Software or Sites for Best Viewing etc

chrissara · #1 01-06-2006, 08:43 AM

I was just wondering if there are any sites or software that may "mimic" or have a similar feature to the Autostar Tour feature on some of the goto telescopes.

By that on the Goto telescopes, once your longitude and latitude, time etc are typed in, and it then calculates the best planets, stars, galaxies etc for you to look at and for the scope to slew to.

I was wondering if there are any websites or computer programs that do a similar job e.g. put in your co-ordinates, time etc and it tells you the best stars etc to look for at that time.

I have Starry Night Pro, but it does not really have a tour feature that tells you what to look for (I may be wrong and haven't discovered this feature).

iceman (Mike) · #2 01-06-2006, 08:45 AM

RTGUI can do that, it's not the nicest interface, but it can interface to CDC if you use it.

Do a search for RTGUI - starkler is a huge fan.

It's not so much a "tour", but it will give you a list of objects visible from your location at the time you specify, brighter than the mag you specify, above the altitude you specify.

allan gould · #3 01-06-2006, 08:57 AM

RTGUI may not be the nicest interface but its one of the fastest, cleanest and best progs of its type. I would give it 9/10 because it just does what its supposed to do.

[1ponders] (Paul) · #4 01-06-2006, 09:20 AM

There is of course the Arg Narvis Tour feature as well. At some point you might want to consider upgrading from noisy goto to fast silent push to

Doug · #5 01-06-2006, 09:26 AM

Another freebie that might be of interest is 'AstroPlanner'; visit
http://www.ilangainc.com/astroplanner/
cheers,
Doug

chrissara · #6 01-06-2006, 09:29 AM

Sorry I should have explained better - I don't need a program to control my scope - I have a 12" Dob. What I would like is a graphical view if possible. RTGUI had at a basic level what I was after, but I was seeking more of a graphical view if possible.

NB Thanks for the tip of RTGUI - it is a start.

Merlin66 (Ken) · #7 01-06-2006, 09:35 AM

Astroplanner does exactly what you want.

Doug · #8 01-06-2006, 09:45 AM

For another interesting freebie, visit http://www.stellarium.org
I have it but I haven't played with it yet. not sure if it has a tour function or not

.

cheers
Doug

allan gould · #9 01-06-2006, 09:46 AM

The other option that you could consider [which is more of a purist option], is to look at a pda or palm unit. The Sky is good for PDA and Planetarium is good for the Palm OS. At the moment I now control both my scopes with a bluetooth palm operating Planetarium, as I can't stand a laptop and all that. Makes for a good visual interface, is unobtrusive to others and works extremely well. Bluetooth is a great option - when you get it to work.

chrissara · #10 01-06-2006, 10:23 AM

Ah sorry - I do not need the program to control my scope. I am just using a DOB with man made power!! What I would like is the computer to just point out interesting objects in the sky for my time and location. AstroPlanner looks good, but it seems to want to have a telescope connected and I cannot find a way to input my scope

allan gould · #11 01-06-2006, 11:21 AM

Perhaps I oversold the bluetooth option. What I find so good is that if using a pda at the scope that I have the graphical option of dispaying what I am looking at at the moment, getting some information about the object and then using the pda to see what interesting objects are a short hop from where I am currently viewing. Whether goto or pushto it really helps to have that graphical interface to tell you whats in the neighbourhood and what you may have missed previously. It also stops the thing we all do and thats tour the same objects time and time again because we know where they are.

Doug · #12 01-06-2006, 11:22 AM

You don't need to have a telescope connected, in fact you can not connect a dob as you know. But if you want to have a fov display of what you will be looking at, the program (any program) will need some basic info..
Under 'edit', select 'resources' and set up a few usefull items of info such as your position on planet Earth, the dia/fr of the scope (doesn't matter about brand, or if its a reflector or refractor or mount or anything else), what EP you will use. Create a new setup for each eyepiece. That is all AstroPlanner needs to serve you well.
cheers,
Doug

ving (David) · #13 01-06-2006, 11:27 AM

as allan said, planetarium for pal pilot is quite good. i have it and use it for my dob. do you have a palm pilot? you could pick up a cheapie on ebay (runs easy on a m500)