Free Software

[acropolite]

This month's (April) edition of Australian PC World has a free copy of Starry Night Enthusiast 4.5. :astron: It downloads updates from the net and even lists Launceston Tasmania. When I put in my exact Lat/Long it even told me I was "near Launceston" Zooming in on the moon produces a photo image with features nicely identified by placing the cursor over. Looks comprehensive but I haven't had time to play with it yet but from first impressions I would say it's a lot easier to drive than Cartes du Ciel.
If you're like me and don't read the instructions on the CD first then here's the guff on registration.

To install, unzip starry.zip and run Setup.exe. Once installed, run the program and when prompted, enter your name and the serial number: space2005.

[johnno]

Hi Phil,
Thanks for the info on this program,I read your report last night,and went straight to the newsagency this am,and got a copy,like you, I have installed the program but havent gone through it yet.
Can you tell me where to find the registration number so I can register the program?
Thanks,Regards.John

[johnno]

Hi Phil,
No problem I found the registration code,it was in page 11 of the users manual,
Cheers Mate.John

[Starkler]

One question, is it worth having?
Is it better than Cartes Du Ciel which you can get for free?

Ok so it was two questions :P

[iceman]

I think it's heaps better than CDC.. much friendlier and easier to use.. nicer graphics, user interface etc.

I'll definitely be getting that mag.. thanks for the heads-up!

[johnno]

Hi Geoff and Mike,
I havent had much of a chance to check this program out fully yet,But so far it is FANTASTIC,for eg,once you enter your location you can get it to go forward in time steps so you can see the stars appearing as it gets darker,the stars appear AS WE SEE THEM,Orions sword is up,not underneath as in most programs,which drives me mental.
I have a program called "Star Calc",which is good but no matter what I do Castor and Pollux are upside down ie castor is on top of pollux,which to a newbie like me makes finding your way around frustating.
I suggest you grab this mag and program asap.
Cheers to all.John

[johnno]

Sorry Geoff,
I forgot to answer your question re cdc,Leaves it for dead,in fact I am about to uninstall cdc,and Star calc right now.
Cheers.John

[thomo]

Thanks for the heads up Phil - picked a copy us this arvo. :cool:

[johnno]

Love this program Phil,
Thanks again for the heads up.
regards.John

[slice of heaven]

The lad and I cruised through it today. Both really happy with it. The zooms are great . The lad gained a better insight into what he's seeing in the ep. But he said only one fruit tree was in the right spot on the landscape.

Anybody found a quicker way to the alt/az co-ord than right clicking the object and following the breadcrumbs?

Well posted Acro. Very much appreciated.

Thanks
Slice

[Starkler]

Thanks for the feedback ill go get myself a copy :)

Moving to the software section

[MiG]

Thanks for posting this. I've now got it too. Would be nice to have eyepiece equivalent presets for the zoom like CDC, but hey, that's a pretty small thing.

[Rohan]

Just installed it, nice little program. Anyone know how to get a full 360 degree of the sky, like a sky chart? I just find the layout a little annoying and disoriantating at times.

[ving]

gee! I'll have to borrow this from work... we get APC here :D

bye CDC, been nice knowing you...

[ving]

does anyone know what magnitude stars it goes down to?

i know it probably has 2,500,000 stars and 40,000+ deep-space objects (well in vers 5.0 anyhow)

[slice of heaven]

Ving .Better than we'll see with our little scopes . I didn't check how low or high it'll go I set it up for what I know I can view. There's a slide to adjust it to suit your preferences.

Rohan Go to Favourites open Guide and open atlas. It's a full 3D skychart .Change your star preferences to suit .(how bright a star you want to see)

It'd be easier (to learn)with a printed copy of the guide.But it's a top program considering what we paid.

Slice

[Starkler]

Well its very pretty and attempts to give a realistic image of the night sky. My impression so far is that its more about eye candy than function. eg if I select an object, there is a pane on the left with the word "info" , but it shows nothing !

Maybe Im not driving it correctly. The "centre object" function gives an animated shift rather than just doing it! I find that slightly annoying also.

[slice of heaven]

Play with it a bit more Starkler. Hit space to centre the object straight away. Ive saved 2 versions of it one is a bareboned setup, ' no frills ' ,affair for myself. The popup now only shows the object name,constellation and az/alt co-ord. And the other for the kids has all the glamour.
I'll check the info problem. I'm ony just coming to terms with it myself. Stripping the glitz certainly helps.

