Cross reference...

[Robthevegetable]

I was just wondering if there was something I could download, or a website that exists that lets you cross reference something seen for real against what it should look like at that particular time...

For example, Last night I was watching Jupiter (before I caught frostbite and went inside), and I could see all four of the Galilean moons lined up across the Jovian equator. The problem is that my setup isn't the most stable (Celestron 130 SLT, standard mount), and it was sooo cold that I was having trouble focusing the eyepiece, and then when I did get it focused I couldn't keep my head still enough to view for any length of time. Would there be somewhere to check what Jupiter (+ moons) should've looked like at that time of night (18:30 approx), and from my location (Cheshire)?

[John]

Here you go:

SkyandTelescope.com - Planets - Jupiter's Moons Javascript Utility

And here is one for Saturn too:

SkyandTelescope.com - Planets - Saturn's Moons Javascript Utility

[Jimmy Stix]

You should find Stellarium useful Rob. It's free and it shows the whole sky in real time or you can set any Date/Time you like. Download it via their homepage.

Main Page - Stellarium Wiki

[Cornelius Varley]

Link to the Stellarium download page stellarium

Peter

[Robthevegetable]

I have Stellarium already but I had no idea I could do that with it... I haven't used it that much though because it runs so dreadfully on my laptop!

Cheers for the help though

[Jimmy Stix]

That's a shame Rob. I use Stellarium all the time and it runs fairly well on my Toshiba laptop. Occasionally it locks up or the text goes a bit weird.

It is quite a powerful program and there are allsorts of extras you can download. User written scripts and extra stars etc.

It can be great fun looking at the night sky on the day you were born or whatever. I have had it for a few months now and I still have not seen all it can do.

[Robthevegetable]

Well, I hope (want) to get a MacBook soon (hopefully they'll be revamped and updated in the next few months), so it will run much better on that. The problem I have on my laptop is the graphics... Stellarium only runs at around 6-10 fps and I end up getting infuriated and close it down! I have Starwalk on my iPhone, which is a massive help in identifying star constellations and what's visible at the time I'm actually out...

[Demonperformer]

Rob

I could not get Stallarium to run at all. Try Cartes du Ciel, that also shows Jupiter (and other planets) in real time.

[Robthevegetable]

I downloaded that this afternoon, I've had a quick mess around with it but it doesn't seem as intuitive as Stellarium... But it may just need some more practice!