Mobile apps/websites showing what up tonight

[DeathWarpedUp]

Hi All.

 

Is there are apps/websites that will give a daily list of things worth looking for each night. Stellarium ect are fantastic, but more helpful when you actually know the skies and are  hunting down specific things, or perhaps I havent found what im looking for on stellarium? .  Thank you

[Chefgage]

I use the sky safari app on my phone. You set it to your location and it can do many many things including giving you a tonight's best. For example.

 

[DeathWarpedUp]

I just downloaded, fantastic. I knew it would be on an app just so many different ones available, saves me having to trawl through. Thanks.

Edited June 3, 2020 by DeathWarpedUp

[Chefgage]

1 hour ago, DeathWarpedUp said:

I just downloaded, fantastic. I knew it would be on an app just so many different ones available, saves me having to trawl through. Thanks.

I have it set up so that I can see what the field of view will be through my camera with different lenses, my binoculars, or my telescopes using different lenses. Again for example.

This is what the field of view would be using my Canon 200d with 200mm lens (moon in the field of view).

 

[Kyle Allen]

Skymaps.com is a useful website. They publish a monthly sky map that shows the constellations and lists what deep sky objects are visible with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope in the evening sky. SkySafari is a brilliant app too

[Dr Strange]

I use https://www.tonightssky.com/MainPage.php it allows you to put in your lat/lon and specify what you would like to see by difficulty of the object to see as well as what objects you are interested in. For my light pollution I don't go lower than "small scope" for limiting magnitude and do a run on open clusters, planets, and double stars then sort based on constellation for the report. After that I do a run on galaxies, nebulae, comets, and globular clusters using the "easy" for limiting magnitude. I export both to a .CSV file, open Excel, sort it according to constellation  then object type and use it to generate an observing list. For dark sky trips I go much deeper on the list and tend to leave off doubles and open clusters since I can see both easily from home.

I have a sheet music stand ($25 USD) and a clip on light that I put a piece of red tape over to create a red light. This sits next to me and I can make notes as well as go through the list. 

[Aramcheck]

On 03/06/2020 at 14:14, DeathWarpedUp said:

Is there are apps/websites that will give a daily list of things worth looking for each night. Stellarium ect are fantastic, but more helpful when you actually know the skies and are  hunting down specific things, or perhaps I havent found what im looking for on stellarium? .  Thank you

On the PC version of Stellarium the "Astronomical calculations" window shows what objects are visible & double clicking on any will bring them into view.

Cheers
Ivor

[Pixies]

On 03/06/2020 at 16:53, Chefgage said:

I have it set up so that I can see what the field of view will be through my camera with different lenses, my binoculars, or my telescopes using different lenses. Again for example.

This is what the field of view would be using my Canon 200d with 200mm lens (moon in the field of view).

 

Hi Chefgage. Where can you set that in Sky Safari?

[Chefgage]

8 hours ago, Pixies said:

Hi Chefgage. Where can you set that in Sky Safari?

Firstly I am using version 5 plus. So I don't know if this is the same with other versions. First go to settings - Display. Tick the box that says 'show even if not connected to telescope'. 

Then go back and go to settings - Equipment. In this menu you can set up what king of telescope you have, what camera, eye piece etc.. So the go ahead and add the information for your telescope, eye piece etc..

When this is done go back to settings - display. You can then chose which fields of view you want to display. Whether it be a rectangle for your camera or circles for your eye pieces, binoculars etc.

[Pixies]

Thanks - but I'm using version 6 and it's a little different. The settings you mention aren't there. 

I'm sure they're hidden away somewhere else. I'll go and RTFM

[DavidJM]

10 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Thanks - but I'm using version 6 and it's a little different. The settings you mention aren't there. 

I'm sure they're hidden away somewhere else. I'll go and RTFM

I'm using version 6 and you can set up as chefgage says, most important thing is show even if not connected to a telescope button

[Pixies]

Sorry to be so dim - but I can't find these settings anywhere. Using android BTW. Can you explain where to find them, please?

