I went to the trouble of remapping my local horizon tonight in Astroplanner. It takes a bit of time to create the model but well worth it to help select a suitable object. I can't believe how much the trees have grown in the west. The two images attached show what it was like 4 years ago and how it looks today.
Not wrong Paul. You don't know how lucky you are up there in God's own country!
Peter, I'm at the point now I take it as a given I'll be imaging 2 or even 3 objects over a few nights to get max value out of setting up. Actually, driving around the 'burbs, I often think to myself how lucky I am to be able to see any sky, espeically considering that wasn't originally on the agenda when we moved here.
In AstroPlanner, go to Resources->Sites, click on the horizon map and it'll open up a tool where you can either manually draw it, or if connected to your scope it can get the position from the scope. It's fairly intuitive IIRC.
Thanks for the heads up on this, somehow I had missed this app.
Should be helpful to choose the best spot for the pier to go in.
Not sure if it will help you there. The above are just screencaps for its sky chart with custom horizons added, which is but a drop in the ocean of what AP can do.
I try to do at least a rough horizon (even if just estimated by eye) every time I visit somewhere at least 2 nights. Comes in amazingly handy planning dark sky trips in advance too.
As Troy says though, a drop in the ocean for a fantastic application.
Last edited by RobF; 20-06-2012 at 11:25 PM.
Reason: spelling
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