Session Planning

[Richard N]

After looking at the options I have purchased Deep Sky Planner.  So far I’m impressed. It looks to be very suitable for EAA planning. Anyone else using it?

[PeterC65]

I use Stellarium to 'plan' my EAA sessions. I say plan as I start with a rough idea of what I want to observe based on the kit setup then select objects as I go. I have a few Observation Lists set up in Stellarium for different sized objects and pick from the list that fits the FoV of the kit I'm using that night. I add objects to these lists as I come across them, so there are usually new objects there to observe. Stellarium can highlight all of the objects on a list so that you can see which are visible on the night, which are nearby, and (in the case of last night) which are out of the way on the Moon.

 

[Richard N]

4 hours ago, PeterC65 said:

I use Stellarium to 'plan' my EAA sessions.

That's a reply I have had elsewhere. Observing Planning software is very different (and can be used alongside a planetarium program). An example was, the other night I fancied looking at quasars. Using Deep Sky Planner I brought up a long list of quasars (each with lots of information and photos). It has numerous lists of all sorts of objects.

But that wasn't much use, so using the filters in the software I selected quasars that were:

• mag 17 and brighter
• between 20 and 75 degrees altitude during my planned session times (1800-2100)
• on an azimuth bearing from west to east through north (scope on my patio with house to south)

That took less than 30 seconds. Having done that the software suggested the best time within my window to observe each object and put the list in that order. I could also order them to observe with the least slewing if I needed.

I could then use the software to slew to each target in order (it controls the scope). While the stack was building I could read up on the object and record an observation in the very comprehensive logging system that DSP has. DSP integrates with Stellarium and other planatarium programs too (although I haven't found that necessary).

That's after only having Deep Sky Planner for a few hours. It seems to do a lot more too!

Other options appear to be Astroplanner (not sure if it's still being developed or mantained), and Skytools (which appears to do far more than I actually need and costs quite a lot too).

Incidentally, I had a question on Deep Sky Planner. I emailed the developer and she replied within a few hours (apologising for taking so long!).

It'sa big step up from a planning using planetarium program and offers a very different functionality.

Deep Sky Planner is not free but so far it looks like it's £74 well spent.

[PeterC65]

10 minutes ago, Richard N said:

Using Deep Sky Planner I brought up a long list of quasars (each with lots of information and photos). It has numerous lists of all sorts of objects.

But that wasn't much use, so using the filters in the software I selected quasars that were:

• mag 17 and brighter
• between 20 and 75 degrees altitude during my planned session times (1800-2100)
• on an azimuth bearing from west to east through north (scope on my patio with house to south)

Stellarium has a tool for finding objects of a certain type in a way similar to what you describe, but I'm sure it isn't as sophisticated as the one in Deep Sky Planner. I will take a look at it.

[Xio1996]

Hi Richard,

I use AstroPlanner. It is still being developed and you can get the latest beta updates here AstroPlanner Beta Testing and there is a user group here astroplanner@groups.io | Home

Having seen Deep Sky Planner in use by other astronomers (on Youtube) it looks like a great product.

One of the great features of AstroPlanner is its built-in scripting environment and its ability to be controlled externally via its web services interface. This allows custom features to be added by the user. It also allows AstroPlanner to be integrated with other applications.

For planning, (though most of the time I see where the evening takes me 😄) I use a mixture of Stellarium and AstroPlanner. AstroPlanner gives me similar features as Deep Sky Planner, such as to search for targets with different criteria. While Stellarium is great to look around an area of sky and pick what looks interesting to view, especially with its DSS and HIPS functionality. There is even an AstroPlanner script that allows any object selected in Stellarium to be added into an AstroPlanner plan.  Logging an observation, is great for EAA, as I can link in my final 'snapshot' of the image. 

Hats off to the dedicated people who produce these great applications that make our hobby even more enjoyable.

Pete

[Stuart1971]

31 minutes ago, Xio1996 said:

use AstroPlanner. It is still being developed and you can get the latest beta updates here AstroPlanner Beta Testing and there is a user group here astroplanner@groups.io | Home

 

Just looked on there site and there has been no updates since 2020, are you sure it’s still being developed…?

EDIT:

Ok I went to the download page and not the beta testing one, all good….👍🏻

Edited January 20 by Stuart1971

[Stuart1971]

Ah, and it’s $45, I will stick with Stellarium…

[Richard N]

3 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

Just looked on there site and there has been no updates since 2020, are you sure it’s still being developed…?

EDIT:

Ok I went to the download page and not the beta testing one, all good….👍🏻

That was what fooled me. To the casual observer it appears there has been no development for several years. That put me off from the get go.

[PeterC65]

I've had a good play with Deep Sky Planner (the trial version). The session planning aspect seems very comprehensive and I like that it also integrates an observation log system, but I think I prefer Stellarium.

In Stellarium, in the Astronomical Calculations tool, there are two particularly useful tabs for selecting objects to observe. The Positions tab lets you select from a long list of object catalogues, filter on magnitude, and then order the objects by their position. The WUT (What's Up Tonight) tab is even more useful. For a selected object type, it lists those that are visible this evening, filtering on magnitude, size and how far they are above the horizon, and then ordering the objects.

What I like about using Stellarium is that if you double click on any object in one of these lists the sky map slews to it and you can zoom in and take a look at what you might expect to see, or of course, slew the mount to the object.

The observation log aspect of Deep Sky Planner is interesting. I keep a record of what I've observed during each session, but I use an Excel spreadsheet for doing this. Down the rows, it lists all the objects I have ever observed, and ones I've heard about and would like to observe, and across the columns it lists the dates of my sessions, with what kit I used and what I observed. So I can easily check what I saw during a particular session (by looking down a column) or when I've observed a particular object (by looking along a row). My system for recording all of this is very quick so that it doesn't become burdensome. I also use a voice recorder to record my spoken comments during the session, and the spreadsheet hyperlinks to these recordings.

 

[Richard N]

It’s interesting how different solutions work for different people. I have always found the Stellarium interface to be very unintuitive. I do use it occasionally but I always struggle to find what I want. I was pleased when I discovered Cartes du Ciel (also free). Like Stellarium, it interfaces with DSP. I’m probably old enough to prefer a slightly older style of interface. 
 

Incidentally, I have been in contact with the DSP developer today with a view to getting a new catalog added. She responded by return. Impressed. 

[PeterC65]

I use only the PC version of Stellarium which I think is much better than the app version. I agree that the user interface is a bit unusual, and I regularly forget about the object search and filtering tools that I mentioned above. So much so that I've now made a note to make use of them.

All the objects I have listed in the Excel spreadsheet I also have listed in Stellarium Observation Lists (I have different lists for EAA and Visual, and for narrow, mid and wide field). So I can get Stellarium to highlight, say, all of the wide field objects I have listed that are suitable for EAA. This is useful for showing me where all the interesting objects are located, but it tends to push me towards observing objects from my Excel list rather than finding new ones. Hence my need to make more use of the object search ad filtering tools.

I tried Cartes du Ciel a while ago but didn't think the DSO images where are good as those in Stellarium (they were monochrome as I recall).