Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Planetarium Software that is simple to use.


Recommended Posts

Ok so before everyone shouts up Stellarium, I already use it and am pretty well versed with it, however I am just wanting to compare it with some alternatives that are out there.

Rules are (yes there are some) that it must be at least (or near to) as simple as Stellarium to use. << F3 button, type in DSO name, return key and bingo, there you are.  

OK well maybe not that simple but I think you know where I am coming from. I think I downloaded and quickly deleted cartes du ciel  because to me it was just far to involved.

The other one is to have a catalogue of objects that preferably exceeds Stellarium (if possible), some DSO's are not on there eg caldwell are not complete and some with pre-fix sh and pk are missing too. I am not sure about these latter DSO's as I have no experience with them so might be going off on a wild goose chase but unless you ask!

Anyway, lets see what you guys use.   :grin: 

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 34
  • Created
  • Last Reply

SkySafari. Not free but cheap and (even) easier to use than Stellarium, at least on the Mac. It has coverage of DSOs and stars down to 18th mag (but I suspect coverage is not full, and that is for the Pro version which costs a bit more). Search is easy too.

I wouldn't be without it (and I've used Stellarium quite a bit in the past).

Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Under "Tools" in the Configuration Menu of Stellarium, you can download more catalogs.

Clear, Dark Skies

I will have a play around with this, actually had seen it but last time I did I couldn't get it to work, must be something I am doing wrong

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Currently installed on my mac:

* Stellarium

* TheSkyX Professional Edition + Camera Addon

* Aladin (strasbourg uni)

I'm considering SkySafari Pro to use the redundancy Apple voucher given to me..

Stellarium is nice.. it's like an old coat that you're used to.

TheSkyX is fast and there's lots of features but it's squirrelled away and you have to find it.

Aladin is great for object research.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This comment may be a bit flippant, but the only thing you need to navigate the night sky is your own eyes and a good grasp of what is above you at any given time of year.

I'm old skool and learned my way using guide books and a torch. I still think learning the constellations using the guidepost method is easiest and best. 

Some books had tables that gave the ecliptic longitude for each planet at intervals throughout the next few years. I'd have to manually plot their positions on the pages of the book. It's a huge regret that I let those books go. Crammed with very fond memories :(

We're spoiled by the software available.

I don't know if I'd have found it any easier to find my way round using planetarium program. I love using them but for me their main use is identifying the details of specific events.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This comment may be a bit flippant, but the only thing you need to navigate the night sky is your own eyes and a good grasp of what is above you at any given time of year.

To take this comment at face value, it depends on what you're looking for surely? One of my main uses of SkySafari is to check the field when I'm hunting down faint and distant galaxy clusters (mag 16-18) in brief exposures….

Martin 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I learnt my constellations by star charts and would agree that it helps immensely as just by looking up you can have a good idea of what you are going to be able to see.

I mostly use sky safari to get coordinates and to plan how I will frame shots.

I have Stellarium and downloaded all the extra catalogues but doing that makes it slower.

CDC is easy to use, there's a search box at the top you can type into and it will go to the target. I must admit that the plethora of buttons can be a bit confusing but you won't need to use most of them.

TSED70Q, iOptron Smart EQ pro, ASI-120MM, Finepix S5 pro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of you guys are losing the jest of my question ( sorry for being blunt but its has it is)

I did not ask how you navigate the sky or identify the night sky constellations, but what software you use in helping identify dso's . Thanks for the commments all the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I only recently downloaded CDC and have played with it a bit.

My initial thoughts are that it's interface isn't as intuitive or easy to use as Stellarium or SkySafari. It certainly isn't a smooth or good looking either. It does look to be highly configurable and from comparisons with SkySafari would appear to be just as accurate.

Perhaps it will grow on me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cartes Du Ciel - CDC - has many fans as it's said to be the best for operating a telescope with. Better than Stellarium. I haven't used it for that - yet. It's on To Do list. Any ways it, too, is free to download and use:

http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start

It's the English language version at the above link. Download same when you have a bit of time to spare. It's a big one - like Stellarium.

Clear Skies,

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I am using astro tortilla to plate solve I will also use CDC for mount control. If I'm not plate solving I just use the mounts handset to do the pointing as that saves me running up Ascom and connecting the serial cable up.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of you guys are losing the jest of my question ( sorry for being blunt but its has it is)

I did not ask how you navigate the sky or identify the night sky constellations, but what software you use in helping identify dso's . Thanks for the commments all the same.

From best to average..

Aladin - it's tied to strasbourg university's object database. It beats every other database out there (easily available): http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr

TheSkyX plus database add-on gives a big object just but less than Aladin.

CDC

Stellarium

Note there are others and many of them can now quiz the databases over the web that Aladin uses.

Then there's plate solving.. astrotortilla is a self contained version of the astrometry.net service. The databases on astrometry.net are larger as not many people want to download hundreds of Gigabytes of data over broadband...

This is and example of how I use aladin..

post-9952-0-42481400-1351414954_thumb.pnpost-9952-0-57063100-1351414555_thumb.pn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For MS-Windows, I use The Sky (level 1)* and Sky Map Pro 10.

For Linux, I use Cartes Du Ceil or Kstars + the usual Distro Astro included apps.

For iPhone, I use Sky Safari 4.x

For my iBook G4, I am looking for something suitable!

* does not install under 'XP' - if you dual-boot with 'NT4' & 'XP' install from 'NT4'.

It installs and runs under MS-Windows 9x too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Skytools 3 for generating star charts,observing lists and identifying objects. It's catalogues are excellent.  You can also download DSS images to overlay on the chart so if you are hunting DSOs then you have an idea of what to look for. 

Megastar 5 from Willman Bell (which I don't have yet)  is now a little elderly, but it does have images and a supplementary CD.  You can also overlay Real Sky Images, although the trouble is getting hold of the Real Sky CD's as they are long out of  production so it is scouring the net I guess.

I have Sky X Serious  Edition and agree with NickK that a lot is squirrelled away within the software but I do find it useful.  

They are both paid for products, but Skytools (Standard Edition)  has been my best investment and whatever else I have on my laptop I always come back to it for regular use.  I have tried CdC but could not get on with it - too impatient I guess.

Jon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Stellarium indoors and Carte du Ciel outdoors. Took me a while to get my head round CdC but its worth it.

Both great programmes - Stellarium is elegant and classy but hugely graphics card intensive. CdC is functional but utterly reliable and runs happily on a low spec machine. I have found both to be accurate and highly configurable.  CdC is a slightly steeper learning curve.

I use Sky Safari on my phone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use SkySafari Pro on an iPad for all my Electronically Assisted Observing. All my planning, observing in the field and post session anaylsis is supported using SkySafari Pro on ipad. It's really intuitive, feature rich and the additional portability of the iPad makes it perfect for me.  I upgraded to the Pro version as this has a large database containing objects down to around mag 18 I think, which is what I need for my setup.

I am planning telescope control using Stellarium on my PC (I know CdC may be more functional, but Stellarium is more inutuitve and ok for now) but I will definitely continue with SkySafari on iPad for everything else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been using Chris Marriott's SkyMap Pro for many years. It generally does what I'd like it to do.

I agree that a good knowledge of the sky is an excellent thing to have but how do you acquire one? By using maps, I'd have thought, and that's what the planetaria are - maps.

Olly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.