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DSO Planner v3.0

1. Image Astrotools2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Astrotools2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Advsearch2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Advsearch2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image dsoselection1 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Dsoselection1 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image dsoselection2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Dsoselection2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image obs1 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Obs1 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image obs2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Obs2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyviewl png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview1 png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyview2 png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview2 png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyviewred png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyviewred png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyviewred1 png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyviewred1 png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyview3 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview3 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyview4 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title
2. See the Use Case for converting the asteroid data from the NASA JPL HORIZONS H orbit elements Context menu e Fields Show all of the custom fields of the database e Remove database Remove the database delete it Gestures There are two simple flick gestures available that could be called throughout the application for calling Menu and returning to the previous window User Database Creating User Database To create new user database tap the Add button Set the name of the database and decide if you want to add custom fields to it When there are no custom fields required the new database will be created with the set of default standard data fields similar to the NGCIC database You can add any number of custom data fields of various types to your database See Data formats section for more details Objects Databases 35 References 1 http ssd jpl nasa gov horizons cgi top View Database Overview Figure 11 View database module screenshots database obje NAME CON TYPE MAG DIM NAME CON TYPE MAG DIM FIELD NAME VALUE 1 Ceres Cap mPlanet 8 7 namel 4 Vesta Show Image 2 Pallas Her mPlanet9 4 name2 4 Vesta Add to Observation List 3 Juno Gre mpPlanetioz lt lt DSO PLANNER Details 4 Vesta Aqr mPlanet7 9 Set field value Text string Add Note 5 Astraea Tau mPlanet 11 7 4 Vesta 6 Hebe Ori mPlanet 10 7 See Object Notes
3. The GoTo button will appear in the the top right corner when the Bluetooth connection with a telescope is established and allows to control the telescope point to the object Objects Databases 33 Objects Databases Overview Figure 10 Object Databases module screenshots Ngclc Catalog Comets Comets Minor Planets Minor Planets WDS DSO PLANNER Set database name Barnard PGC Cancel J D i using bright theme in the night mode Objects Databases module provides tools to work with various DSO Planner databases of objects on the Android device Figure 10 You can add you own databases and they will be treated by DSO Planner engine the same way as internal ones including but not limited to the functions provided in Object Selection module Global Search Observation Notes Observations Lists module and Star Chart module This unique feature greatly enhances application functionality as users could create any number of own databases for their needs and easily share and distribute them around The main screen of the module shows the list of databases available for DSO Planner on the Android device Tap the database row to open it using the View Database module where you can edit it add new items e t c Editable Integrated Databases Several Integrated databases of DSO Planner allows to add new objects of the similar kind to them or edit existing objects records right through the database list scr
4. 7 Iris Sex mPlanet 10 4 See ALL Notes 8 Flora Leo mPlanet 11 0 75 17272 Edit ae ee P 2 36191 oa 5 m 4 10 Hygiea Gem mPlanet 11 7 Import Paste Export Add object gt Cancel 10000 obj St Sal a showing object s context menu showing main menu Editing object s data field value View Database module allows to look through the content of selected database Figure 11 add new objects to the database and export it into text file in the DSO Planner text format Menu e Add object Manually add an object to the database e Import Import objects from the text file on the Android device in DSO Planner text format into the custom database Note that for a really large file Android database import procedures might take a lot of time about 2 hours for 100 000 objects provided that your device does not go into sleep mode the import will continue when you wake up your Android device but it will be paused in the sleep mode Fortunately the import is performed in the background so you can continue using the program while importing e Export Paste Share See detailed explanation of these common menu items in the Other Modules section e Find Next Search object in the database by name See the detailed explanation of these common menu items in the User Interface section View Database 36 Context menu e Show image Show images for NGCIC objects a
5. 1100 1100 Barnard Barnard s Catalogue of Dark Objects _ 350 350 SH2 Catalogue of HII regions E 300 300 PK Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae a 1500 1500 Abell Catalogue of Abell Clusters of Galaxies 2 700 2 700 Hickson Compact Group Hickson Compact Group cluster of galaxies 100 100 Comets 700 700 700 Minor Planets 500 10 000 10 000 WDS The Washington Visual Double Star Catalog 120 000 120 000 Brightest Double Stars 2 300 2 300 Overview There are actually two types of star object databases usual object database optimized for efficient access and searching and star chart layer database optimized for drawing Star Chart Usual database could be used in Object Selection and Global Search whereas star chart layers could be used in global search but not in Object Selection Still there are enough tools to use the latter efficiently you could limit the stars and objects displayed on the Star Chart by magnitude object types and visibility in selected equipment Other databases Free Basic Plus Pro Preinstalled NGCIC images 210 3100 7840 7840 Database of cross match names other star object designations 1 700 72 000 233 000 233 000 Database of SAO star cross match names No _ 254 000 254 000 254 000 Steve Gottlieb notes attached to NGCIC objects 230 3100 7900 7900 Night Sky Observer Guide pre compi
6. Maximum magnitude filter Objects with magnitude higher than the maximum set are rejected Select constellation All constellations Object name starts with Object minimal size 0 0 Lowest altitude 20 0 Detection limit Set maximum magnitude 12 0 Minimum separation Sel object catalogs Deselect All Messier Caldwell Herschel 400 Ngclc z 12 515 objects of all types SAC Saguaro Astronomy Club database 10 342 objects of all types UGC Uppsala General Catalogue of Galaxies PGC All objects in database id gt 0 O Close double stars above horizon Set search rules Set SQL request separation lt 5 amp mag2 lt 7 Set local request alt gt 0 Add new search request using bright theme night mode input keyboard primary search filters Begin Time and date Thu Aug 07 21 19 00 PDT 2014 Now Sunset Astro Twilight Ends End Time Fri Aug 08 04 34 00 PDT 2014 Sunrise Astro Twilight Begins Done time selector module objects catalogs selector SQL like search input Select Conditions module helps to set the objects filtering criteria for objects selection Figure 8 DSO Planner provides two independent ways to select objects during observations planning phase Primary and SQL like The Primary tool provides a special menu screen to select and setup a number of parameters for objects positive filtering whereas the SQL like method uses
7. Show Hide other labels zenith and nadir points horizon compass labels Star Chart colors e Inverse sky In day mode black stars are shown on a white background e Daytime mode colors Set individual star chart elements colors manually objects cross hair eyepiece FOV telrad rings etc User Horizon e Enable User Horizon Show Hide user horizon e Settings e File name with key points Select a text file containing user horizon data If a file is already selected the program will suggest to update horizon from existing file This is convenient when you update the text file on the fly and want to update your horizon in program as well e Line width Horizon width in pixels e Subdivision size in degrees Additional points are added between original points from the file to draw a smoother line on the sphere Subdivision size is an azimuthal distance between these additional points Larger number makes coarse line small may affect drawing performance e Fill area below horizon If selected the area below user horizon is filled with horizon color e Equipment Telescope e Telescopes Database Select a preferred instrument for observations e Show adjusted Az Alt Enable to see adjusted az alt for dobsonian mount with setting circles PushTo e GoTo mount settings Setup BT controller connection Eyepieces overlay e Eyepieces Database Select eyepieces for observations e Nested FOV rings Sh
8. dsoplanner com index php title File Vdal jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image vda2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Vda2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image vda4 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Vda4 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image telescl jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Telesc jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image telesc2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Telesc2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image eye2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Eye2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image eyel jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Eyel jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image notes1 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Notes1 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image notes2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Notes2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image notes3 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Notes3 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image notes4 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Notes4 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image dsoimage jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Dsoimage jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image globalsearch jpg Source http dsoplanner
9. e year Integer number e components Text string e mag2 Double number e spectrum Text string e separation Double number Dark nebula from Lynds catalog amp name1l LDN1 name2 LDN1 ra 16 480963 dec 16 107859 opacity 3 a 13 942740 b 13 942740 type neb Bright nebula from Lynds catalog amp name1 LBN1 name2 LBN1 ra 17 752939 dec 28 851336 brightness 5 a 4 b 4 type neb Temporary and Permanent Objects Affects data Import operations and manual adding of custom objects See important to understand details here Object Types reference The following object types are used throughout the program e GC Globular cluster e Gx Galaxy e GxyCld Galaxy cloud e HIIRg HII region e Neb Nebula e OC Open cluster e OCN Open cluster nebula e PN Planetary nebula e SNR Supernova remnant Data formats 53 User Horizon file format mPlanet Minor planet Planet Planet Star Star DS Double star Comet Comet CG Cluster of galaxies DN Dark Nebula AST Asterism QS Quasar NF Not found CUSTOM User defined type Any string could be set as a user custom object type typestr 5 UMi za 2014 09 19 22 25 A h 16 3 40 2 R D 15 49 53 40 gt car et Figure 19 User horizon on the Star Chart You can show your local horizon on the Star Chart if you can prepare a text file with coordinates of the key poi
10. Global Search Figure 16 Global Search module screen night mode The Global Search module looks up for a specified string in the name of objects from all of the object databases available in DSO Planner including the Observation Notes database object name and notes text and the Star Chart module layers in the object names but excluding the USNO UCAC4 due to its enormous volume This function Figure 16 could be invoked from any place by pressing Android OS Find button if it is available on the device or using the Main Menu of Object Selection Observations Lists and Star Chart Examples You can use the following string format to search for objects M1 Messier m 1 any register spaces NGC1952 NGC ngc 1952 any register spaces alpha and bayer designation constellation short name alpha andromeda bayer designation constellation full name alpheratz star name 21 and flamsteed designation 21 andromeda the same as above MCG 07 02 016 M31 in different designation CGCG535 017 M31 other designation Other Modules 43 e tyc 1179 1775 1 Tycho 2 layer stars e pgc1662164 PGC layer galaxies 44 Main Concepts User Interface Find Next Simple context search of objects by a line of text within the object name in the current list only Find menu item asks for the line of text and looks for the first match Next menu item looks up the next
