Anton Viola

Hi, Major updates on my spreadsheet "Jupiter's Moons", now allowing you to track the orbits of the 4 major moons across a selectable period of time. Link: www.astronomy-morsels.ch/morsels. Enjoy! Anton P.S. Don't forget to submit ideas for new "morsels" (spreadsheets). Happy to develop them!

Hi, I think I found a nice solution to model/analyse the tilt of Saturn's Ring(s). The "morsel" (spreadsheet) I created, calculates the tilt for a specific date, but also for 10 dates before and 10 dates after this reference date. The interval between each date is taken as an input. As a result, one clearly sees the sinusodial shape of the tilt across time. Link: www.astronomy-morsels.ch/morsels. Anton

Hi, I modelled the transits of Venus and Mercury across multiple centuries. One can choose a transit date, and the "morsel" (spreadsheet), graphically shows the (partial) transits. Link: www.astronomy-morsels.ch. Anton

I inspected time intervals between the different moon phases, for instance May 2024. It turns out that the duration between the New Moon and Full Moon was 15.44 days, still the whole lunar cycle lasted 29.39 days, so the large time interval between New Moon and Full Moon was "compensated" by a smaller interval between Full Moon and the next New Moon (29.39 - 15.44 = 13.95 days). What is the cause of this, can someone explain? Thanks! Anton at www.astronomy-morsels.ch

At my new website www.astronomy-morsels.ch (guess where this name comes from ...), I have made available 50+ astronomy spreadsheets, covering various topics. Happy to receive feedback and ideas for new "morsels"! Thanks! Anton

Looked at the website of Astronomical League with their different observing programs. All nice, but the objects to observe are mainly listed in .pdf files. So, for most of them (Dark Nebula, Caldwell, Herschel, Messier, Multiple Star Systems), I converted the .pdf files to Excel files and added the possibility to filter observing candidates on date/time/location and field of view limits (azimuth, altitude). One can also register the status of each object, free to choose status values one prefers. Files are too large to upload, but you can find them at: https://www.astronomy.morsels.ch/morsels. One screenshot attached for the Multiple Star Systems program. Hope this helps, happy to receive feedback! Anton Hope this helps, happy to receive feedback! Anton

On request, I also added a spreadsheet showing the visibility of triple star systems. See attachment. Open for more requests! Anton Triple Stars V1.0.xlsx

On request, I now created spreadsheets with which one can easily filter object databases to reveal which objects are visible. The criteria used are simple: date, time and location on one hand, and field of view limited for azimuth and altitude on the other hand. The following spreadsheets are available: - Best Deep sky (500 objects); - Binary Stars (35 objects); - Caldwell (109 objects); - Herschel (400 objects); - Messier (110 objects); - Nebulae (100 objects). Although for instance Stellarium offers similar functionality, it can be handy to have lists prepared for specific times during the night. You can download all spreadsheets from www.astronomy-morsels.ch/morsels. Enjoy! Anton

On request, I added additional ones for planetary nebulae, Herschel and Caldwell objects, see www.astronomy-morsels.ch.

Looking forward to your feedback! Started checking the formulaes and references myself as well.

Thanks, but what conclusions do you mean?

It often happens to me that I am puzzling out with for instance Stellarium when certain Messier objects are visible. That's why I decided to build a ‘morsel’ that allows me to show, based on date, time, location and azimuth/altitude limits, which Messier objects meet the criteria. See attachment. Anton (www.astronomy-morsels.ch) Messier Visibility V1.0.xlsx

Well, took a few steps back and investigated theory/equations about black holes. Found an excellent resource (from 2014, but still valid ..?), which shows clearly a lack of consensus (extremely wide spread of the “expert opinions”). Summarised what I found in there attached spreadsheet. Or have I overlooked things? Anton at www.astronomy-morsels.ch Black Holes V1.0.xlsx

