An animation of the signal from the pulsar psr b1919+21.
unknownpleasures [-display host:display.screen] [-visual visual] [-window] [-root] [-delay number] [-speed percent] [-count integer] [-resolution percent] [-no-ortho] [-fps]
PSR B1919+21 (AKA CP 1919) was the first pulsar ever discovered: a spinning neutron star emitting a periodic lighthouse-like beacon. An illustration of the signal received from it was published in Scientific American in 1971, and later in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy in 1977, where it was seen by Stephen Morris, the drummer of Joy Division, and was consequently appropriated by Peter Saville for the cover of the band's album "Unknown Pleasures".
-visual visual
Specify which visual to use. Legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual.
-window
Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default.
-root
Draw on the root window.
-delay number
Per-frame delay, in microseconds. Default: 30000 (0.03 seconds.).
-speed number
Animation speed. 2 for twice as fast, 0.5 for half as fast.
-count number
Scanlines (vertical resolution). Default: 80.
-count number
Horizontal Resolution, Default: 100%.
-ortho | -no-ortho
Whether to use an orthographic projection.
-fps | -no-fps
Whether to show a frames-per-second display at the bottom of the screen.
DISPLAY
to get the default host and display number.
XENVIRONMENT
to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
X(1), xscreensaver(1)
Copyright © 2013 by Jamie Zawinski. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.
Jamie Zawinski.