Slice

On the taskbar , in view ,click -show all controls. Then youv'e got the info available when you right click the object and select - show info.

[iceman]

As Geoff says, they're mostly configurable options Geoff ;) Play around in the options and set it up so it gives you less of the pretty stuff and more of the practical stuff.

It really is quite nice and much easier to use than CDC, imho.

[Thiink]

I picked up a copy, looks like a nice little app. Haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet. Does anyone have a list of tips and tricks they want to post? :)

[slice of heaven]

Whew. That could make for a long post Thiink.

We've spent a bit of time on it this week. Our family room come telescope rebuild shop had become a hospital ward, Alex -tonsils out ,Kita - broken leg, so I've been hanging out with them on their computer.

Basically it's user time that count's. And setting your preferences.
1) set your location and time.
2) set your preferences : taskbar-file-preferences. Theres a drop down pane . one selection is for Hud controls- what info you want displayed when you hover on an object. simplify or expand on what suits you. Me, I only have name and az/alt showing as more info is avail by right click- show info when you hover on the object. The other prefs are the same ,adjust to suit your needs.
3) Taskbar :Self explanitory View - you can adjust WHAT objects you want shown. Options - more prefs on HOW you want objects shown e.g. star brightness,different colour labels for different objects etc
4) zoom slider : magnifies the view . Though I've found it magnifies different objects at different rates it's handy to set at what you know you see in an ep if your looking for an object thats been evading you. (scroll wheel zooms also)
5)View options panel : hot keys -cont j- : Lots more goodies to play with
6)Hover : Left click to label : Left click and hold ; gives you the angular seperation between 2 objects (handy for starhopping for those with a Telrad) . Double left click ; shows info : Right click ; another popup for more localized options on the object selected .

7) Anyone know where the chainsaw is ? I can't change the view of the local horizon and the trees are in the road . I've selected other views but the grass and trees always show.

I think thats the major points .The main thing is to strip it down and only show exactly what you want to see. When you first load it ,it is exactly as Starkler said " Eye candy ", but stripped down it's a handy tool.

Slice

[MiG]

Beware of the effect of wide FOVs on the moon. I had it on a wide FOV and was rushing through time to see what last night's near occultation would look like. Due to the wide FOV, the moon was enlarged by the program which resulted in a full occulation of Jupiter which left me extremely surprised until I figured out what was going on.

[Starkler]

Thanks slice .

I sorted my original problem in that I only installed a minimal quiktime package, which meant slider controls and checkboxs didnt appear.

My new problem is with the catalogues of DSO's .
Messier and 69 bright NGC objects only ? surely they cant be serious.

[iceman]

I noticed that too Geoff.. I think that's because it's the "enthusiast" version. If you want the full catalogue I think you need to go to the Pro version.

Probably why it's free..

Looks like CDC might be useful afterall :(

[Starkler]

I guess its good for helping a raw newbie to find their way around the sky, but not much use for the serious amatuer.

Time to uninstall this eye candy and reinstal CDC on my new hard drive.

[slice of heaven]

Yes, gives you a taste but doesn't satisfy your hunger.

Slice

[[1ponders]]

If you want to put out the bickies the pro version is not bad. Again a lot of eye candy, but you can do Celestia like trips on it as well.

[jmb]

Hi Everyone:lol:

I am a newbee and have taken the advice of the forum members and ordered a backcopy of the PC World mag with the software STARRY NIGHT...
it was due to arrive today, but has not turned up...as many of you have used the program, i was wondering if you had any tips to a 'newbee' to assist in taking full advantage of this program...

thanks
:nerd:

[Hitchhiker]

Hi jmb, I have a copy of Starry Night Backyard version which I got free from an Astronomy textbook.

If your version has it, have a look at the Starry Night Companion - this is a book in pdf form - I think it is available from the menus. It does quite a good job of explaining various astronomical stuff.

Also, have a look at the manual supplied with the program - it should be present as a pdf file. It's a bit dry but it has all the info you need to get the best out of the program.

Adam.

[xrekcor]

Wow! last time I downloaded a free version of that it stopped functioning a
few weeks later. Also it wouldn't let you view any days prior to or after the
trail period. Then I couldn't remove the damn thing, it would come with an
error "uninstall log not found" yet there was a txt file called uninstall.log
sitting right there. Emailing them proved fruitless so I had to hold my breath
and delete to folder it was installed in.

I now have The Sky which to tell you the truth I like better.

regards.CS