My location and Field of View

[johnb]

Ok so im in my garden and can see a slice of sky (which is quite narrow) , maybe the answer is obvious but can I easily determine what area is viewable to myself and therefore determine from that location what I look for depending upon time of year etc, I’m guessing just some software on my PC and tell it were I am (not sure how that works) and then of course my field of view – Hope I’m making some sense here ?

Regards

John B

[Doc]

First of all you have to know which way you are looking, north, south, east or west.

Then the best way is to download Stellarium or cartes du Ceil both free software computer programs. Tell it where you are in the world and the time it is and it will show you whats out there.

If your slice of view is South tell stellarium to look south and whats on the computer screen should match what your eyeball can see.

The above can aslo be done with star maps etc but you have to orientate those yourself and might be a bit complicated to begin with.

[MeerkatinBKK]

AstroPlanner (available here) can help too. You can set up a 360 degree "horizon" in 10 degree chunks ie if for instance your house blocks out the sky from due east to due south up to 50 degrees altitude, you enter that data into the programme and it will tell you which objects are visible in your slice of sky and which aren't in real time. Takes a bit of time to initially set it up but subsequently quite useful.

Nick

[Capricorn]

Take £10 and buy The Monthly Sky Guide.

Look up August and it will give the name of a constellation and what is in that constellation that may be of interest. The constellation it gives is vertically above you at about 11:00 at night. So unless you are under a roof or under cloud it should be possible to see.

Actually better to look at what was above you last month or what will be next month as making a scope point vertical is a pain.

Suspect that TLAO does the same just haven't read it.

[Talitha]

Hi John, the best sky learning device i can think of is a Planisphere. It's a hand held, rotatable, circular sky chart. You dial in the date, and then hold it overhead. The clear window shows the area of the sky which is available to you. Simple, yet very effective.

[barkis]

Yes, I agree with Carol on the Planisphere. I have one too, and it has been a very useful tool in the field, especially combined with a red head light.

You can deternine the width of your accessible view in degrees, by timing a Known star as it traverses your FOV. Time the start and finish of its movement, and since the sky/earth moves 15 degrees in an hour, you can do the math yourself.

Ron.

[haitch]

Yes, I agree with Carol on the Planisphere. I have one too, and it has been a very useful tool in the field, especially combined with a red head light.

You can deternine the width of your accessible view in degrees, by timing a Known star as it traverses your FOV. Time the start and finish of its movement, and since the sky/earth moves 15 degrees in an hour, you can do the math yourself.

Ron.

You could even customise it by marking the extra area that's blocked for you.