11. Edition and PGC catalog size 153 000 galaxies compared to 1 600 000 galaxies in Pro Edition otherwise it has all of the functionality of Pro Edition Basic Edition has even more reduced databases of stars and objects and some limitations in functionality you cannot create your own databases or objects Free edition has only the brightest stars and objects and functionality close to that of Basic Edition Before installation please make sure that you have at least 2 GB for Pro Edition 540 MB for Plus Edition and 100 MB for Basic Edition of free space on your internal SD card to download application databases Note due to Google Play rules this data cannot be moved to your external SD card you must have all this space on your internal SD card Select features of the Pro edition see above charts for other editions limitations e Cross match names database Search objects by less common names e Unique visibility tool Only objects that are visible with selected equipment in the current sky conditions could be shown on the Star Chart for objects from NGC IC SAC PGC catalogs e Comet support Orbital elements of around 700 observable comets could be automatically updated via internet e Custom catalogs Unlimited capability to create fully searchable own catalogs e Steve Gottlieb Notes Famous notes attached to NGC IC objects e DSS imagery support Download DSS images of any sky portion into offline cache
12. Sources Licenses and Contributors 57 Image Sources Licenses and Contributors File logo png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Logo png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Skyview6 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview6 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Skyview5 png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview5S png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Skyview3 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview3 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Skyview4 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview4 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image User hor png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File User_hor png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Skyviewred png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyviewred png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Skyview2 png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview2 png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image obs3 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Obs3 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Dsoimage jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Dsoimage jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image Generalsettings2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Generalsettings2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2
13. These are the common DSO database fields However any additional numeric fields in the internal or user databases could be used as well e g this is the valid expression for LDN database OPACITY gt 3 and this is for WDS or Bright DS database SEPARA TION lt 5 amp MAG 2 lt 7 just refer to the database fields definitions used Examples e a gt 15 amp con and All objects from Andromeda constellation with larger axis above 15 minutes e a gt 10 amp type ge All globular clusters larger than 10 minutes e a gt 7 b amp a gt 10 amp type gx select Edge On galaxies only e id gt 0 List all objects from the database Local request So far there are only two fields supported e ALT Minimal altitude over the defined observing period of time e VIS Visibility rating from 0 to 5 Select Conditions 30 Examples e alt gt 20 Objects that have an altitude above 20 degrees at least once during the observation period e vis gt 1 Objects with visibility better than 1 e alt gt 20 amp vis gt 1 Both above conditions should hold Logical and math operations The following logical and values comparison operations could be used in expressions e x y x is equal to y e x gt y xis greater than y e x lt y xis less than y e x y x is not equal to y e x amp y logical AND e g mag gt 12 amp type GC object magnitude is higher than 12 and its type is GC e xly logical OR
14. Update Go back to the Object Selection module and tap Update button e Add ALL to Observation List select that item in the Context menu long tap on the list to open it objects in the list are now shown on the star chart Alternatively you could choose No filter as a Filter type to get all comets above horizon and then sort the resulting list by magnitude Quick Start Guide All visible galaxies with dimension above 10 min Object Selection Select You come to Select Conditions screen e Select object catalogs NgcIc UGC e Select search type SQL like expression e SQL like expression Add new search request e Set SQL Request Type type gx amp a gt 10 Set local request Type vis gt 0 e Select this request Update Go back to the Object Selection module and tap Update button Add ALL to Observation List select that item in the Context menu long tap on the list to open it objects in the list are now shown on the star chart 10 Main Screen Modules Object Selection module Overview Figure 1 Object Selection module screenshots NAME CON TYPE MAG DIM NGC4430 Vir Gx 12 0 2 3 NGC4435H Vir Gx 10 8 2 8 NGC4437 Vir Gx 10 5 10 8 NGC4438 H Vir Gx 10 0 8 5 NGC4442 H Vir Gx 10 4 4 6 NGC4443 Vir Gx 3 7 NGC4448H Com Gx 11 2 3 9 NGC4450H Com Gx 10 3 5 2 NGC4454 Vir Gx 12 0 2 0 Select 873 obj ALL a am a using bright theme in the night mode The Ob
15. a meteor type to your objects Additional custom object fields If standard object fields are not sufficient for object description one could use any number of additional fields Additional fields could have the following types e Text Text field e Double Fractional number field e Integer Integer number field e Image path Field with a path to an image on SD card e Web link Field with a web link Auxiliary fields When exporting or importing data DSO Planner uses several auxiliary fields for database reference note description location description etc Users should not use these names for their object description e afov e aperture e catalog e date e id e latitude e longitude Data formats 52 e note e notebaseid e path e selected e time Possible abbreviations e ngc Simplifies import of NGCIC objects Just use object description in the form amp ngc lt object number gt for example amp ngc 3031 e ic Simplifies import of NGCIC objects Just use object description in the form amp ic lt object number gt for example amp ic 2 Examples Double star from WDS Washington double star catalog amp name1 00000 7530 name2 00000 7530 ra 0 001844 dec 75 483276 mag 10 27000 pa 235 type ds year 1982 component s mag2 11 50000 spectrum separation 0 600001 This double star description uses the following custom fields see Creating User Database
16. com index php title File Globalsearch jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image datetimepicker jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Datetimepicker jpg License unknown Contributors AlexK Image dob1 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Dob1 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image dob2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Dob2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image dob3 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Dob3 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image onestaralign jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Onestaralign jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image gotomountsetup jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Gotomountsetup jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image detailsgoto jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Detailsgoto jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 File btdongle jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Btdongle jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 File btchip jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Btchip jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image user_hor png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File User_hor png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2
17. configure Primary search e g set object types minimum dimension visibility or magnitude limit minimum altitude Also select your geographic location observation time range and sky conditions Return back and press Update button Here you are with the list of objects You can sort them by name constellation type magnitude or the viewing angle Tap the object to see it on the Star Chart Mark objects you want to add to current Observation list note that you may need to turn on CheckBoxes feature from the module menu first long tap on the list and select Add marked to observation list to add marked object s to the current Observation list after that they will become visible on the Star Chart Quick Start Guide Observations Lists There are four slots for observations lists available The current observations list content is displayed in the Observations Lists module Objects on that list are displayed in the Star Chart module You can quickly switch the current observations list slot from the module menu to show it on the map or prior to populating it with objects using the Object Selection module There is an option to download DSS images for all objects in the current observation list using DSS main menu option of the module to display on the DSS overlay of Star Chart module Use the main menu of the Observations Lists module for objects sorting search note matching etc Examples Bright objects to obse
18. e g type GC I type OC object is either GC or OC e and could be used to calculate and group variables and values within complex expressions Main Menu The main menu of the module provides standard import export operations for user s expressions list Context Menu Long tap each item on the list of SQL requests to e Edit Edit the selected expression e Remove Remove the selected expression from the list Common conditions This part allows to set conditions common to both Primary and SQL like search e Exclude duplicates This is an option to remove physically duplicated objects when searching in intersecting databases with the same different object name notations As an example if you select NGCIC and UGC catalogs and turn this option on then among galaxies NGC2 and UGCS59 which are the same only NGC2 will be found Without this option the application finds both NGC2 and UGCS9 This feature also excludes duplicated objects from the same catalog e g NGC6 NGC20 NGC17 NGC34 e Time of observation Set observation range In addition to setting the time range manually one may easily define the ranges with a reference to astro twilight sunrise and sunset e Telescope Instrument Select an instrument for observations e Geographic Location Select observatory location e Sky limiting magnitude The magnitude of faintest stars at zenith Used for visibility calculations Details screen
19. in the Tools mini launcher if you don t use protective red film over your screen your eyes darkness adaptation might be ruined Settings module Overview Figure 6 Settings module screenshots Screen Settings O O 2 2 2 22222 Automatic nightmode m Turn night mode on after civil twilight ends Minimal brightness mode Dim the screen to the hardware minimum Day Time full screen mode f7 Remove the android notification bar Night Time full screen mode gt Remove the android notification bar Main Screen Background Im 3 Show Sombrero image on the initial view Onyx skin A White on black color interface gt ee using bright theme using night mode These are the application main settings apart from Star Chart settings This module also provides a direct access to object databases Settings module 23 Night Mode Dedicated item to quickly turn on or off the Night mode at the very top of the module screen 1 General Geographic location Figure 7 Geographic location module screenshots Enable AutoLocation N34 03 1 Los Angeles United States W118 14 6 Los Angeles United States Add Location Remember this location in User location list User location list Select location from your location list Major world cities Select location from 24 000 major world cities gt gt 4 using bright theme Defines coordinates of th
20. in the list shows the object s name the time each note was taken and the note content plain text The record may also have the audio marker if an audio note was taken and attached to the text note Tap the note record s line to open the Edit Note screen Observation Notes 40 Main Menu Export Import Paste Share See corresponding chapter for details on these common menu items functionality Sort by Name Sort all notes by object name The second selection reverses the sort order Sort by Note Time Sort all notes by their creation time The second selection reverses the sort order Search Text Searches the whole note database for the specified string in note content Context Menu Star Chart Show the subject object on the Star Chart Play Play the audio note if the note has one Remove Remove the note from the list Remove ALL Remove all notes from the list Show image Show images for NGCIC objects and custom catalog objects if they have ones Details Shows object s Details screen Add All to Observation List Add all objects from the note list to the current observation list Edit Note The Edit Note screen allows to enter or edit the note text update its time stamp listen to the audio note or record a new one overwriting the existing audio note Other Modules Import Export Paste Share DSO Planner app extensively supports data import and export operations usin
