Hi folks,

Igor, the reply you got from Owen is correct: Guide will use the
MPCORB dataset, from the Minor Planet Center, but _not_ the Lowell
Observatory ASTORB dataset. There is some information about MPCORB
(how to get it, what it is, how to use it in Guide, why I chose it
instead of ASTORB, etc.) at

http://www.projectpluto.com/mpcorb.htm

That page also discusses why ASTORB (or MPCORB) are _not_ necessarily
good sources for elements for predicting asteroid occultations. In
general, you're better off using the built-in elements in Guide for
that purpose.

Richard, about the 'horizon creep' effect: unfortunately, there is
no good way around this one. The problem is that the sky is curved.
When you pan (say) left, you recenter on the center left of the current
screen... and the altitude of that point is _not_ the same as the altitude
at the center of the screen. The effect becomes greatest near the poles;
there, the difference between "move over half a screen" and "move over
a certain amount in azimuth" becomes _huge_.

You also wrote: "...can Guide be set to list all objects of a given
mag. or higher for the visible sky?" Sorry, no. I'm contemplating such
a function, where you could set up a given field of view and desired
magnitude limits, then ask Guide to produce a list of everything. But
at present, you're limited to the sorts of lists available in the Tables
menu (for example, lists of asteroids, stars, comets, and satellites).

-- Bill