Sky maps for visual observing.

[Guest]

I have now accepted that I am a purely a visual observer and have sold my goto mount.I found that I was always overlooking it in favour of the manual alt/az mount which is easier and quicker to set up and use.

I will now have two telescopes, a 100mm F9 refractorr and a ten inch F4.8 Newtonian. I have a Cambridge star atlas and "Turn Left at Orion" which are very good.But there must be other astronomers out there who are just visual observers.How do you navigate the night skies?

I do know how to find my favourite objects.It's just aids to exploring further that I am interested in.

I have heard that there are Telrad maps to go with the Telrad finder. Is there such a thing as a giant planisphere with clear easy to read markings that can be used under red light?

Are there any good books additional to the two that I have?

Thanks

Martin

[AstroNinja]

I use the Jumbo Pocket Sky Atlas, plus the Interstellarum Atlas for navigation.  

For object selection I also have the Night Sky Observers Guide http://www.willbell.com/handbook/nitesky.htm

If you specifically want Telrad rings, you could also try the Deep Sky Reisatlas  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Sky-Reiseatlas-Michael-Feiler/dp/3938469714 excellent as it is water resistant.

There also sets of  maps which have Telrad rings - I have some somewhere - I will find them and let you have the publisher.

Jon

 

 

[mikeDnight]

17 minutes ago, Grumpy Martian said:

I have now accepted that I am a purely a visual observer and have sold my goto mount.I found that I was always overlooking it in favour of the manual alt/az mount which is easier and quicker to set up and use.

I will now have two telescopes, a 100mm F9 refractorr and a ten inch F4.8 Newtonian. I have a Cambridge star atlas and "Turn Left at Orion" which are very good.But there must be other astronomers out there who are just visual observers.How do you navigate the night skies?

I do know how to find my favourite objects.It's just aids to exploring further that I am interested in.

I have heard that there are Telrad maps to go with the Telrad finder. Is there such a thing as a giant planisphere with clear easy to read markings that can be used under red light?

Are there any good books additional to the two that I have?

Thanks

Martin

Welcome to the club of self reliance. It's liberating! 

Nortons Atlas, Sky Atlas 2000 and Pocket Sky Atlas are my main atlases. I also have a good reference library that I've built up over the years. Everything I've collected was done so from a purely visual perspective.

I could make do with just the Pocket Sky Atlas, and Atlas of the Moon by Antonin Rukl.

Mike

[John]

I use the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas as my main reference. I also have the Cambridge Double Star Atlas, Interstellarium, Nortons and Uranometria 2000.00 as further references.

You can easily make templates that match the angular size of the Telrad circles and put them onto the maps.

As to deciding what to observer, I tend to be guided by which constellations are well placed and then use the above references to find interesting targets in those constellations.

[Knighty2112]

Although I have star, deep sky & double star atlases I tend to use Skysafari on my iPad Air mostly to navigate with (also use my iPhone 6+ too sometimes). The reason been I can ajust the actual magnitude of stars in Skysafari for what I actually see in the EP. This makes it much easier to determine fainter objects, get the correct orientation of the EP view (reversed east/west, north/south etc) which you can't get with an atlas, and where most star maps etc might only show up to a certain magnitude only. Skysafari can show stellar magnitudes all the way down to 19 magnitude I believe, but in most cases unless you have dark, pristine skies to view under this is way too much to confuse you with. I have Skysafari set to show stars up to 14.7 magnitude, which is pretty much what I can see with most of my scopes with a 14mm EP in. I think all my atlases only show stars up to 9th or 10th magnitude I believe, so Skysafari shows a much more realistic view of things, which eases identification better.

Also, with my Celestron 6/8SE Goto mount I can use Skysafari with Celestron Skyportal wifi and select much easier all the objects available in Skysafiri's databases, which allows updates for asteroids, comets etc. However, even before I got my current line up I still used Skysafari mostly to navigate the sky much easier than paper atlases. I tend to use my paper atalases now for pre-observation checks in an area before I go out with my scopes, so I can note things that might be within view of my scopes. 

[estwing]

telrad and S&T's pocket sky atlas will serve you for years...then get Uranometria 2000.0 deep sky atlas.

[Stu]

I'm with Knighty here I'm afraid. I have some nice star atlases, but always revert to SkySafari. It invariably shows more detail than any atlas, plus the simple fact of being white stars on a black background makes it easier for my pea-sized brain to relate to!