21. level warning Set a minimum level to show a reminder that a charge is required Tools module Overview Figure 5 Astro Tools module screenshots Astro Too Twilight Almanach a Twilight Almanach m D DSO Twilight Location Los Angeles United gt means the event is next day States Darkness Begin End PSO Flashlight Local date 2015 05 15 2015 05 15 21 23 gt 04 12 Darkness Begin End 2015 05 15 21 23 gt 04 12 Rise Transit Set 2015 05 18 21 26 gt 04 09 Sun 05 50 12 48 19 46 2015 05 19 21 30 gt 04 08 Moon 04 12 10 42 17 19 2015 05 20 22 23 gt 04 08 Moon Phase day start 14 2 2015 05 21 23 11 gt 04 07 Twilight Morning Evening 2015 05 22 23 53 gt 04 06 Civil 05 17 20 19 Nautical 04 49 20 47 Add Remove applications 24h Date Picker 24h 24h Date Picker 24h default integrated apps bright external apps selection screen integrated Twilight Calculator darkness prediction calendar theme tool The Tools module is the home of the DSO Planners mini tools DSO Twilight and DSO Flashlight More tools could be added later there In addition it allows DSO Planner to serve as a simple mini launcher for select number of apps which you might need close at hands while observing in the dark or preparing for observations App Launcher Use Add Remove applications button at the bottom to initiate search of astronomy apps on your Android device The App will attempt to mark all of the astro
22. math logic based expressions to define most complex objects selection criteria Select Conditions 28 The fact is that various internal catalogs of DSO Planner may contain same objects but with different names To make sure that search results does not contain the same object several times you need to turn the Exclude duplicates option On Select object catalogs The Select object catalogs option opens the list of internal object databases and custom user catalogs available on the Android device at the moment and allows to select those you are interested to search within with a simple check mark Select search type Select either Primary or SQL like search filter type Depending on selection the following items of the module will be enabled or disabled for modification disabled items have grayed out text Primary Search Select object types Used to limit objects by DSO object type multiple types could be selected Empty field treatment defines what to do if a particular data used by the filter is not available in one of the traversed databases e g star magnitude for Dark Nebulas There are three options provided Treat the empty field as zero value e as a very large number e always count it as a positive or a negative match Primary search parameters section e Filter type There are 2 special filters provided to accustom for current atmospheric conditions or user s preference e
23. object will not be associated with or added to any custom database Import Import external file with the list of objects e Besides own format the app supports importing observation lists in Sky Safari and Sky Tools formats e You could import pre compiled Night Sky Observer Guide observation lists for each constellation into the current observation list e When importing into non named observation list from the file the file name is set as a list name Export Export list to text file e When exporting named observation list its name is suggested as a file name Paste Share Share the list with external applications Mark Mark objects in a batch for various operations e Mark objects with specific observation age from 1 day to 12 month The latest observation is derived from the object notes This option is convenient to exclude recently observed objects from an observation list and the Star Chart to avoid observing them twice e Remove all marks Uncheck all items in the current observation list Show Hide Objects with marks Show hide marked items in the current observation list Find Next Search the list for a substring of text in the object name Side Chart split the screen in 2 panels adding the Star Chart view on the top on the right in tablet mode Touch object s record in the List to center the object on that Star Chart Touch the record again or hold your touch on the Side Chart to show
24. or seconds could be omitted The name of the closest major City is displayed below the value e Add location Add current location coordinates to your personal locations database List e List Open your personal locations database and select the location to use You can Export Import locations from to the list e Major World Cities Select location from the list of 24 000 major cities of the world Settings module 24 The new observation location will be immediately recognized throughout the app by one of the nearest cities from the major world cities database if the place is less than 20 kilometers 12 4 miles away from the city or by closest user defined location if less than 5 km 3 mile away Astro Equipment Telescopes Database Select the current instrument for observations Eyepieces Database Select eyepieces for observations and or CCDs for imaging GoToMount Setup Paired device and telescope type selection Meade Celestron You need to turn on bluetooth first Objects Databases Work with the list of integrated and user s sky objects databases See the dedicated Objects Databases chapter Screen Settings Automatic nightmode When selected the program automatically turns on night mode after civil twilight ends Minimal brightness mode Wherever possible resets screen brightness to the minimum Also overrides Star Chart gesture settings on exit Day Time full screen mode Andro
25. that object on the full screen Star Chart Images Toggle on off displaying the object s image thumbnail column in the List Context menu This is similar to Object Selection context menu Move You could change the object order within the observation list Just press on list item to put the selected object before Show image Show images for NGCIC objects and custom catalog objects if they have ones Details Shows object s Details screen Add Note Shows Observation Notes module in the Add new note mode See Object Notes Shows list of notes made to selected object See ALL Notes Shows all notes in the Notes database Remove from List Remove the object from the current observation list Remove Marked Remove all marked objects from the current observation list including hidden ones Remove ALL Remove all objects from the current observation list including hidden ones Edit Edit object parameters this is applicable to temporary objects and custom catalog objects only Observations Lists module Gestures There are two simple flick gestures available that could be called throughout the application for calling Menu and returning to the previous window Star Chart module Overview Figure 3 Star Chart module screenshots click to zoom e gt d Center 1hour 1hour Mirror Rotate 180 KA gt gt Telrad EPFOV Nearby DSS Scope go NGC2420 H A NOW 17 49 55
26. with fields myname showing Andromeda and photo showing your image path Click on the path line to see your image Add new asteroid to the database from NASA JPL HORIZONS After generating the ephemeris file for an object at the http ssd jpl nasa gov horizons cgi top you will see the following data at the top KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK JPL HORIZONS Z2CLS wisil4 S ZOLS OCGe 2 17 OGs ks Rec 744206 COV Sola ceres 205S O Cis Oman eon nels obs 521 18 days FK5 J2000 0 helio ecliptic osc elements au days deg period Julian yrs Use cases 55 HePOCH 2Za57SIg 5 ZOls gt OGE 19 00 uDB RE SHE RMS see 409 sll EC 8604298432540967 R 2947 OAS S832 OO WP 24573968 15336012329 OMS ISA On OA W 121 53802321 9528 IN 39 68563358401836 A 2 111517717671481 MA 342 7714416664973 ADES 2092035057091580 PHR 306332 N 239212239945 ANGMOM 012737428 DAN 99698 IDDIN o L 166 3048156 B 32 97 S630 7 MOID 00187776 w Z2O0IS Dee 1lil 6336012329 Asteroid physical parameters km seconds rotational period in hours GM n a RAD n a ROTPER n a H 19 8 G 150 B V n a ALBEDO n a SUIS MEg In order to add that object s orbit to the Minor Planets database of DSO Planner on your Android device 1 Open the Settings module from the main screen 2 Select Objects Databases item 3 Tap the Minor Planets line
27. 03 Contributors AlexK Dsoplanner2 Star Chart module Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 398 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Tools module Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 374 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Settings module Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 380 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Select Conditions Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 425 Contributors AlexK Dsoplanner2 Details screen Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 345 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Objects Databases Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 415 Contributors AlexK Dsoplanner2 View Database Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 348 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Equipment Database Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 391 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Observation Notes Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 351 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Other Modules Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 352 Contributors Dsoplanner2 User Interface Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 409 Contributors AlexK Dsoplanner2 Working with telescope Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 401 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Temporary and Permanent Objects Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 334 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Data formats Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 358 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Use cases Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 417 Contributors AlexK Dsoplanner2 Image
28. 180x1800 ep m Mak 180x1800 ep v main Le main L Dob 305x1500 ep 4 Telescope parameters secondary g Name Mak Aperture mm 180 0 Focal length mm 1800 0 Pass through 70 0 Short text note main Cancel Add new instrument i e telescope Add new instrument i e telescope ES I using bright theme editing telescope s data field The telescopes list shows names and brief descriptions of your telescopes on the right side there are checkboxes to indicate which telescope is currently active Figure 12 Press on checkbox to make a new selection e Add new instrument button helps you add a new telescope to your telescopes list Context menu e Edit Edit telescope parameters e Name Telescope name e Aperture mm Telescope aperture in mm e Focal length mm Telescope focal length Pass through The amount of light passing through the telescope 70 is a usual benchmark for reflectors e Short text note Brief comment if required Assign Eyepieces Assigned eyepieces are used for Star Chart eyepiece ring drawing and visibility calculations An eyepiece may be assigned to several telescopes e Remove Remove telescope from the list e Remove All Clear telescope list Equipment Database 38 Main Menu Provides access to export import operations Eyepiece List Figure 13 Eyepiece List module screenshots yepieces Databas
29. 31 Details screen Overview Figure 9 Object Details module screenshots Yale 17 Aql HR 7235 Ngclc NGC3031 M81 Bode s Galaxy Bode s Nebula WDS19054 1352 TYC1052 3027 1 ADS12026 HD177724 SA0104461 CIEE DESIGNATIONS BD 13 3899 HIP93747 POP1225 BU287 PGC28630 MCG 12 10 010 CGCG333 007 UGC5318 Star TYPE Galaxy LOCATION TIME AB 3 0m 12 0m 7 2 at 46 0 2009 Location Los Angeles United States AC 3 0m 12 2m 161 3 at 76 0 2007 Local time 2015 05 10 23 57 25 AD 3 0m 10 6m 200 5 at 151 0 2010 RISE SET n s Lock Notes Add Star Chart Image Notes a lt n cr a al using bright theme using dark theme The Details module presents all of the offline information available for selected object Figure 9 An object to show details for could be selected in the Object Selection module Observations Lists module Star Chart module and several other places throughout the DSO Planner user interface Watch for Details context menu items The module will automatically search e all databases for objects with the same name e internal databases for the same object even if it s named differently e Steve Gottlieb Notes for extended notes on selected object If any alternative databases has additional information for the object the More button will pop up at the bottom of the module screen Tap it to show the information found For each new match found only custom fields wi
30. 3351 M95 2014 07 28 17 41 Bright galaxy Sky View NGC3351 M95 2014 07 28 17 41 audio Large bright audio record M95 1406554910 3gp NGC3351 M95 2014 07 28 17 41 audio Large bright audio record M95 1406554910 3gp Play Show Image Details Remove Remove ALL Add ALL to Observation List eo h Export Bisort by Bs Import Name lt Q Note Time 2 notes 2 notes Share All Search text A using bright theme Context Menu open Main Menu open NGC3351 M95 2014 07 28 17 41 Change Time Large bright audio record M95 1406554910 3gp Voice Note Recording Play Overwrite SAVE Edit Note screen open The Notes module shows user notes on observed objects Figure 14 Notes database could be accessed from the context menu of the Observations Lists module Object Selection module View Database module as well as from the Details screen module using Notes button Either a list of all notes for the selected object or the list of all notes in the Notes Database is shown on the Notes screen that depends on what function was chosen to open the Notes module Keep in mind that notes for selected object will be stored in the common Notes Database by the long object s name so if you have similarly named object in several databases all of them will have the same centralized observation notes list Each note record s line