Thanks

[Chefgage]

20 hours ago, Pixies said:

Sorry to be so dim - but I can't find these settings anywhere. Using android BTW. Can you explain where to find them, please?

Thanks

Can you see a settings button/tab/something to click?

[Pixies]

Ahhhh! Found it! It's in the 'Observe' section.... 🤦‍♂️

[Apprentice]

Hmm, I am looking at Skysafari and there is no "observe" section, and I can't find the scope part as well. Is it possible that because it's a free version of the app?

[Chefgage]

7 minutes ago, Apprentice said:

Hmm, I am looking at Skysafari and there is no "observe" section, and I can't find the scope part as well. Is it possible that because it's a free version of the app?

Could be. I think the version I had first did not include the field of view circles/rectangles. It was why I upgraded to the 5 plus version.

Edited June 8, 2020 by Chefgage

[Pixies]

yep - I'm on v6 plus. Here's what's NOT in the basic version:

Control your robotic or “goto” telescope

Record and plan your observations

Add sky events to calendars

Travel in time from 99 999 BC to 99 999 AD

View hundreds of satellites, comets and asteroids

Create your own databases

Add images to any area of the sky

Create custom full sky (180 degree) star charts

Create custom Field of View indicators for your eyepieces and CCD’s

Generate ephemerides

Explore advanced topics in SkyGuide

Preserve your night vision by reddening the display

[Pixies]

The observation list feature is worth it alone! You can download pubilc lists - some of which are on this site.

Red night vision with the observation lists is what I've been using to find and view my targets recently.

[Apprentice]

I will definitely upgrade to Plus version then I am actually going to use it as a "push to" on my scope, or at least I intended using the Skeye app, which has a feature to align. I am hoping it will help me get started, since I am having trouble star hopping in my Bortle 6 (or worse) skies.

 

[Pixies]

What finder do you have?

[Apprentice]

Currently the stock finder from Celestron, its the red dot finder. Good to pinpoint on a star or planet, but not really useful for other purposes.

[KevinPSJ]

Found this website recently -  https://telescopius.com/deep-sky/search - which seems to have lots of options for customising the kind of target you can consider. Have yet to use it "in anger" so to speak but its given me some ideas.

You select from different categories like globular cluster, planetary nebula, diffuse nebula, galaxy clusters etc. You can also filter by brightness, max altitude, extent .... lots of options. It calculates and presents the possible targets along with a graph showing culmination etc alongside twilight/dark timeline.

[Pixies]

If you are having trouble seeing stars in the first place, star-hopping might be a little tricky! I'm in Bortle-6 and this time of year the sky is very bright and stars hard to make out. A non-magnifying finder won't help you.

I'm sure the more experienced star hoppers here might be able to help. I would suggest that if you can't get a magnifying finder, why not get a pair of binoculars to try and assist you in finding stars. I notice that once you have seen them in the bins, they start to pop out of the blue sky.

Either that or wait a few months..... 😭

[Apprentice]

Waiting is only an option when it means waiting for a clear night, months would be like years

I have a 5" newton, which doesn't gather too much light, but I am sure it will provide me some decent views and help me gain some experience before I move up to a bigger scope (the aim was 8" dob, but will probably end up getting a 10" dob) sometime next year. Until then I am modifying my astromaster (flocking the tube, got the motor focuser, adding weights, and getting the hang of collimation) and I will add the smartphone adapter on the rings, and try to use an app to help me find some DSOs. I saw a couple of youtube videos which gave me the idea. I know it's not a 100% solution, but getting me close will help for sure.

[cletrac1922]

First of all welcome from Land Down Under

Some other Apps worth looking at for Android phone or tablet

For the ISS, ISS Detector

Another helpful App is also Lunar Phase, as name suggests, LunarMap Lite, gives detail maps of the moon

With the recent launch of  SpaceX Starlink satellites, which are impacting AP, there is also a new App called Starlink

The App shows path of each Starlink satellite launch

To keep up to date happenings at NASA, there is also an NASA App

John