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Sky Map on Android phones.

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11-09-2011, 11:18 PM
bill h
Sky Map on Android phones.
I recently downloaded Google Sky Map to my Droid X Smarter-than-me phone.

It senses your location with the phone's GPS and, in concert with the phone's clock, calendar and accelerometers, presents a picture of the sky with stars, moon and planets. You just hold the phone up in front of your face as you look at the sky, and it is all there, with names, magnitude, etc. There is a horizon line with cardinal compass points, too. The best part is that it doesn't require a signal from your weak phone company.

Pretty nifty.

Sky Walk is a similar app for iPhones.


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84 30T PeeThirty-Something, 502 powered
11-10-2011, 12:34 AM
Rusty
Thanks for the info! Sky Walk has been popular for seasoned astronomers (who can also look up at the sky unassisted and see stars, planets, and the Moon - without the clutter of labels) Big Grin.


Rusty


MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP; built-to-order by Peninsular Engines:  Hi-pop injectors, gear-driven camshaft, non-waste-gated, high-output turbo, 18:1 pistons.  Fuel economy increased by 15-20%, power, WOW!"StaRV II"

'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP

Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers

Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not.
In either case the idea is quite staggering.
- Arthur C. Clarke

It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields
11-17-2011, 10:11 PM
Tom and Julie
I loaded Starmap Pro on my Ipad and it shows the actual sky wherever you are. Now, since I am Pre amateur with my wife's 6" telescope, I have a question: Using a 22mm eyepiece I can see Jupiters clouds and the four large moons. But changing to a 9mm or 6mm eyepiecee does not make the scene any larger or more detailed. Am I doing something wrong? Is my scope too small? Rusty????


1993 32' Regency Wide Body, 4 speed Allison Trans, Front Entry door, Diamond Plate aluminum roof &
1981 Euro 22' w Chevy 350 engine and TH 400 tranny
11-18-2011, 12:31 AM
Rusty
Going from the 22mm to the 9 or 6mm does two things that disturb the image. You're increasing the power by 2.5X or 3.7X. This decreases contrast, important for distinguishing the bands on Jupiter.

Secondly, increasing the power also increases the effect of the disturbance of unstable air, which blurs the borders between bands, making them less evident.

We frequently use lower-powered eyepices on deep-sky objects (galaxies and nebulae), where the contrast of the object against the background can be critical in seeing detail. Sometimes less is more.

For those reading this, longer eyepieces (like the 22mm) have lower power than the shorter ones (9mm). Magnification in an optical train is telescope focal langth divided by eyepiece focal length.


Rusty


MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP; built-to-order by Peninsular Engines:  Hi-pop injectors, gear-driven camshaft, non-waste-gated, high-output turbo, 18:1 pistons.  Fuel economy increased by 15-20%, power, WOW!"StaRV II"

'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP

Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers

Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not.
In either case the idea is quite staggering.
- Arthur C. Clarke

It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields
11-18-2011, 08:51 AM
Tom and Julie
So how do I get the image to be larger than the small spot I have in the eyepiece? While it is clearly visible with the bands and moons, it is still tiny.


1993 32' Regency Wide Body, 4 speed Allison Trans, Front Entry door, Diamond Plate aluminum roof &
1981 Euro 22' w Chevy 350 engine and TH 400 tranny
11-18-2011, 01:04 PM
Rusty
You can use the shorter EPs to enlarge the image.

Because planets show up as disks, their visible area increases the area that turbulence can affect. There will be moments (actually only seconds) of good seeing where the turbulence subsides, and planetary observers wait for those.

To put some numbers on it, planetary imagers use videocams rather than dedicated deep sky cameras; planets are bright enough to allow short exposures. An imaging session might consist of 4000 frames (at 1/60 sec). Classifying image quality is done by software, and typically all but 200 are discarded due tot he effects of turbulence. Of those 200, many are still blurry, but additional sofware stacks and sharpens the image yielding the final product.

Bottom line: Catching the instant of excellent seeing requires patience, calm conditions on the surface, and a jet stream that's far away. The best time to view the planets (or any celestial object for that matter) is at meridian passage, when they are highest in the sky.


Rusty


MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP; built-to-order by Peninsular Engines:  Hi-pop injectors, gear-driven camshaft, non-waste-gated, high-output turbo, 18:1 pistons.  Fuel economy increased by 15-20%, power, WOW!"StaRV II"

'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP

Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers

Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not.
In either case the idea is quite staggering.
- Arthur C. Clarke

It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields