Sky maps for visual observing.

[Scooot]

4 hours ago, Grumpy Martian said:

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

Have a look at this comparison chart. It's in dollars & a bit out of date as there's a 5 pro now but will give you a rough idea. Bare in mind you can't upgrade so if you buy the plus version and want to upgrade to pro later you'll have to pay the full price. They do however have offers occasionally.

http://skysafariastronomy.com/products/skysafari/versions.html

Here's the link to the latest 5 versions

http://skysafariastronomy.com/skysafari-5-professional-astronomy-telescope-control-software-for-ios.html

[estwing]

39 minutes ago, John said:

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

 

But you can switch targets John...I'm only going after extremely difficult to see stuff that needs a lot of planning,Planets not really...Luna then yes I can see preparation working there...Solar,er..no!

[popeye85]

I used to use safari-I even forked out over 40 quid for the all singing all dancing version-then I went and dropped my phone over the side of the boat! DOH! never mind 5 pound's later and I am the proud owner of a Nortons star atlas and must say I find it much more fun than using a phone. I suppose part of the enjoyment of astronomy for me is going out and escaping the world of smart phones and peoples obsession with the latest technology! just me though. 

[ronin]

I tend to use The Monthly Sky Guide by Ridpath+Tirion, never got on with TLAO for whatever reason(s).

I suspect that TMSG just presents things as I "think", it basically has a "constellation of the month" and shows that in reasonable detail and shows what is in it.

I have Skysafari 5 but I use that the same way - I pick an intereting constellation, or bit of the sky, and find out what is in it. SS5 is good but ultimately the screen is of limited size and waving it all over the sky with the screen kind of highly magnified is not how I work. Actually seem to use SS5 to select whatever I might be lookiong at or considering and read the information of it.

Thought: Can you create an observing list in Skysafari ?

[Stu]

6 minutes ago, ronin said:

 

I have Skysafari 5 but I use that the same way - I pick an intereting constellation, or bit of the sky, and find out what is in it. SS5 is good but ultimately the screen is of limited size and waving it all over the sky with the screen kind of highly magnified is not how I work. Actually seem to use SS5 to select whatever I might be lookiong at or considering and read the information of it.

Thought: Can you create an observing list in Skysafari ?

No need to wave it all over the sky, just turn off the compass feature and use it like a star atlas.

You can absolutely make observing lists on it, very easily. Look at the bottom of the search screen and that's where you create them. Or you can import and export them; I imported Nick's Spring Galaxies list some time ago.

 

[Knighty2112]

30 minutes ago, ronin said:

Thought: Can you create an observing list in Skysafari ?

Stu beat me to it, but yes you can create and import observing lists.

You can also email any lists you make to others who might be interested.

If you email it to yourself you can keep a txt copy of your daily/weekly observations like below too;

 

[cloudsweeper]

Very handy to find this thread at the moment!  I recently viewed Ms84 & 86 in Markarian's Chain using GoTo, but I seldom rely on that entirely, and often make a simple sketch to later get confirmation.

After extensive searching online, I am satisfied that I did see those galaxies.  Problem is, it was a lot of kerfuffle establishing that fact, since my usual sources were lacking.  Stellarium is poor and lacking detail in that area, and the Pocket Sky Atlas gives no stellar detail at all, just the pattern of the galaxies.

So, of all the printed works so far referred to, can someone please let me know which gives a clear and detailed map of the region around Ms 84 & 86 for ease of identification?  Many thanks!

Doug.

[Knighty2112]

9 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Very handy to find this thread at the moment!  I recently viewed Ms84 & 86 in Markarian's Chain using GoTo, but I seldom rely on that entirely, and often make a simple sketch to later get confirmation.

After extensive searching online, I am satisfied that I did see those galaxies.  Problem is, it was a lot of kerfuffle establishing that fact, since my usual sources were lacking.  Stellarium is poor and lacking detail in that area, and the Pocket Sky Atlas gives no stellar detail at all, just the pattern of the galaxies.

So, of all the printed works so far referred to, can someone please let me know which gives a clear and detailed map of the region around Ms 84 & 86 for ease of identification?  Many thanks!

Doug.

