What Do You Use To Plan Your Oberving Sessions??

[Greg]

How do you guys plan your observing sessions?

I tend to use S@N and AN then use SN Pro to check visibility at my location. So how do you plan your sessions.

I'm interested in alternatives...

Thanks,

Greg

[thing]

I always use Starry Nights Plus. I look at what's above 40 degrees in az and plan a little tour.

[steppenwolf]

I use Cartes du Ciel - I even use it for helping me choose which camera/telescope/lens combination to use and what orientation after I have selected my objects for a session.

[Psychobilly]

Stellarium - find it easier to scroll back and fore in time and like the simulated atmosphere - then the Sky 6 for Center Ra and Dec , camera rotations and Imaging setup...and likely guide stars

Billy...

[Talitha]

The Sky Tools software lets me create my own observing lists, so all I do is check the "Need Sketches" list and I'm out the door.

[ottUp]

I also use Starry Night and Stellarium for planning sky layouts. But they aren't really "planning" programs.

For methodical planning, check "Astroplanner". It allows you to generate target lists based on all kinds of criteria, sort them by best observing time, prints finder charts, takes resolving power of your optics into account, etc. A great tool.

[centroid]

Firstly, the weather forecast , then The Sky6.

Dave

[saturn5]

I use Starry Night Pro 5.It has a planner in it that tells you everyting that is above the horizon at any given time.it also gives you info on whatever you wish to look at.

Field of View Calculater

Easy fast forwarding a couple of hours,weeks or months.

Pick whatever objects you want to highlight from an extensive library.Messier

NGC,PGC,etc.

You can also alter the minimum/maximum magnitude of objects on your screen.

Telescope function to control your scope from your comp.

It has it all and i wouldn't/couldn't be without it.

[Psychobilly]

Firstly, the weather forecast , then The Sky6.

Dave

Seaweed a pine cone and a mark one eyeball... I think the met office use the first two but not the last

Billy...

[ChrisEdu]

First, I go outside and look to see if it's cloudy. If yes - go in, sit down, eat and drink! If no - look in S@N to see what they suggest, also look on Stellarium to see what should be visible, then grab kit and go hunting my targets.

[Sam]

I decide what part of the sky I want to look at - by constellation (I usually know what's visible so don't have to check).

Then I look at Stellarium and note which objects I want to look at in a little note book (not with red pen). I usually have a focus or theme for the evening, like nebs, clusters or galaxies. Of course like all of my good plans, none survive first contact with the telescope. I usually find myself just star hopping around the constellation I first decided to look in the area of.

Sam

[661-pete]

I presume that the title of this thread is taken to include 'imaging'...

When I have the next trip to France in the offing (I wish! ) I have plenty of time to plan ahead. I start with Cartes du Ciel, set it to the appropriate date and then look for likely 'blobs' in the S, W and N directions (can't look East since the house is in the way, the house performs the valuable service of blocking the streetlights). Then I go to SEDS to get some feel for what the object will be like. I always try to prepare a list longer than I can manage over the visit, easier to leave things out than add in extras at the last minute.

One of the things I have to be careful with is, I don't have internet access in France, so I'm reliant on CdC to locate objects once I'm there.

At least this is the theory. In practice....

One thing I should have added: CdC gives you the culmination time and altitude (from your observing location) of any object you click on. Good for planning my bed-time, since I usually can't start imaging an object until after it culminates...

[MikeP]

not with red pen

:laughing3:

SkyMap Pro 11 for me and Astroplanner for long sessions.

Mike

[michaelmorris]

For stellar objects and DSOs, I use a combination of CdC and Astroplanner. For planets, it's Planet Visibility and the demo version of Skymap Pro (very quick). For lunar observing, it's Skymap Pro (to check elevation), NightCal and Virtual Moon Atlas.

[GazOC]

I use Astromist, nothing complicated just all objects >30 deg above the horizon, brighter than mag10 and I take it from there.

[Whippy]

Depends on what I'm doing really. If I'm on an imaging session then I'll normally use the Deep Sky Browser (www.messier45.com) to get some idea as to what objects are suitable size-wise for imaging. If it's observing then Stellarium for those planned nights, otherwise it's the 'tour' button on the EQ6 or something fairly obvious if I'm using the dob because my celestial navigation skills aren't great by any shakes. Although I did get the superb Hidden Treasures book for my brithday recently and that's got loads of objects for a good night's observing.

Tony..

[James]

Another Astroplanner user here. I use it to create a list of two and then load up Equinox, a Mac based planetarium program. Astroplanner controls my EQ6 Pro and Equinox syncs with AP. Believe it or not Astroplanner allows voice control of my mount but I've always been a little too self conscious to talk to my mount at night...

If I've had a busy day then it'll be a quick peek at Stellarium or Starry Night to see what's up...

James

[GazOC]

Tony,

How much control do you have on the objects in the "tour" option? Does it work its way through the list as they placed in sky or criss-cross all over the shot?

[Whippy]

Tony,

How much control do you have on the objects in the "tour" option? Does it work its way through the list as they placed in sky or criss-cross all over the shot?

TBH Gaz, it's been a while since I've used it! Not sure if it runs through objects in RA, what I normally do is just scroll through the objects and pick out something I fancy.

Tony..

[Tim]

I also go with Stellarium. If a clear patch is due, then its easy to roll forward in time to see what will be where, what time the planets will rise etc, and its easy to see which targets will be affected by meridian flip and at approx what time. Also good for knowing how 'bad' the moon will be at any given time. I like the GUI of stellarium, but I havent seen any others really. For controlling the mount I use Hallo Northern Sky, because its free.

But to be honest, a lot more is governed by conditions. If its a little murky, then anything north/east for me is just orange. If there is a little high drifting cloud, i'll image a bright object that wont be too affected.

The general long term plan is a list I have been putting together of objects that I want to get my own decent image of. Its a long list already, grows frequently, and with the lack of clear nights, never looks like being completed.....

If I lived where you lived Greg, I'd be out after some shots of whatever it is that makes the noises in the night

[michaelmorris]

Tony,

How much control do you have on the objects in the "tour" option? Does it work its way through the list as they placed in sky or criss-cross all over the shot?

TBH Gaz, it's been a while since I've used it! Not sure if it runs through objects in RA, what I normally do is just scroll through the objects and pick out something I fancy.

Tony..

As Tony says, it goes through them in any order you want. If you want to order them in a particular way you can; user order, RA, constellation, alphabetical or any other parameter recorded on the observing plan.