Realsky DSS images CD's

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone out there has the collection of realsky CD's or know how much and where to get it from, the ASP do not distribute this product anymore and other sompanies have not been able to distribute it under copyright laws. I think from memory there is 18 CD's in total.

I am after mainly the Southern Hemisphere ones, but the whole set would be great.

[Argonavis (William)]

Last time I enquired (long time ago) Software Bisque did have a few left. You could try astromart, even with a wanted ad.

I have a southern hemisphere version, and if you PM me we can see what I can do. Having only the southern hemisphere version is like having only half an atlas - a bit of a disability, and the software interface is not overly user friendly.

With broadband connections and a wider range of plates available from the DSS, I suspect this collection is historic. You can generally download whatever you require.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Yeah might have to put up with downloading them off the net. Still I only want them for reference.

[Gama]

I have both sets, got them a long long time ago. Actually when they were first released.

There are 20 CD's in all but 2 are installation CD's, so there is 18 for use.
The good thing about them is you can use them in "The Sky" to get the images placed on the skymap.

[glenc (Glen)]

You can find images of all the NGC objects at:
http://www.ngcic.org/dss/dss_ngc.asp

I have N&S Real Sky too.
Glen

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

They are no longer available. Astromart is your best bet. Probably around us$150.

[kamayok3]

Hi,

Really hope someone can lend them to me for reference. These are really a hard to find CDs. Need both N&S....

BTW, I am from Malaysia.

Regards,

Tommy

[netwolf]

Can they be copied and distributed? I mean if they can be downloaded I assume there is no copyright on this.

[Ian Robinson]

May be able to hold of them via your local university's library if you are student ....

[ngcles]

Hi Fahim, Astroman & All,

I've got a copy of both hemispheres and they are a terrific reference.

Unfortunately they are copyright so they shouldn't be freely distributed.

The STScI DSS is all fine and good -- so long as you are somewhere with a net connection. Frequently, I'm not. Often it is when I'm at the telescope somewhere dark -- where I need it most.

The Realsky interface supplied with the CDs is rather cumbersome and clunky as someone else noted, but the Realsky CDs also interface seamlessly with the planetarium software Megastar. If say, you are looking at a galaxy in a 2 degree field map on the screen, you just press ctrl R and the Realsky DSS image overlays the map -- wonderful. Wouldn't be without it. I loaded mine (yes the whole lot) onto the hard drive of the laptop so it runs even faster.

One of the few limitations it has is due to the pretty severe compression of the data (to fit on 18 CDs) which means that occasionally a star or three will be lost in pixilation. This has caused some consternation for me twice now -- thinking I'd found a supernova candidate only to learn later it was a known star that just doesn't show up like a star on the image due to the compression. Happened to me (2nd time) only earlier this month -- thought I had one (certain actually) but was robbed again!

Otherwise, its terrific and a pity it has been discontinued.

Best,

Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T

[Ian Robinson]

Bit of luck the guy who did the work , the same guy who did GUIDE (Project Pluto) I believe might be on the job and hopefully he'll produce a set of DVDs with more complete data.

Otherwize there must be some copies out there in club hands as well university hands that are accessible and available , or sitting a HDD somewhere.

If not , this sounds like a prime example of something that should distributed even if by "pirated" copies since it is no longer available through legitimate sources.