Did some research on visual binary stars and compiled a spreadsheet now (actually on request!). It calculates the position angle and angular separation for the whole orbital period (max 100 years). It also allows one to select a star from a filtered Washington Double Star Catalog (Release 2023-08-11). File attached, have a look at astronomy-morsels.ch if you are interested in similar "morsels". Anton Visual Binary Stars V1.1.xlsx

Thanks! Ordered the book, looking forward! Best, Anton my website

Really a strange topic, the ΛCDM Model ... The Lambda-CDM, Lambda cold dark matter, or ΛCDM model is a mathematical model of the Big Bang theory with three major components: 1. a cosmological constant denoted by lambda (Λ) associated with dark energy; 2. the postulated cold dark matter denoted by CDM; 3. ordinary matter. Standard ΛCDM requires only 6 independent parameters to completely specify the cosmological model. I am trying to understand this model in detail, but not too successful so far. Any inputs here? Thanks in advance! Anton ΛCDM Model V0.1.xlsx

Found this website of NASA, describing the "Mars24 Sunclock — Time on Mars" initiative. Very interesting and implemented the algorithm in a spreadsheet (www.astronomy-morsels.ch), also attached. verified this with the available examples. Seems to work fine. Will now try to build the display as well, any support here would be appreciated! Anton Time on Mars V1.0.xlsx

Compiled a new morsel at my website to calculate the transit time of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, see also attachment. Jupiter Great Red Spot V1.0.xlsx

In the past, as an amateur astronomer, I often made the mistake of buying new equipment without knowing exactly how it fitted into my existing equipment. This led to a nice, but somewhat motley collection of telescopes, eyepieces and cameras, where I struggled to make the right combinations. It was then decided to take stock of everything and build a tool (attached spreadsheet, more on astronomy-morsels.ch) to calculate various combinations. This gave me a much better understanding of the optics of telescopes with accessories. Also included list off objects of interest (Messier, Nebula, stars, Caldwell, Herschell) with their position and magnitude. Anton Telescope Equations V1.0.xlsx

I created a spreadsheet to support finding interesting objects (RA, Dec, Visual Magnitude). It includes with cross references: - brightest stars; - nearest stars; - planets; - Messier objects; - Planetary Nebulae; - Herschel 400 Catalogue; - Caldwell List. You can find the list here: https://www.astronomy-morsels.ch/morsels, also attached. Enjoy! Anton Object Data (Stars, Planets, Nebulae, ...) V1.0.xlsx

So, apparently, I need to take into account Kepler's 1st (elliptical orbit) and 2nd (equal areas, varying velocity) into account. So, I modelled actually all 3 laws (including the 3rd: distance vs. speed). All fun, happy with the outcome! You can find the result here, feedback welcomed! Anton Kepler's Laws V1.1.xlsx

I have created a model in Excel, describing the orbits of the earth around the sun and the moon around the earth, including the tilt of the moon's orbit (nodes). It also includes the distance between the moon and the earth (super moons). This model supports the prediction of eclipses, but as the orbits are modelled as circles, accuracy is not always high. Any tips how to model the orbits as ellipses? Anton (astronomy-morsels.ch) Sun-Earth-Moon Model V1.0.xlsx

See also this "morsels" I created. Anton (www.astronomy-morsels.ch) Saros-Inex Cycles, Panorama V1.0.xlsx

Does anyone have an (Excel) example for accurately calculating the equation of time value through a whole year? Less accurate example attacheed. Thanks! Anton (www.astronomy-morsels.ch) Equation of Time V1.0.xlsx

Hi, I went to all astro-related spreadsheets I developed over the years, made a clean up and created a dedicated website (www.astronomy-morsels.ch) to share them. They covering topics such as Spacetime (special relativity), Lagrange points (points of equilibrium), telescope equations, moon phases, planetary positions, star and Messier object observations, etc. Also, models of gear trains of astronomical clocks are analysed (e.g., Antikythera, Eise Eisinga Planetarium, Prague Orloj, Ancient Maya Solar System). These morsels are free and I hope they can aid in your astronomical interests. Best, Anton