31. DSO Planner v3 0 Advanced User Manual PDF generated using the open source mwlib toolkit See http code pediapress com for more information PDF generated at Wed 11 Nov 2015 00 38 33 CET Contents Articles Introduction Main Page Overview Quick Start Guide Main Screen Modules Object Selection module Observations Lists module Star Chart module Tools module Settings module Sub Modules Select Conditions Details screen Objects Databases View Database Equipment Database Observation Notes Other Modules Main Concepts User Interface Working with telescope Temporary and Permanent Objects Data formats Use cases References Article Sources and Contributors Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 10 10 12 14 21 22 27 27 31 33 35 36 39 40 44 44 45 50 51 54 56 57 Introduction Main Page for Android smartphones and tablets About DSO Planner is the astronomy observations planning tool with excellent star charting capabilities It is made by experienced amateur astronomers with a passion for visual observations It has huge deep sky objects databases and provides an opportunity to create any number of user own object databases DSO Planner boasts the largest star catalog among all Android astronomy applications USNO UCAC4 113 mn stars making any paper star chart obsolete It excels at creating observation plans on the fly has powerful note taking capab
32. File Skyview4 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyviewS5 png Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview5 png License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyview6 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyview6 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyviewsettings jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyviewsettings jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image skyviewsettings2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Skyviewsettings2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image astrotools jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Astrotools jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image astrotools2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Astrotools2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image twilight jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Twilight jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image twilight2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Twilight2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image generalsettings1 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Generalsettings1 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image generalsettings2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Generalsettings2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image geosettings jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Geosettings jpg Lice
33. Layers option and fill the current observation list or contrary turn on object layers and clear current observation list or switch to an empty one For combination of both turn on object layers and fill the current observation list To distinguish objects from the observation list from layers objects you could set the option to show labels for the list objects as well as the option to dim layers objects Star Chart The Star Chart shows stars and objects from the selected layers and ALL objects from the current observation list For each FOV and layer you could adjust limiting magnitude to filter out too dim stars and objects from the screen keep in mind that the limiting magnitude in Range has no influence on how objects from current observation list are shown Star Chart is highly customisable there are many options in Star Chart Settings that help you adjust it to your needs By default Star Chart depicts preinstalled Digitized Sky Survey DSS images and their contours They are not objects in a usual sense rather consider them belonging to DSS image layer To download DSS image of any object or sky region select an object or a star open Menu an select DSS You can remove DSS image or download an image of adjacent area with long touch es over existing image or adjacent area Object Selection To search for objects go to Object Selection screen Press Select button Select object catalogs set Primary as search type and
34. Night mode on off Switch between day and night modes e Star Chart e Object Marker Enable Object Marker Show Hide object marker red cross Settings Set orientation marks bolder cross planks at N and E sides direction line the navigation aid line from the screen s center to the selected object cross size cross lines width e Star Chart elements Grid Select grid type Azimuthal Equatorial No grid Constellations lines Show Hide constellation figure lines Constellations boundaries Show Hide constellations sky regions border Milky Way Show Hide contour lines of Milky Way shape Horizon line Show Hide horizon line Fill area below horizon If selected the area below horizon is filled with horizon color Smooth hard line edges Anti aliasing May lower performance e Labels Bright star labels Show Hide bright star labels Object labels Obs List Show Hide labels for objects from observation list This option could be used to distinguish observation list objects from star chart layer objects Star Chart module 19 e Double Star Info Show component and separation on the star chart for double stars from Yale Bright Star Catalog e Object labels Layers Show Hide labels for objects from star chart layers This option could be used to distinguish observation list objects from star chart layer objects e Grid labels Show Hide grid labels e Other labels
35. Visibility Filter Each object s visual parameters magnitude and dimensions are analysed in conjunction with the observing conditions telescope in use and geographic location in order to assign it a visibility rating Objects above or equal to the predefined Detection Limit will be included into the list of good matches e Maximum magnitude filter Simple magnitude limiter Objects below or equal to the specified value will be included e No filter No filter will be applied e Select constellation Limit the search to the selected constellations only e Object name starts with Name prefix based search This option is convenient for catalogs combined from various sources like SAC For example by setting cr here you will limit the search to Collinder Open Clusters in that database This trick could be used in the custom user databases as well simplifying their preparation for use with DSO Planner engine e Object minimal size lower limit on the object s dimensions no less than x e Lowest altitude cut off objects which will never get that high above the horizon throughout the defined observing period of time e Detection limit Set the Detection threshold for the visibility filter e Set maximum magnitude Set the threshold for maximum magnitude filter e Minimum separation For double stars only limit the minimum distance between components e Maximum separation For double stars only limit the max
36. allow to share it with other applications e Find Next Search the list for a sub string of text in the object name e CheckBoxes turn on off display of checkboxes on the right side of the list used to mark objects for batch operations e g adding marked to the observation list e Side Chart split the screen in 2 panels adding the Star Chart view on the top on the right in tablet mode Touch object s record in the List to center the object on that Star Chart Touch the record again or hold your touch on the Side Chart to show that object on the full screen Star Chart Context Menu e Show image Show images for NGCIC objects and custom catalog objects if they have ones e Add to Observation List Add the object to the current observation list one of the four Current observation list could be changed in Observations Lists module e Add Marked to Observation List Add marked objects to the current observation list e Add All to Observation List Add all objects from the current Object Selection list to the current observation list e Details Shows object s Details screen e Add Note Shows Observation Notes module in the Add new note mode e See Object Notes Shows list of notes made to selected object e See ALL Notes Shows all notes in the Notes database Gestures There are two simple flick gestures available that could be called throughout the application for calling Menu and returnin
37. and overlay it on the star chart e Offline images Integrated set of images of most NGC IC objects 7 840 items opportunity to add own images when creating custom catalogs e Nebula contours Contours of famous nebulae e Object contours Ellipse in real dimension and orientation e Night mode Fully red screen with red keyboard menus floating Android navigation buttons e PushTo for dobsonian mounts with setting circles Level your dobsonian mount and perform one star alignment The program will automatically recalculate az alt numbers to hunt objects easily e GoTo for Meade and Celestron controllers with bluetooth dongle e Planning tool Filter any objects database by observer location sky condition astronomical equipment time range of observation and object features type dimension magnitude minimal altitude visibility and other fields of own custom catalogs Remove duplicate objects when searching in intersecting databases Create up to 4 observation lists Easily track observed and remaining to be observed objects with note taking tool Overview e Import tool Import observation lists in Sky Safari and Sky Tools format Use pre compiled Night Sky Observer Guide observation lists e Note taking Take text and or audio notes e Observing places GPS manual coordinates custom lists Database with 24 000 cities worldwide e Equipment Keep track of all your telescopes and eyepieces U
38. cation N34 00 0 w118 00 0 Local time 2014 08 07 02 52 58 Constellation Psc RA Dec 2000 01h36 7m 15 47 1 Lock Notes Add 5 A an using bright theme GoTo button on the Details screen The GoTo Mount Setup module allows to setup the bi directional communication with a GoTo telescope mount over the Bluetooth wireless connection of the Android device At the moment DSO Planner supports GoTo control commands of select Celestron 16 and 32 bit SkyWatcher 16 and 32 bit and Meade telescope models such as Meade ETX 125 and Celestron CPC In order to control them from your Android device you need to convert the wired serial port signal of the telescope mount into the wireless Bluetooth signal In most cases you need to purchase an RS 232 to Bluetooth converting dongle sometimes called Wireless Serial Port Extender and properly connect and power it using your mount s ports or external wiring Working with telescope 48 Typical bluetooth serial dongle For example here is the Alex s Meade ETX 125 mod U1 providing that connectivity Any RS 232 dongle you could find should work just fine with DSO Planner However some telescope models might require the communication protocol tweaking in the code Please don t hesitate to report any issues with your GoTo setup on our forum 1 Some of the telescope manufacturers may provide the Bluetooth dongle dedicated for their mounts but there are plenty much cheaper dongles a
39. ch FOV and layer and object types for NGCIC SAC layer could be set in the Menu Range item The program automatically changes the way it depicts objects from an object icon to an ellipse or rectangle with real dimensions and orientation e The program starts showing downloaded DSS images below specified FOV Max FOV to show DSS The program comes with preinstalled DSS images of the brightest objects You could download any other DSS images as you need e If available the program shows nebula contours instead of rectangle Star Chart module 17 Main Menu Center Center selected object 1 hour Move time one hour back 1 hour Move time one hour forward Mirror Show mirror view of the sky Rotate 180 Rotate sky view by 180 degrees Telrad Show Hide Telrad Eyepieces Eyepieces database Show Hide eyepieces FOV Nearby Search for nearby objects from selected catalogs within the specified field of view with the visibility above or equal to the specified detection limit DSS e Download a single DSS image for small objects The center of image coincides with current object marker position e Download adjacent nine DSS images patch simplifies downloading sky region for large objects e Show Hide DSS images on the star chart e Show Hide DSS contours on the chart DSS images remains in place Scope go GoTo for Meade and Celestron controllers with bluetooth dongle Compass Turn on off iden
40. coordinates space of your telescope mount Open the Main Menu of the Star Chart Select Settings Find the Equipment section and tap the Telescope item Turn on the Show adjusted Az Alt option there From now on DSO Planner will calculate all the necessary adjustments for your setting circles on the fly and show the adjusted coordinates for any object selected on the Star Chart they are displayed in the left bottom corner of the chart with sign followed by values To point the telescope to an object from the chart Select the desired object on the Star Chart Make sure the Chart is set to the current time e Tap the Time RA DEC info bar in the right bottom corner of the Star Chart to open the Pick date and time panel e either set it manually or turn On the Real Time drive mode for the Chart tap the RT ON button if it s ON already the button s label will be RT OFF instead and the Time RA DEC info bar will show NOW word Dial your telescope circles to the values provided in the Object Name Az Alt info bar in the left bottom corner of the Chart Working with telescope 47 Bluetooth GoTo Figure 18 GoTo Mount Setup panel screenshots GoTo Mount Setup Select paired device gt Ngcle NGC628 M74 GoTo GT P5200 Type Gx Select telescope type gt Celestron Magnitude 9 1 Connect gt Dimension 10 5x9 5 Connected PA 25 0 Disconnect gt Per EP visibility 1 5 Lo
