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Smartphone apps

stuffedhaggis

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stuffedhaggis

stuffedhaggis

Posted
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Ok guys ...

Looking for some pointers here

I have been trying to use smartphone apps to help guide me for the last few months. But still struggle a wee bit with them .

I have sky safari plus . Great app

But I cant seem to find the best settings for it . Ie for what I ca see with my naked eye .

Plus google skymaps. I have an issue of what I point at with my phone I never seem to find on my scope

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

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Matt Scunthorpe

Matt Scunthorpe

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While apps are good for seeing whats around, and in view for you, i wouldnt try to use one to get positons to point the scope too.

I have google sky map on my phone, its great for seeing what i can see. but like you say, what you point the phone at doesnt show what its looking at - to me that says its not that accurate so why try and use it for positions. Nothing beats a actual star chart or a Telrad map imo.

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nicks90

nicks90

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i use SkEye on android and it is fantastic!
My only criticism is that it gets upset when held within 2 feet of my mount/ota as it comes up with a "strong magnetic interferrance" message and stops guiding properly when you move the phone about.
other than that, its brilliant - so many different settings for the display, time shift, manual scrolling, zoom, 2deg and 4deg setting circles etc.
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Eastridge

Eastridge

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+1 for SK Eye

Ans we do use it to help guide OTA to the right area ( not spot on but helps) with our Dob we put it central at the far / closed end of the OTA and then move the OTA around until circle over desired object at zoomed mag.

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boabsta

boabsta

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Another vote for skeye. My original plan was to have an old digital camera mounted onto the camera mount on my tube rings and then have my phone laccy banded onto that as a guider. Instead I bought the HEQ5pro. I still rekon it would work though as it is very sensitive and you can select the feild of view to match your ep or naked eye.

Rab.

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stem1989

stem1989

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Goskywatch is a good one, sometimes a bit off when you point it up but if you already know the skies its a nice quick guide for general direction. it also tells you the RA/Dec and app. mag. which is helpful. It has lots of DSO's as well as planets, and the settings are nice, night view mode as well as EQ grid etc. Basically stellarium on a phone. :)

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stuffedhaggis

stuffedhaggis

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Another vote for skeye. My original plan was to have an old digital camera mounted onto the camera mount on my tube rings and then have my phone laccy banded onto that as a guider. Instead I bought the HEQ5pro. I still rekon it would work though as it is very sensitive and you can select the feild of view to match your ep or naked eye.

Rab.

i like that idea i wonder what mag you would have to set it to tho ?

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boabsta

boabsta

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Have no idea dude but all you do is pinch or stretch the screen to zoom so I imagine it wont be that hard to set up. Maybe a bit annoying getting everything facing the same direction to begin with but I'm sure it will work.

Rab.

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Stu

Stu

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Mobile Observatory is great. I've just switched to an iPhone (for my sins....) and it is one of the apps I miss most. Wish someone would port it to iOS.

Another good Android app is Foviewer which simulates magnifications/ field of view depending on scope and ep. It shows the planets and Messiers to scale in the fov so is a good way of picturing how objects will appear, or making ep choices.

Stu

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Gomtuu

Gomtuu

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For iPhone I use StarWalk. I've always found it useful when I want to be sure that the scope is pointing roughly where it should be.

I also use Messier List, for checking off the Messier objects I've seen.

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Jiggy 67

Jiggy 67

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Sky and Telescope have just released a new app on IPhone (not sure if its on android) called Jupitermoons. This gives you the locations of the Galileon moons at any time and labels them. Also gives times of transits, moon shadow transits and when the GRS is visible, really usefull app

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Liofa

Liofa

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SkySafari Pro, I've found nothing better for my iPad/iPhone. Seamlessly controls my scope by wifi too. The lower versions are also very good, just with less stars. The apps get very regular updates and the support by Southern Stars is first class. Email them with a question or comment and they'll reply within a day.

Sent from my iPad

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Mr Fiery Jack

Mr Fiery Jack

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i use SkEye on android and it is fantastic!
My only criticism is that it gets upset when held within 2 feet of my mount/ota as it comes up with a "strong magnetic interferrance" message and stops guiding properly when you move the phone about.
other than that, its brilliant - so many different settings for the display, time shift, manual scrolling, zoom, 2deg and 4deg setting circles etc.

I concur, a great free app.

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Special K

Special K

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I use Starwalk too but really to get a general idea for positions. One thing it seems handy for is where planets will be at given times. Also it has a setting where you control te visible magnitudes to match what your current visibility is. I use it to help with star hopping as it has lower levels of detail than the Cambridge atlas I own.

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