Log in

View Full Version here: : Help understanding HA sky charts


pluto
13-06-2013, 10:23 AM
Hi all,
I was looking at a sky chart for an ISS pass on Heavens Above and noticed how different it is to the view in Stellarium and I'm having trouble understanding why.

This is the chart on HA:
http://heavens-above.com/passdetails.aspx?lat=-33.883&lng=151.217&loc=Sydney&alt=1&tz=AEST&satid=25544&mjd=56455.8330085764&type=V

And attached is the view in Stellarium.

My time/date/location are set correctly in both HA and Stellarium.
I understand that East and West are flipped on the HA chart as it's meant to be how it would look if you held the chart above while looking up.
But I don't understand why it's showing constellations to the north that are below the horizon?
Is this a bug with HA or am I missing something fundamental...?

malclocke
13-06-2013, 11:03 AM
It looks like the time is wrong in one of the views (probably Stellarium) as there are completely different objects at the zenith.

You should be able to turn on Sattelite Hints (ctrl+z) in Stellarium, if you have the right time you should see the ISS in your Stellarium view.

pluto
13-06-2013, 11:13 AM
Yep I just realised that, my brain saw 5:38 and thought pm for some reason.
And yeah, just discovered the satellite plugin too, pretty cool.

Thanks anyway :)