41. e You can mark up to 5 eyepieces to use with this telescope They will be used to draw FOV circles in the sky view and to calculate the visibility of objects Use BACK button to apply Nagler 13 85 S Nagler 7 85 S Add new eyepiece using bright theme 2 eyepieces in your collection Nagler 13 85 Eyepiece parameters Name Nagler Focal length mm 7 0 AFOV deg 85 0 Short text note Cancel Add new eyepiece editing eyepiece data field The eyepieces list shows names and brief description of your eyepieces Figure 13 and CCD camera sensors The Add new eyepiece button adds new eyepiece to your eyepiece list use the Main Menu to add a new CCD When adding a new eyepiece you could either enter your own eyepiece parameters or select an eyepiece from the database with more than 500 popular eyepieces data Context menu e Edit Edit eyepiece parameters e Name Eyepiece name e Focal length mm Eyepiece focal length e AFOV Eyepiece field of view in degrees e Short text note Brief comment if required e Remove Remove eyepiece from the list e Remove All Clear eyepiece list Equipment Database 39 Main Menu e Provides access to export import operations e Add CCD Open new CCD Add dialog window Observation Notes Overview Figure 14 Notes module screenshots NGC3351 M95 2014 07 28 17 41 Bright galaxy NGC
42. e Mode which will automatically update the time used by DSO Planner for astronomy calculations and also updates the Star Chart closes the Picker e Cancel exit the picker without making any changes Working with telescope PushTo aid Figure 17 Dobsonian telescope with simple setting circles OTA setup inclinometer DIY azimuth circle one star alignment panel Overview DSO Planner have the ability to work with the setting circles readings for telescopes with Alt Az mount The dedicated calibration algorithm allows use them for blind objects finding without precise alignment of the setting circles to the true North and horizon points Usually it is sufficient to just level the telescope s base with a simple bubble level and perform the single star alignment using the special Alignment panel of the app The telescope s base must be precisely level for correct calculations of setting circles Azimuth readings however if you cannot level the base reliably you can Star Align as usual but work on a small region of the sky close to the alignment star by Azimuth i e in a 20 degrees arch left and right for about 20 minutes without losing much of a precision Then just re align to other star in the close vicinity of the objects you want to study DSO Planner s author has a Dobsonian telescope pictured above The Azimuth circle is printed on paper and glued to the mount base it has 0 5 degree steps The classic Altitude circle
43. e Zoom level for real size ON FOV ceiling for showing DSO real shape For FOV above the ceiling DSO icon is shown for FOV below the ceiling real shape is shown taking into account Scale factor for real DSO shape see below e Scale factor for real DSO shape DSO is shown in real shape if its screen dimension is higher than that of DSO icon multiplied by scale factor Set it to zero to show any even the smallest object in real size e Scale factor for DSO signs Set scale factor for reducing enlarging DSO icons DSS Digitized Sky Survey e Enable DSS imagery support Show Hide downloaded DSS images on star chart e Display DSS contours Show Hide DSS contours e Max FOV to show DSS Threshold FOV for showing hiding downloaded DSS images DSS images dimmer Dimmer downloaded DSS images in night mode Other e Real Time Realtime mode Enable disable realtime mode where the time and star chart are updated automatically using internal device clock Auto update period Set the period for auto updating in real time mode Real time screen update e Update screen for all FOVs In realtime mode screen is updated irrespective of magnification Do not update screen for FOVs less or equal Screen is not updated for a FOV less or equal the threshold set here this may be convenient when looking for objects at high magnification so they don t jump out of the screen on update Note that when the Chart FOV
44. e observation location Figure 7 Country Region Search Greven Germany N52 06 0 E07 37 0 Grevenbroich Germany N51 05 0 E06 35 0 Greystones Ireland N53 08 4 W06 03 8 Greytown South Africa S29 03 8 E30 35 6 Grez doiceau Belgium N50 44 0 E04 42 0 Gribanovskiy Russian Federation N51 27 5 E41 58 6 Griesheim Germany N49 51 8 E08 34 5 Griffin United States N33 14 8 W84 15 9 SD major world cities e Enable AutoLocation Enable Disable auto location by GPS network etc If you want to use GPS as a location provider turn it on first The program uses the best provider available at the moment e g GPS if it is turned on network if GPS is turned off It queries current location provider once an hour If no fix is available the last known location for the current provider is used e Manual coordinate setting tap on two lines below AutoLocation to change location values disabled if AutoLocation is ON e Latitude Use the following format when setting latitude N34 10 01 or S34 10 01 N S stands for North South latitude The value is 34 degrees 10 minutes 1 second Minutes and or seconds could be omitted The name of the closest major City is displayed below the value e Longitude Use the following format when setting longitude W 8 10 01 or E118 10 01 W E stands for Western Eastern longitude The value is 118 degrees 10 minutes second Minutes and
45. e to select the fixed FOV level from the drop down scrollable list 90 60 45 30 20 10 5 2 1 30 15 7 2 3 6 e Tap or on the sides to increase or decrease the FOV level e On the right side of Control Panel you see the e Chart s time day hours minutes In case the Chart is in the Real Time self updating mode the Date will be replaced with NOW note e The chart s center RA and DEC coordinates below the time line e Tap on this side to open the Date Time Picker panel where you can select a moment in time or start the Real Time clock drive periodically updating the chart to current time General gestures are available from the Control Panel only Object icons e ellipse galaxy e rectangle bright nebula dark nebula HII region super nova remnant e triangle planetary nebula e circle cluster of galaxies e dashed circle open cluster open cluster and nebula e circle with a cross globular cluster e filled circle with a horizontal crossing line double star filled circle with a horizontal tail 3 short lines comet e circle with a horizontal line minor planet Star Chart module 16 e five angle star observation list star asterism e small cross object from a user catalog with a user type quasar The chart also depicts icons of bright solar system objects Sun Moon Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Tips To distinguish between objects disp
46. een The format of the data in these databases explained below To edit object in such a database long tap on the object to open its context menu an select the Edit item To add a new object or import a list of objects from the SD card use the main menu of the database list screen Comets e namel Short name of the object e name2 Long Name of the object e comment free note text e month Orbit elements Epoch month Objects Databases 34 e year Orbit elements Epoch year e absmag Absolute star magnitude e day Orbit elements Epoch day e e Orbital Excentricity e i Inclination to the ecliptic J2000 0 degrees e node Longitude of the ascending node J2000 0 degrees e q Perihelion distance AU e slope Star magnitude slope parameter e w Argument of perihelion J2000 0 degrees Minor Planets e namel Short name of the object e name2 Long Name of the object e comment free note text e month Orbit elements Epoch month e year Orbit elements Epoch year e G Star magnitude slope parameter e H Absolute star magnitude e M Mean anomaly at the Epoch degrees e axis Semimajor axis of the orbit AU e day Orbit elements Epoch day e e Orbital Excentricity e i Inclination to the ecliptic J2000 0 degrees e node Longitude of the ascending node J2000 0 degrees e w Argument of perihelion J2000 0 degrees
47. ent magnitude or dimension For such objects visibility is considered a missing parameter Set Empty field treatment as you need to include exclude such objects when filtering them in the Object Selection module As an exception if dimension is missing in planetary nebula minor planet or double star its visibility is calculated as that of a star point like lighting source Detection limit is a minimum visibility threshold when using visibility filter to look for objects only objects with visibility above or equal to the detection limit are found Use cases Add additional information to the integrated database User wants to supplement the integrated NGCIC database with his own object name i e in your native language and some colorful images of the object Follow the steps 1 Create a new user database called myngc with a text field called myname and an image path field called photo 2 Add a new object to this database Set its namel and name2 fields to ngc224 Set myname field to Andromeda and photo field to the full path to the image of the NGC224 M31 on the SD card There is no need to set other default fields values 3 Find the NGC224 M31 in Messier or NGCIC catalog and use Details context menu item tapping over its record 4 The Details screen will open Tap More button at the end of the list of default information At the screen bottom among others you would see section headed myngc ngc224
48. field of view Long touch Show hide control information zone Long touch on DSS image Select DSS image Long touch on selected DSS image Show DSS image menu Long touch near selected DSS image Select an area adjacent to DSS image Long touch on selected area near DSS image Show DSS image menu This is convenient to download several adjacent DSS images covering large objects Star Chart module 18 e Touch on star object Select a star object Put a marker on it e Flick up down on the left screen side Increase or decrease screen brightness provided that the relevant setting is set Note that in case the Minimal brightness mode is set in the Screen Settings the brightness of the screen will be reset to a minimal one on exit from the Chart Star Chart Settings Figure 4 Star Chart Settings screenshots Tycho 2 layer 2 5 million stars up to 12m K Night mode on off UCAC4 layer 113 mn stars up to 16m s Star Chart Equipment PGC layer mp 1 643 000 galaxies from Principal Galaxies Catalog Ngclc SAC layer 14 400 deep sky objects from Ngclc SAC and HCG catalogs lt Star object and image layers Other Ngclc SAC object types Use visibility for layers Show objects from object layers that are visible with selected equipment in the current sky conditions Detection limit ee oa using bright theme using dark theme See Figure 4 e
49. for custom catalogs objects provided that user has added them To the right of an object there is a checkbox indicating if user has observed it already The check box could either be checked by a user directly or be checked automatically when taking a note for the object Also it could be automatically checked by the Mark menu selector see below Objects in the current observation list are those which will be shown on the star chart other objects will be hidden unless you turn on the layers feature Also depending on the Hide marked objects setting of star chart you can hide marked objects from it useful to avoid observing the same object twice over the night Touching an object in the list will open the Star Chart module with the that object centred and selected ready to star hopping Observations Lists module 13 Main Menu Search Global Search of an input string in all databases Rename Rename current observation list DSS Download DSS Digitized Sky Survey images of observation list objects Only images for objects absent on the offline DSS cache are downloaded Requires Internet connection Sort by The list could be sorted by object name constellation magnitude size and set time The second selection of the same sort type reverses the sort order List 1 4 Select a current observation list Add object Add a temporary user object to the observation list for a quick look up This
50. g the dedicated DSO Planner text format Any list with objects notes locations telescopes or eyepieces can be exported into the human readable text file shared using other applications and imported back into DSO Planner either into the same module or other module Export Export current list data to a text file on SD card using the DSO Planner text format Import Import data from a text file in DSO Planner text format When importing objects into the Observation List or Observation Notes list you need to specify whether the source file is yours exported by your own copy of the app or someone else s prepared manually or on other Android device with DSO Planner installed That is crucial for most correct and optimal import of the data When someone else s data is imported into the Observation List temporary objects will be created if the data does not contain reference to internal databases if it does permanent objects are made This is the case when you import someone else observation list which contains only objects from internal catalogs When your own file is imported permanent objects will created provided that the database objects being imported still refers to the existing objects weren t removed from the device Paste Paste objects from the Android clipboard DSO Planner will try to interpret the text in the system s clipboard buffer as representation of object s data in DSO Planner text format and if successful