Hi Doug. If your SE Goto mount is as good as my SE Goto mount I can confirm that you most likely did indeed see M84 & M86 OK as long as you used a good 3 star alignment when setting up the mount. I've found with my mount using a theee star alignment I always gets objects in the FOV of my 18mm EP when using my 4SE Mak. And the other night with my new C8 SCT using a 30mm and also the 20mm EP also all objects were easily seen somewhere in the FOV. I know this because I always adjust my Skysafari app display to show all the magnitude of stars visible in the EP I currently have in the scope, so I can match up the star fields correctly. This is very handy when not many stars are visible in the FOV too as I can flip the view to west/east to reflect the EP view directly, and even where I can't see any faint DSO's I know it should be somewhere in the FOV with matching up the other stars that I can see correctly in the FOV.

[cloudsweeper]

Thanks Gus!  Yes, GoTo is usually good - I use two known stars usually, or even a planet, and it performs well.  Maybe I'm just a stickler for confirmation - don't like to make a "claim" until I'm really sure.  When observing, I have Stellarium on hand, and can compare FOV in the EP with angular spread on the screen.  (Lateral flip is a boon too!)  It's just that for those particular targets, Stellarium is all "woolly" and unclear!

Doug.

[rockystar]

if I'm uncertain of what I've found, I sometimes do a quick sketch and confirm it later at the computer.

[Stu]

47 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Very handy to find this thread at the moment!  I recently viewed Ms84 & 86 in Markarian's Chain using GoTo, but I seldom rely on that entirely, and often make a simple sketch to later get confirmation.

After extensive searching online, I am satisfied that I did see those galaxies.  Problem is, it was a lot of kerfuffle establishing that fact, since my usual sources were lacking.  Stellarium is poor and lacking detail in that area, and the Pocket Sky Atlas gives no stellar detail at all, just the pattern of the galaxies.

So, of all the printed works so far referred to, can someone please let me know which gives a clear and detailed map of the region around Ms 84 & 86 for ease of identification?  Many thanks!

Doug.

This is where I think SkySafari excels because it is dynamic. You can choose your field of view, plus the magnitude of stars and galaxies that you are seeing and away you go.

I galaxy hopped down Markarian's chain, plus a large number of other galaxies using my 16" and SkySafari/Nexus Push to and it was so amazing being able to clearly identify what I was looking at.

[wookie1965]

http://www.star-shine.ch/astro/messiercharts/messierTelrad.htm

http://www.star-shine.ch/astro/caldwellcharts/caldwell_overview.htm

http://www.saguaroastro.org/content/Book_110BestOfNGC.htm

This is good print out and laminate

[Littleguy80]

I just bought the S&T pocket atlas. Was using it with Stellarium yesterday to get an idea of how useful it would be. Initial impression is that it's great for inspiration as to what to look at but not detailed enough to find/identify the targets with. I'll probably pick up SkySafari plus as a companion to the Atlas when it next goes on sale. Looks like they normally reduce it towards the end of May. I think the Atlas would be more useful with a better finder. Currently I only have a red dot finder

[estwing]

stick with the telrad for now TBH the finder helps more with Deep sky observing, just mark the size of the telrad (inside top left of cover)..with some clear plastic and then use on the s&t charts..

[Littleguy80]

It's literally a red dot. Is it worth investing in a proper telrad? Something like this?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/telrad-finder-astronomy.html

Ooops. I've gone a bit off topic here though I guess the method of finding would have an impact on what map you'd use.

[estwing]

That's it mate along with S&T Sky atlas you can't go wrong 

[Nyctimene]

I'm almost always using a combination of several sky maps when observing (one of the pro's of an astro shed, where you can spread them on a large table). First, to get a rough orientation, or, with a smaller scope, the PST or a German equivalent, Karkoschka's "Atlas für Himmelsbeobachter" (with useful descriptions of DSO's). Next, the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas in combination with the "Night Sky Observer's Guide", which gives detailed descriptions of the visual appearance of more than 2000 DSO's and covers scope apertures from 4" up to 18/20". SkySafari 5 Pro works fine when using it with the smartphone directly at the scope, as you can change the apparent field of view for all scope/eyepiece pairings; and with the 18", it helps to identify those faint smudges in Abell clusters quite easily. No problems with dark adaption any more since I'm using the light shield "Red Eyes Cling Xtra Dark" from  http://www.siriusastroproducts.com/index.html

Very recommendable and available for tablets sizes as well (the Xtra Dark is important). Of course, no affiliation with these.

Stephan