Stellarium - can it replicate what my telescope sees?

[JOC]

 

I read elsewhere on SGL that you can set Stellarium up to replicate the view from the telescope you have with certain lenses.  Is this correct and if so where do I find how to set this up please?  I have had a good look through the settings screens and can't spot where to find this.

[daz]

You need to enable the Oculars plug-in and configure that for your scope/eyepiece/camera.

The icon then appears at the top-right corner of the screen

[niallk]

As Daz says, this feature can be very useful to see how the magnification and field of view through your telescope will frame a target using your various eyepieces.

One of the best ways I find to then get an idea of the detail that you might actually see is to Google various people's sketches of an object [and knowing that you might have to revisit many times before the conditions are just right to give great views ]

[daz]

You could also use the FOV calculator at http://astronomy.tools

 

[JOC]

Hi both, many thanks.  I am back with my PC tomorrow and I will see if I can find that plug-in, at least that explains why I can't find it at the moment.  edit.  I will also look for the astronomy tools one too :-)

Edited December 31, 2016 by JOC

[John]

Bear in mind that Stellarium will only provide a rough guide to what a certain scope spec / eyepiece combo might show in terms of what fits into the field of view and scale. It can't simulate seeing conditions, light pollution levels, observer experience, optical quality etc, etc.

So don't be surprised if the actual view through the scope does not match what Stellarium portrays in every respect.

[JimT]

Rather than overburden the screen on Stellarium I use Astronomy Tools, just a few clicks and it's there for you and much neater.

Jim

[Dave In Vermont]

If you haven't checked the User Guide on the Oculars function, it's in the guide at 14.1 and onwards.

A copy of the guide came with your copy of Stellarium. Visit their site for more copies, or go here:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/stellarium/files/Stellarium-user-guide/0.15.0-1/stellarium_user_guide-0.15.0-1.pdf/download

All the best -

Dave

 

Edited December 31, 2016 by Dave In Vermont

[Guest Tuomo]

1 hour ago, John said:

Bear in mind that Stellarium will only provide a rough guide to what a certain scope spec / eyepiece combo might show in terms of what fits into the field of view and scale. It can't simulate seeing conditions, light pollution levels, observer experience, optical quality etc, etc.

So don't be surprised if the actual view through the scope does not match what Stellarium portrays in every respect.

But stellarium DOES simulate light pollution levels where you live.

[A budding astronomer]

Yes it is possible. On the top right you will see the ocular view. Configure your telescope specifications and your off.

[John]

59 minutes ago, Tuomo said:

But stellarium DOES simulate light pollution levels where you live.

How could it know about my street lights, my neighbours lights, local security lights, the glow around the horizons from Bristol and Newport etc,  ?

How can it allow for sky transparency variatiions night to night and sometimes hour to hour ?

It's local issues like these that impact what I actually see through through the eyepiece.

Stellarium does make allowance for atmospheric extinction and twighlight.

[Charic]

3 hours ago, JOC said:

...............set Stellarium up to replicate the view from the telescope you have with certain lenses...............

There is the ocular tab that allows you to input the specifications for eyepieces, this simulates your field of view and magnification.

Also, go into your configuration window, select the  TOOLS tab then tick the 'Show flip buttons', these will show after reboot in the lower menu bar.
This will orientate the view  in Stellarium to that, which the scope sees.
 

[JOC]

I am guessing that most of the advice above relates to the copy of Stellarium that I downloaded yesterday morning to my portable PC.  The one I have been playing with is the one I downloaded to my phone and I didn't get an instruction manual, electronic or otherwise, with either download so I will certainly check out the link above.  Thanks all.

[saac]

JOC, the Stellarium user manual can be downloaded from the Stellarium home page - pdf icon top right hand side. Worthwhile downloading, it's a pretty detailed user manual and you will find lots of hidden gems.

http://www.stellarium.org/

Jim

edit - sorry, I see Dave has already provided the link.

Edited January 1, 2017 by saac

[niallk]

On 31/12/2016 at 15:20, JOC said:

I am guessing that most of the advice above relates to the copy of Stellarium that I downloaded yesterday morning to my portable PC.  The one I have been playing with is the one I downloaded to my phone and I didn't get an instruction manual, electronic or otherwise, with either download so I will certainly check out the link above.  Thanks all.

I only use the ocular plugin on the desktop version - hmmmm I don't know that the mobile version supports this feature ...?? As far as I can see, my version doesn't - but will be glad to be corrected

[Mognet]

As far as I've seen the phone/tablet version of Stellarium doesn't yet support oculars, but as a rough guide for the 200p dob I use a FOV of 1 degree for the 25mm eyepiece, and 0.4 degrees for the 10mm.

I checked it with Astronomy.tools, and it's close enough to be usable http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/?fov[]=1|68|||1||&fov[]=1|67|||1||&solar_system=moon

[iapa]

On ‎31‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 12:31, John said:

How could it know about my street lights, my neighbours lights, local security lights, the glow around the horizons from Bristol and Newport etc,  ?

How can it allow for sky transparency variatiions night to night and sometimes hour to hour ?

It's local issues like these that impact what I actually see through through the eyepiece.

Stellarium does make allowance for atmospheric extinction and twighlight.

I saw that there's a check box to enable compensation for light pollution. It looks like it is using one of the dark sky databases - be closer than nothing ?