Software reccomendations for (target) season needed.

[sil]

I'm wondering if there's any software for working out the best "season" dates for viewing/imaging a specified target.
ideally something that can accept some constraints like a minimum Alt of 30* and AZ between 275* and 018*. So if you have trees/building obstructions from your favourite viewing spot you can get dates/times to ensure it will be in your field of view.

Currently I load up Starry Night and stick postit notes to my monitor to block out obstructions then step through a month at a time until i see my target again. Not ideal but it works, but there must be a faster, more accurate method where I can configure my field of view and obstructions then give it a target and it gives me a date/time list.

Before you shout: find a better viewing location. I have a physical disability so its just NOT an option. I am just trying to make best use of my home viewing spot that I can set up on when weather permits. Its not perfect but its all I can rely on being able to do.

Steve

[AndrewJ]

Astroplanner has some pretty good filtering for things like that, and access to massive databases.

Andrew

[pfitzgerald]

Hi Steve
It's not quite a software solution. But I use these constellation cards as a rough planner - they give times of the year for culmination at 9pm, 12 midnight and 3am.

http://assa.saao.ac.za/how-to-observe/getting-started/star-charts/concards/

I then use a mixture of iObserve and SkySafari Pro to fine tune viewing on a particular night for the objects that I'm interested in.

Home this is of some use to you.

Paul

[sil]

Thanks guys those cards look great, I've been slack and avoided learning the sky which I should so I can probably put those to use during imaging sessions while the camera is busy.

AstroPlanner I've heard tons of good things about and just couldn't seem to figure out if it would filter the way I want. Most programs tend to just tell me whats in the sky tonight, not when will X be in the sky. I guess most people just put up with moving their gear to avoid trees/buildings. But surely home observatories still have some obstructions so there must be something to do this. Starry nights has a custom horizon option but when i tried to use it, it had an alt limit so I couldnt use it to properly mask, that was a couple of years ago. Guess i should see if the current version has it any better.

[JA]

Hi Sil,

I also checked in Stellarium and there's nothing like that to mask the horizon with a specified azimuth range. I thought something could perhaps be cooked up with the occular extension to Stellarium (which I now know how to drive better), but unfortunately not through any user settings, so I sent a suggestion (yours) to (I believe) the developer of that extension to provide an option to grey-out the view outside of a user specified Altitude Range & Azimuth Range - what I call Barn Doors, to simulate local obstructions like buildings, mountains, etc...

You never know.

Best
JA

[pfitzgerald]

You're welcome Steve.

Clear skies.

Paul