[Mark at Beaufort]

All the DSOs that appear in my signature were located via star hopping. When I go observing I will take my Sky and Telescope Pocket Atlas plus more important is either Instellarium or Uranometria. I also take a music stand so that I can read the atlas more easily.

Prior to an observing session I list the objects that I want to observe on a white marker board and against each object is the page number from the relevant atlas.

If the object is very  difficult I will print out a map from Stellarium showing the FOV through the preferred eyepiece.

[estwing]

yes Mark i've found out that the more homework you do the more enjoyable the session is. Nothing worse than "what shall we look at now" with no preparation!

[Starpaw]

I personally use the Stellarium app.  I haven't tried other apps, but a useful feature for me is being able to change the level of light pollution so I can match what I see on my phone with what I see in my heavily lighted polluted London skies.  I just find physical star maps a pain to use when I'm observing.

[Pace]

I also use Pocket Sky Atlas but if I'm looking for something tricky or planning a star hop I use charts from the TriAtlas project. It's  free and easy to find - just google it. I zoom in on an interesting area, print screen, mark up my targets nice and bold and then pop it in a clear plastic sleeve.

Andy

[estwing]

after a 4hr drive to the middle of nowhere,setting up with dark adapted eyes...the last thing i want to do is get something electronic out and chance being subjected to white light...

[Stu]

1 minute ago, estwing said:

after a 4hr drive to the middle of nowhere,setting up with dark adapted eyes...the last thing i want to do is get something electronic out and chance being subjected to white light...

True enough Calvin, but it is possible to set an iPhone to very dark and red for everything, even the home screen.

[estwing]

i know mate, red screens, red tape and so on, but i just completely eliminate the chance..

[Scooot]

Sky safari for me as well  

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, estwing said:

i know mate, red screens, red tape and so on, but i just completely eliminate the chance..

No need for any of that! 

Select Colour filters and reduce white point and it's no brighter than a red light torch.

[Scooot]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

No need for any of that! 

Select Colour filters and reduce white point and it's no brighter than a red light torch.

I'm going to have to get a new ipad stu. Can do that on my phone but not the old ipad, been putting it off but running out of memory as well now. Ho hum  

[niallk]

I use Sky Safari on my phone to check altitudes and times, and have gotten into the habit of planning targets with my Interstellarum atlas ahead of a session.  Then comes the cheating bit: I use Argo Navis to locate targets with my 15": I can have a more productive session compared to finder & hopping with my 10".  AN has a very dim red screen (adjustable), so good for preserving dark adaption.

Edit: that said, if I ever get a tablet, and it is robustly dimmable, then I'd definitely try out connecting wirelessly to the encoders and running Sky Safari Pro or equivalent

[DHEB]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

it is possible to set an iPhone to very dark and red for everything, even the home screen

Very interesting. I wonder if that can also be done in an android device. I have a lot of variable star charts as png files that would be awesome to avoid printing, but the electronic screen puts me off.

[Stu]

42 minutes ago, Cinco Sauces said:

Very interesting. I wonder if that can also be done in an android device. I have a lot of variable star charts as png files that would be awesome to avoid printing, but the electronic screen puts me off.

I'm really not sure about Android, it often seems more advanced with certain features so well worth checking it out. It is nice to be able to text or even take a call without risking losing dark adaptation.

[Cjg]

+1 for the Pocket Sky Atlas, that said, Sky Safari is worth having, though I prefer the Version 4 to 5.

Peter Birren's "Objects in the Heavens" is a usefull, ring bound book to have with you at the eyepiece.

Chris

[Paz]

I like maps and have as a result got too many.

PSA is the best for portability.

Interstellarium is the best for visual use but is bigger.

Cambridge double star atlas is great in that it considers double stars which most books and maps tend to neglect.

However since I got sky safari that is so flexible and so easy to use that I rarely get my maps and music stand out in the field any more.

[Guest]

I think tha I am going to try Sky Safari on my tablet. Which version and what is the cost?

[Davesellars]

I've always used SkySafari on an iPad - This together with a decent RACI finder and finding objects imho is a breeze no matter if it's alt/az or on an EQ mount.   I bought SkySafari Pro which I got for half price - I believe it's close to £30 otherwise - they have offers fairly often so worth looking out for.  SkySafari Plus is likely what most people will ever need.   It has a good Night vision function which is better than previous versions.

 

[John]

On 17/04/2017 at 18:06, estwing said:

...... Nothing worse than "what shall we look at now" with no preparation!

Oh dear !!! - thats often my favourite approach to a session