51. g to the previous window Observations Lists module 12 Observations Lists module Overview NGC2419 C25 H GC Lyn 10 3m 4 1x4 1 Az 305 01 0 Alt 23 34 0 Best vis 4 9 at 30 0 mm eyepiece NGC4244 C26 Gx CVn 10 0m 16 6x1 9 Az 248 17 3 Alt 60 13 4 Best vis 1 9 at 21 0 mm eyepiece NGC6888 C27 Neb Cyg 10 0m 20 0x10 0 Az 70 44 6 Alt 34 32 1 Best vis 0 0 NGC5005 C29 H Gx CVn 10 3m 5 8x2 8 Az 228 26 9 Alt 66 03 9 Best vis 4 3 at 30 0 mm Figure 2 Observation List module screenshots 873 obj 5 A using bright theme NGC6992 C33 SNR iS Cyg 7 0m 60 0x8 0 Az 67 45 0 Alt 23 39 0 Best vis 4 8 at 30 0 mm eyepiece NGC6995 C33 SNR Cyg 7 0m 12 0x12 0 Az 67 55 9 Alt 23 08 2 Best vis 5 0 at 7 0 mm eyepiece NGC6960 C34 SNR List 3 ia Import Export a main menu open 873 obj Cyg 7 0m 70 0x6 0 Az 70 25 8 Alt 24 06 7 Best vis 5 0 at 30 0 mm eyepiece NGC4559 C36 H Gx Com 9 8m 10 7x4 4 Az 231 43 8 Alt 54 28 5 Best vis 3 0 at 30 0 mm eyepiece NGC4565 C38 H Gx Com 9 5m 15 8x2 1 Az 229 58 1 Alt 52 48 0 Best vis 3 7 at 30 0 mm eyepiece NGC7023 C4 OCN Cep 7 1m 5 0x5 0 Az 33 44 3 Alt 48 19 0 Best vis 5 0 at 7 0 mm eyepiece using dark theme Observation list shows a list of objects to be observed and corresponding object images if available Note that images are available only for NGCIC objects and
52. id notification bar removed in day mode Night Time full screen mode Android notification bar removed in night mode Main Screen Background Image Show Sombrero image on initial view Onyx skin Set white on black color interface throughout the application System wide settings Disable auto sleep in Star Chart mode Automatic Android power saving mode turning the screen off will be disabled for the Star Chart module Disable Night keyboard If selected android default keyboard is used in the night mode This may negatively affect night vision Auto dismiss Warnings Set a period after which application warning and information messages will be closed Auto update comet elements The app suggests to update comet database when new orbital elements are available on www minorplanetcenter net In the dialog you could press Cancel to postpone update till the next orbital elements become available or Hide to turn the notification off To turn the notification on just activate this item again Floating Back Menu buttons Enable Android navigation buttons substitute solution in assistance of the true night mode maintenance on some devices notably tablets with virtual navigation buttons shown at the bottom of the screen You can either disable them completely in the Android System Settings or and tape the bottom portion of the screen with some masking tape to ultimately hide them behind These substitute control butto
53. ilities powerful objects databases features allows observing information sharing works with settings circles PushTo and computerized GoTo telescopes and provides the best night red mode user interface for Android devices a UCAC4 420 9775 2015 05 10 23 57 UCAC4 671 89807 2014 08 03 23 14 PGC1928851 1 2015 05 10 23 57 C27 1 2015 05 10 23 57 10 9m 308 9 30 1 R D 05 36 05 31 A h 98 5 64 0 R D 20 60 44 29 17 8m 14 3 02 2 R D 01 35 30 45 10 0m 70 7 34 5 R D 20 13 38 25 Main Page 5 UMi a 2014 09 19 22 25 A h 16 34 40 2 R D 15 49 53 40 sae ais i NGC 952 i INO ission of icproject org Note General Settings Night mode on 1 General hic Location 6 T Best vis 5 0 at 30 0 mm eyepiece NGC4559 C36 H Gx Com9 8m 10 7x4 4 Az 231 43 8 Alt 54 28 5 Best vis 3 0 at 30 0 mm eyepiece a NGC4565 C38 H Gx Com 9 5m 15 8x2 1 Az 229 58 1 Alt 52 48 0 Best vis 3 7 at 30 0 mm eyepiece gt t G Center 1hour 1hour Mirror Rotate 180 NGC7023 C4 OCN Cep 7 1m 5 0x5 0 Az 33 44 3 Alt 48 19 0 a 3 Best vis 5 0 at 7 0 mm gt eyepiece Telrad EP FOV Nearby DSS Scope go x x x Compass Align star RA DEC Boldness Settings sn lt n E 873 obj Solact Applications to add to Tools A Anda ADK E APOD Arduino Uno C wunicator ArduinoCommander Panel Cancel K a Y u o Balance BY A S D FJG H J K L mm I Barometer Mo
54. images Integrated set of images of most NGC IC objects opportunity to add own images when creating custom catalogs e Constellation boundaries e Nebula contours Contours of famous nebulae e Milky Way Contours e Objects contours e Night mode Fully red screen with red keyboard menus and floating Android navigation buttons e PushTo for dobsonian mounts with setting circles Level your dobsonian mount and perform one star alignment The app will automatically recalculate az alt numbers to easily hunt the object e GoTo for Meade and Celestron controllers with bluetooth dongle e Eyepieces and CCD FOV support e Unique visibility tool Only objects that are visible with selected equipment in the current sky conditions could be shown on the Star Chart for objects from NGC IC SAC PGC catalogs e Planning tool Filter any objects database by observer location sky condition astronomical equipment time range of observation and object features type dimension magnitude minimal altitude visibility and other fields of own custom catalogs Remove duplicate objects when searching in intersecting databases Create up to 4 observation lists Easily track observed and remaining to be observed objects with note taking tool e Import tool Import observation lists in Sky Safari and Sky Tools format Use pre compiled Night Sky Observer Guide observation lists e Note taking Take text and or audio notes e Observing places GPS manual coordinate
55. imum distance between components e Maximum mag2 For double stars only limit the maximum magnitude of the second component faintest to include Select Conditions 29 SQL like expression module This item opens the special module containing the list of SQL like expressions defined and saved by user Select one of them to instantly use for the search Initially the list contains 3 simple expressions as examples You can add your own by tapping the Add new search request button at the bottom of the screen Any SQL like expression in DSO Planner is actually represented by two requests referring to database and to the ephemeris calculating engine e SQL request refers to static fields in the target databases e Local request allows to filter by object s Altitude and Visibility SQL request The following fields could be used in the first expression case independent e ID the index of the object in the database sequential number e TYPE Object type Could take the standard object type abbreviation value e A Larger object dimension in minutes e B Smaller object dimension in minutes e RA Right ascension E2000 0 in decimal hours 11 245621623 e DEC Declination E2000 0 in decimal degrees 10 2767289 e MAG Catalog s star magnitude e PA Position angle of the DSO shape or binary components e CON Constellation name standard 3 letters Latin abbreviation of it
56. in the list to list objects from that database 4 Open the main menu of the database screen Android Menu button flick up from the bottom of the screen or floating menu button if you have it enabled in the Night Mode Select the Add Object command 6 On the Create new object screen you need to enter following parameters to fully define the new minor planet s nN orbit e namel any e name2 any comment any e month value of month from the EPOCH field e year value of year from the EPOCH field e G value from G field Asteroid physical parameters e H value from H Asteroid physical parameters e M value from MA e axis value from A e day value of day from the EPOCH field e e value from EC e i value from IN e node value from OM e w value from W field See the Objects Databases chapter for more details Article Sources and Contributors 56 Article Sources and Contributors Main Page Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 375 Contributors Dsoplanner2 MediaWiki default 2 anonymous edits Overview Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 399 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Quick Start Guide Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 299 Contributors Dsoplanner2 Object Selection module Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 402 Contributors AlexK Dsoplanner2 Observations Lists module Source http dsoplanner com index php oldid 4
57. insert them into the list or database Share Standard Android OS media object Share option The third party application such as Gmail Evernote etc will receive a text bundle in DSO Planner text format to deal with Note that Android share function has a size limitation thus you cannot share more than about 300 objects at once Other Modules 41 DSO Image NGC41952 M AN This image is used with permission of The NGC IC Project LLC www ngcicproject org S T Eaa Figure 15 DSO Image module screen This module shows object images Figure 15 There is an internal image database that has images for almost every NGC object 7840 images from the famous NGCICproject org website Also you can add any number of new images for your own user database objects by creating a custom database with multiple custom fields of Image Path type in it See the typical Use Case description for more details on exactly that procedure DSO Image screen is commonly available from the Context Menu of any list of objects such as the Observations Lists module Object Selection module and the View Database module The Details screen will show the dedicated Image button if selected object has any images attached Other Modules 42 Controls In case there are several images for an object available you can switch between them by flicking the screen up and down Use pinch to zoom gesture to change the image scale
58. is substituted with an inexpensive constructors grade digital inclinometer with a 0 1 degree accuracy With practice and the help of DSO Planner such a basic upgrade of the Dob could shorten the finding of almost any object in the Sky in under 2 minutes Working with telescope 46 One star alignment Select a bright enough alignment star on the Star Chart Using the Chart point your telescope to that star using a high power eyepiece for higher precision Select the Align Star item from the Star Chart s Main Menu to open the Setting circles one star alignment panel Confirm that the star is precisely at the center of the FOV of your eyepiece once again and immediately tap the Now button on the alignment panel to precisely register the current moment of time Read your setting circles or inclinometer and enter the Azimuth and Altitude values in decimal degrees into dedicated data fields on the panel Measured Az and Measured Alt Select azimuth setting circle direction Clockwise or CounterClockwise Tap the One Star Align button to save the alignment data The Clockwise CounterClockwise button below the coordinates input fields of Alignment panel allows to select a different direction for the Azimuth setting circle as some models might be graduated clockwise and most counterclockwise How to use Now you need to tell DSO Planner to show the Altitude and Azimuth of objects on the Star Chart in the
59. is under the threshold the Time panel bottom right corner of the Chart behaves as if the RT mode is OFF e Update screen and auto center selected object for FOV less or equal If enabled the selected object is auto centred in realtime mode for FOV less or equal the threshold set this may be convenient to trace moving objects at high magnification FOV threshold The threshold for the above dialog e Distinguishing observation list objects mn Observation list object mark A colon is put after the name of selected observation list object Dim objects from layers Observation list objects are highlighted relative to objects from layers Object labels Obs List Show Hide labels for objects from observation lists This option could be used to distinguish observation list objects from star chart layer objects Object labels Layers Show Hide labels for objects from star chart layers This option could be used to distinguish observation list objects from star chart layer objects e Miscellaneous Angular measurement Measure angle between two successive objects selected Star Chart module 21 e Center Object If enabled object is centred on double touch or on getting info in control and information zone e Hide marked objects Hide marked objects from the current observation list on star chart Brightness Flick Use flick on the left side of the Star Chart to control brightness e Battery
60. ject Selection module provides a screen for easy management selection and filtering of different object databases Figure 1 e Select Update button either takes you to the Select Conditions screen where you set object catalogs to search in and filter criteria Select button or performs a search in the selected catalogs based on filter criteria Update button After the search the list of objects from the current database complying with the filter criteria is displayed and Update button turns into Select button While the search is running the Stop button appears Press it to stop the current search e g if it takes too long All objects found till the Stop button press will be displayed e Select button turns into Update button if some of the search criteria changes e g location observation time range etc e Constellation ALL button on the right allows to filter search results by constellation Touching an object in the list takes to the star chart with a touched object in the center Context menu provides a wide range of operations from forming observation list to note taking The list has the following columns NAME CON constellation TYPE MAG magnitude and DIM dimension Touching column name sorts the list by that parameter Second touch reverses the sort order Object Selection module 11 Main Menu e Search Global Search of an input string in all databases e Export Share convert list to text file and
