objects can be added from each list.

Tour Files

Original Meade Tours
How far is far
Tonight's Best
Messier Marathon
Star Groups
A Star's Life

tours.zip (all the above)

(02/20/2003) Joe Walker's Constellation tours
based on Dr Clay Sherrod's constellation guides
(zipped tours, 206K) tours with full descriptions (large files)
(zipped tours, 54K) tours with abbreviated descriptions (small files)

Many of the abbreviated tours can fit on the Autostar at one time. I routinely add/remove constellation tours depending on the time of year and observing session, keeping only those that are currently visible in the Autostar. They're small enough that I can keep almost all visible constellations loaded at once. Great for star parties and public viewing events, Many thanks to Joe and Dr Clay for offering us these tours.

These are Joe's most recent tours (Feb 2003)
Andromeda, Aquarius (Revised), Aquila, Aries, Auriga (Revised), Bootes, Camelopardalis, Canis Major, Capricorn, Carbon Stars, Cassiopeia (Revised), Cetus, Coma Berenices, Cygnus, Delphinum-Equuleus, Draco (Revised), Eridanus, Hercules, Lacerta, Leo (Revised), Lepus (Revised), Libra, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Orion, Pegasus, Perseus (Revised), Pisces, Sagitta-Vulpecula, Sagittarius, Scorpius (Revised), Taurus, Triangulum, Ursa Major, Virgo
Capricorn, Cygnus, Delphinum-Equuleus, Lacerta, Pegasus, Sagitta_Vulpecula

TLE files (Satellites)
What's what in a TLE?
Current Element sets
"Classified" and other specific TLE sets

Original Meade Element sets
(warning: may be outdated)

weather.tle
visible.tle
thirty.tle
orbcomm.tle
navigatn.tle
iridium.tle
interest.tle
glblstar.tle
amateur.tle
geo.tle
sats.zip (all the above)

Soft (text files, comets and asteroids)
Updated and new discovery Orbital Elements from Harvard

Original Meade Element Sets
(warning: may be outdated)

Soft16Bright.txt
Soft16cmt.txt
Soft16CritList.txt
Soft16Distant.txt
Soft16Unusual.txt
Soft.zip (all the above)

complete.zip (All original Meade files on this page)

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