61. layed from the current OL and objects from the DSO layers you can either e ask to show labels for the first and not for the second e set diming object from layers option e watch for the colon marker following the name of the selected object in the Control Panel By default the double star info component and separation is shown as a double star label can be disabled in the Chart s Settings Double Star Info Layer objects can be limited either simply by their magnitude or by the visibility rate with the selected equipment given the current sky conditions any objects impossible to see with your instrument will be automatically filtered out You can measure angular distance between any stars or objects On each object selecting tap the distance from the previously selected object to the new one will be shown in the upper left corner of the Chart You can turn that feature off within the Other options section of the Star Chart Settings Main features Depending on the current field of view FOV the program shows e Star Layers e Yale Bright Star catalog for all FOV e Tycho 2 layer for all FOV There is a ceiling for limiting magnitude above 10 FOV to avoid showing too many stars e UCAC4 layer for FOV below or equal to 5 e Limiting magnitude for each FOV and layer could be set in Menu Layers e Object Layers e PGC layer for FOV below or equal 30 e Ngclc SAC layer for all FOV e Limiting magnitude for ea
62. led observation list object _ 3900 3900 24 000 cities worldwide Yes Yes Yes Yes 500 popular eyepieces database Yes Yes Yes Other differences of editions Feature Free Basic Plus Pro Creation of custom user database Yes Yes Adding a temporary user object to the observation list for a quick look up Yes Yes DSS download in Star Chart limited Yes Yes Yes Batch DSS download in Observation List Yes Yes Yes Bluetooth GoTo Yes Yes Yes Full darkness calculation Yes Yes Yes Quick Start Guide Quick Start Guide Object Selection The application supports two approaches to object selection The easier way is to turn on the Star Chart object layers NGCIC SAC PGC and either e set the limiting magnitude for each layer and field of view FOV All objects whose magnitude is below limiting will then be shown on Star Chart Besides limiting magnitude you could also filter NgcIc SAC layer by object types e or use the visibility filter for object layers to show only objects visible in your telescope The second approach is to look through several databases for objects to be observed using various filters in the Object Selection module prepare observation list and get its objects on the star chart automatically You could use each approach separately or combine them For a separate use turn off the Object
63. ll be displayed Useful Hint That is a straightforward way to supplement object data from any existing database with the additional data you want to have available at hands For example if you want to supplement the integrated NGCIC database with your own object name i e in your native language and some colorful images you could create a standard DSO user database with additional text and images folder path columns and populate it with data using Import functions and USB file transfer Now the Details screen for any NGCIC object will show its other name and the gallery of images See the corresponding use case for more details Details screen 32 For double stars the module provides Information panel with positional angle and separation for each component from Yale Bright Star Catalog WDS Washington Double Star Catalog and the database of Brightest Double Stars For about 1000 double stars positional angle and separation will be recalculated using known orbital parameters of these double systems Screen Content Other Designations Object names from database of objects cross match names from other catalogs Double Star Info Position angle and separation for each component Type Object type Magnitude Object magnitude Dimension Object dimension in minutes PA Object position angle Per EP visibility An array of object s visibility ratings for each eyepiece selected Location Curre
64. match The object found is shown in bold text on the list The search is inclusive e g 12 will return abc12 as a match To reset the search just tap Find again Gestures DSO Planner supports 2 simple gestures over the screen Flick Up from any passive non editable or movable i e buttons edit fields lists element of the screen to open the main menu of the module displayed flick left returns to the previous screen or closes the open dialog similar to the Back button of Android OS In most cases you can successfully use the thin red line common decoration of DSO Planner screens as a start point of the flick or the window header In the Star Chart module the above flicks will work best from the Red Button In addition flick up on the left edge of the screen will increase the screen s brightness flick down will decrease it provided the relevant setting is set Date Time Picker Date Time Picker Screen Fri Oct 09 15 34 49 PDT 2015 2015 October RT OFF Cancel User Interface 45 This is the common tool of DSO Planner which allows to set or select a moment in time conveniently in various contexts It consists of 5 horisontaly scrolling bands 3 for date and 2 for time selection Selected time display at the top and control buttons at the bottom e Set Set the selected time and close the picker e Now Set the current system time of Android device e RT ON OFF control the Real Tim
65. nd custom catalog objects if they have ones e Add to Observation List Add the object to the current observation list one of the four Current observation list could be changed in Observations Lists module e Details Shows object s Details screen e Add Note Shows Observation Notes module in the Add new note mode e See Object Notes Shows list of notes made to selected object e See ALL Notes Shows all notes in the Notes database e Remove from List Remove the object from the database e Remove ALL Remove all objects from the database e Edit Edit selected object parameters Gestures There are two simple flick gestures available that could be called throughout the application for calling Menu and returning to the previous window Equipment Database Overview DSO Planner supports two user databases of optical instruments telescope database and eyepiece database Telescope and eyepiece data is used for visibility calculation and for depicting eyepieces field of view on the Star Chart Select necessary telescope before filtering objects based on their visibility in either Select Conditions module or Settings module DSO Planner Star Chart module draws the field of view for each selected eyepiece of the selected telescope the Details screen shows object s visibility for each of them as well Equipment Database 37 Telescopes List Figure 12 Telescopes List module screenshots Mak
66. nection with the telescope Working with telescope 50 How to use Point to an object e Select the target object in any DSO Planner module e g on the Star Chart e Open the Details screen module for it Tap the GoTo button in the top right corner of the module s screen e Make the Star Chart to center where the telescope is pointing to e Tap the Scope go item in the Main menu of the Star Chart module References 1 http www dobmod com 2015 01 meade etx 125 electric wiring mod html 2 http forum dsoplanner com Temporary and Permanent Objects Objects in DSO Planner databases context could be permanent e internal database objects such as NgclIc SAC etc e user database objects and temporary e objects existing in one of the observation lists only Such objects could be created e in observation list using the Add Object command e when importing objects into observation list if imported objects does not contain references to already installed databases e g if the database was removed or a foreign external data file is used e Itis necessary to emphasize that when objects are added into an observation list from the Object Selection module or View Database module they will be always permanent The same stands for objects imported into the observation list along with references to existing databases Temporary objects creation and maintenance are much easier than that of Permanent object
67. nitor Z X c LE E NIM Before installation please make sure that you have at least 2 GB of free space on your internal SD card to download application databases Brief features list e Star catalogs USNO UCAC4 full star coverage to 16m 113 mn stars Tycho 2 2 5 mn stars Yale bright star catalog 9 000 stars e Deep sky catalogs NGC IC 12 000 objects including Messier Caldwell and Herschel 400 objects SAC Saguaro Astronomy Club database 10 000 objects UGC 13 000 objects Lynds dark and bright nebula 3 000 objects Barnard dark nebula 350 objects SH2 300 objects PK 1 500 planetary nebula Abell cluster of galaxies 2 700 objects Hickson Compact Group 100 objects PGC 1 600 000 galaxies Double Star catalog Brightest Double Stars 2 300 stars Washington Double Star Catalog 120 000 stars double stars from Yale catalog Info Panel with PA and separation for each component e Comet support Orbital elements of around 700 observable comets could be automatically updated via internet e Minor planet support Database of 10 000 brightest minor planets Main Page e Famous Steve Gottlieb Notes attached to NGC IC objects e Custom catalogs Unlimited capability to create fully searchable own catalogs e Cross match names database Search objects by less common names e DSS imagery support Download DSS images of any sky portion into offline cache and overlay it on the star chart e Offline
68. nomy related apps installed on your device however false positives possible So just scrollthrough the list and manually mark or unmark apps you want to include in the module s screen Figure 5 At the top of the list you will always see the integrated applications DSO Twilight Calculator DSO Twilight Calculates for the current date e Rise Transit and Set time for Sun and Moon e Moon phase e Civil Nautical and Astronomical twilight time e Periods time intervals of the darkest sky through the night and for 30 days ahead Tools module 22 The calculation algorithm for periods of maximal darkness takes into account the Moon s rise set phase data Rotate your device into landscape orientation for more comfortable view of the darkest periods data DSO Flashight DSO Flashlight Simple adjustable flashlight utilizing screen of the device as a dim light source Both white and red light are available Controlled by flick gestures e Swipe up and down increases and decreases general brightness e Swipe left and right changes the color from dark grey to white or dark red to bright red in Night Mode e long tap turns the flashlight on and off making screen black turn it on and see basic instructions Note DSO Planner cannot force external applications registered in the Tools module into the night mode Only apps icons in the Tools module are in night colors Be cautious when you tap any external app
69. ns Back and Menu will be displayed as a semitransparent overlay at the bottom portion of every screen of the app in the Night Mode only Settings module 25 2 Utilities Downloads This allows to download redownload application databases expansion pack and patch Expansion pack and patch are usually downloaded automatically when application is installed You need to download them only if there is a warning at the start of application that the expansion pack or patch is missing Download is permitted via Wi Fi connection only due to large file size Start download by long touching the Expansion pack title Before installation please make sure that you have at least 2 GB for Pro Edition 540 MB for Plus Edition and 100 MB for Basic Edition of free space on your internal SD card to download application databases Note due to Google Play rules this data cannot be moved to your external SD card you must have all this space on your internal SD card If you redownload expansion pack or patch they had been downloaded already no additional free space is required the application will automatically remove the old files Reinstall Issue the Reinstall Application Databases command which might be required after major app updates Backup Restore Backup and restore of application user databases object databases observation lists instruments notes locations advanced search requests to SD card DSOPlanner backup folder This ma
70. nse unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image geosettings2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Geosettings2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image searchtype jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Searchtype jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image basicsearch1 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Basicsearch1 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image basicsearch2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Basicsearch2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image advsearch1 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Advsearch1 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image advsearch2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Advsearch2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image timerange jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Timerange jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image details jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Details jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image details2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Details2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image db jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Db jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image db2 jpg Source http dsoplanner com index php title File Db2 jpg License unknown Contributors Dsoplanner2 Image vdal jpg Source http
71. nt latitude and longitude of observer location Local time Device time for which object position is calculated as set in the Star Chart module Android OS timezone will be taken into account for calculations Constellation Object s constellation Az Alt Object azimuth and altitude for the local time Transit Time of object s transit and its altitude at that moment maximum altitude Rise Object s rise time could be n r never rise or n s never sets Set Object s set time Controls There are up to 4 conveniently even spaced buttons available at the bottom of the module screen Depending on the current state some of them might be hidden or have different context dependent functionality Star Chart Lock Switch to the Star Chart module with the object centered If Details Screen is called from Star Chart that button will be replaced with the Lock button which allows to set the mode which prevents accidental selection of other objects on the Chart by tapping it To turn off that mode return back to Details screen and tap the Unlock button Image Show images for both Ngc objects and user database objects containing images Hidden if no images for the object found Notes Show all observation notes for selected object and allow to take a new observations note Add Add selected object to the current observation list The button is hidden if the object is already in the current observation list
72. nts describing your local horizon line in the simple format where each row in the file represents the coordinates pair of Azimuth and Altitude in degrees for each point The last point will be automatically linked with the first one in the file For example Figure 19 above shows a fake user horizon defined by the following data file LY 20 30 40 60 61 10 30 60 60 0 The easiest way to prepare such a file would be on a good night observe stars which are visible near the edges of significant local horizon s obstructions window or balcony frame buildings walls hills or trees contours etc and Data formats 54 use their coordinates and coordinates of other less visible stars from the map to approximate the key points for the horizon s line Another approach make a panoramic image in known projection find the key points measure their x y coordinates on the image and finally convert them to the Azimuth and Altitude values for the file Visibility value explained Object visibility is measured on 0 5 scale where 0 is invisible and 5 bright Visibility depends on object brightness and dimensions sky condition its limiting magnitude the magnitude of the faintest star one could see at zenith telescope aperture its passthrough and magnification that is an eyepiece used with the telescope Blackwell model is used for visibility calculations Visibility is not calculated for comets and objects with abs
73. onal fields will be lost This may not be a solution when an external observational list that you import contain objects from various user databases Data formats 51 Data formats DSO Planner text format Each object is represented by a text string which starts with amp symbol and then contains pairs of the form field value separated by symbol The pairs could be put into a text string in any order It is possible to use only some fields and omit other in this case omitted fields will be automatically set to O or zero string To deal with several objects at once place several lines into the text file every line corresponding to its own object If you need to use amp or within the value e g within text fields just put in front of the symbol amp n or Standard data fields e ra Right ascension in epoch 2000 Its value lies in 0 to 24 range e dec Declination in epoch 2000 Its value lies in 90 to 90 range e a Object dimensions in minutes longer axis e b Object dimensions in minutes shorter axis e pa Position angle in degrees e namel Short object name e name2 Long object name e comment Text comment on an object e mag Magnitude of an object e type Object type e typestr The name of the custom user type This field is required only if you use your own custom object type e g using custom object type you could assign
74. ow Hide eyepieces overlay e Cardinal direction labels North South East West labels around eyepiece ring e Guide lines RA Dec guide lines within eyepiece FOV Telrad overlay e Telrad rings Show Hide telrad overlay e Settings Fine settings ring diameters marks angle ring width Level and Compass e Disable down tracking Turn off tracking when pointing down e Alpha New point weight The lower the alpha the smoother the compass but the slower its speed Higher alpha raises compass speed but introduces noise and jitter Star object and image layers Star Layers e Tycho 2 layer Show Hide stars from Tycho 2 catalog e UCAC4 layer Show Hide stars from UCAC4 catalog Object Layers e PGC layer Show Hide galaxies from PGC catalog e NGCIC SAC layer Show Hide deep sky objects from NGCIC SAC and HCG catalogs Star Chart module 20 NGCIC SAC object types Select object types to be shown for NGCIC SAC catalog Visibility Filter for Object Layers Use visibility for layers Objects in Object Layers are set to obey the Visibility Filter rules instead of the hard magnitude limit Detection limit Only objects with visibility above or equal to detection limit are shown Sky limiting magnitude The magnitude of faintest stars at zenith Used for visibility calculations e Options DSO e Show near to real DSO shape Show elliptical shape at high zoom level
75. rve today You need to set up search parameters only the first time After that you may keep them or update only the necessary ones e Star Chart Menu Settings Star object and image layers turn off NGCIC SAC and PGC layers e Object Selection Select You come to Select Conditions screen e Select object catalogs Messier Caldwell Herschel 400 e Select search type Primary e Select Object types Select types of objects you wish to observe e Primary search parameters Filter type No filter e Time of Observation Set up observation period e g Begin Time Astro Twilight Ends End Time Astro Twilight Begins e Geographic Location Enable AutoLocation if not already enabled e Update Go back to the Object Selection module and tap Update button e Add ALL to Observation List select that item in the Context menu long tap on the list to open it objects in the list are now shown on the star chart Bright Comets to observe today Settings Object Databases Comets Update This updates orbital elements of Comets database and adds newly discovered comets if not updated yet by auto updater e Object Selection Select You come to Select Conditions screen e Select object catalogs Comets Select object types Comet e Primary search parameters Object minimal size 0 e Primary search parameters Filter type Maximum magnitude filter e Primary search parameters Set maximum magnitude 12 e
76. s They are perfect for adding something quickly to the Chart to see between the stars and calculate local ephemeries but you don t really care whether they will still exist in the app later or not Temporary objects are also required for observation lists sharing between users as they are independent from the particular DSO Planner version or set of installed databases Also the functionality of Temporary objects in the DSO Planner have some limitations Permanent objects could be used in the Object Selection module to filter through as well as for the Global Search Temporary object exists until it is removed from its Observation list cannot be used in the Global Search however they are still involved in the Find Next search When importing external list into observation list from other users it is temporary objects with limited functionality that are created with the only exception of internal database objects i e when internal database objects from other user list are imported they are created permanent This is understandable as every user may have its own database structure and its own object location within it Therefore other user objects could not be referred to your own databases This issue could be partly solved by creating a new user database and importing objects into it However before importing you need to create a database with exactly the same additional fields as used in object lists otherwise information in additi
77. s custom lists Database with 24 000 cities worldwide e Equipment Keep track of all your telescopes and eyepieces Use them for object visibility calculation and star charting Use 500 popular eyepieces database e Twilight calculator Calculation of the full darkness for a current night and for a month ahead e 2 visual themes bright and dark Dual screen with the Side Chart mode great for tablets e Powerful share export import capabilities of databases observation lists notes Overview Overview About DSO Planner is the astronomy observations planning tool with excellent star charting capabilities It is made by experienced amateur astronomers with a passion for visual observations It has huge deep sky objects databases and provides an opportunity to create any number of user own object databases DSO Planner boasts the largest star catalog among all Android astronomy applications USNO UCAC4 113 mn stars Pro edition making any paper star chart obsolete It excels at creating observation plans on the fly has powerful note taking capabilities powerful objects databases features allows observing information sharing works with settings circles PushTo and computerized GoTo telescopes and provides the best night red mode user interface for Android devices The application has several editions Pro Plus Basic and Free Plus Edition has reduced size UCAC4 catalog 15 4 mn stars compared to 113 mn stars in Pro
78. se them for object visibility calculation and star charting Use 500 popular eyepieces database e Twilight calculator Sun and Moon rise transit set time Moon phase civil nautical and astronomical twilight on any date Calculation of the full darkness for a current night and for a month ahead e 2 visual themes bright black on white and dark white on black plus the night mode dark red on black e Powerful share export import capabilities common tool for databases observation lists and notes Internal databases Database Free Basic Plus Pro Star Chart Layers USNO UCAC4 star 15 4 mn to 14m 113 mn to 16m Tycho 2 star 0 6mnto 10 7m 2 5 mn to 12m 2 5 mn to 12m Yale bright star catalog star 9 000 9 000 9 000 9 000 Yale bright star catalog double star 50 500 3 100 3 100 NGCIC SAC object 230 3 100 14 400 14 400 PGC Principal Galaxies Catalog _ 153 000 1 600 000 Object databases Messier 110 110 110 110 Caldwell 109 109 109 109 Herschel 400 219 400 400 400 NGCIC 230 3 100 12 000 12 000 SAC Saguaro Astronomy Club database a 10 000 10 000 UGC Uppsala General Catalogue of Galaxies a 13 000 13 000 PGC not including NGCIC and UGC galaxies 45 000 to 16m Lynds dark nebula Lynds Catalogue of Dark Nebulae 1 800 1 800 Lynds bright nebula Lynds Catalogue of Bright Nebulae
79. tifying stars and planets by holding the phone next to them For Android devices with compass You could choose among three compass modes e Compass Tracks device center movement and adjusts star chart accordingly Star chart is not adjusted for device rotation around the line perpendicular to device plane e Compass Level Tracks device center movement and its rotation e Level Tracks device rotation around the line perpendicular to device plane Star chart is not adjusted for device center movement To look for specific object make sure that direction line is turned on select this object with object marker turn either Compass or Compass Level mode and follow direction line from the center of the screen which will guide you to the selected object eventually e Off Disable compass Align star PushTo for dobsonian mounts with setting circles RA Dec Set the screen center at the specified RA Dec Epoch 2000 and mark it position with a special marker Boldness Set star sizes Layers Set limiting magnitude for each FOV and star object layer Set object types for NGCIC SAC layer Search Global Search of an input string in all databases Settings Additional Star Chart Settings Gestures These gestures are specific for the Star Chart only the general Gestures are working from the Control Panel only at the bottom of the chart Finger movement Move the Star chart Pinch to zoom gesture Increase diminish
80. vailable on the market including the eBay Also if you have electronics skills you might integrate a Bluetooth circuit right into your GoTo mount housing Working with telescope 49 KEY 26 LED 24 3 3V 12 GND 13 Bluetooth to serial integrated circuit Connection setup To register your telescope for Bluetooth control e Open Android Settings and find Bluetooth in the Wireless and Networks section at the top e Turn it on Turn on your GoTo Telescope mount power initialize it using the Telescope users manual e Turn on the Bluetooth radio of the Telescope or insert the BT dongle e Tap the Bluetooth item in the Android Settings and pair the phone tablet with the Telescope BR controller GoTo Mount Setup screen To setup the Bluetooth control of your telescope in DSO Planner e Open DSO Planner e Open the Settings module and open the Astro Equipment item there e Find the GoTo Mount Settings option either in the Settings module s Astro Equipment chapter or in the Star Chart module s Settings Equipment chapter e Tap it to open the BT control panel In the panel refer to the the Fig 18 above e Select paired device Select your telescope from the list of previously paired telescopes Select telescope type Select your telescope type Celestron or Meade e Connect Initiate connection between phone tablet and the telescope e Disconnect Break the Bluetooth con
81. x G baad x A h 272 4425 2 45 R D 08 09 23 09 Compass Align star RA DEC Boldness Settings Sa 91 Se a amp S 9 c eT amp S gt typical screen main menu open in the night mode night mode keyboard A i 7 a PGC1928851 ETs 05 10 23 57 C27 ETAn 5 05 10 23 57 UCAC4 671 m e 23 14 UCAC4 420 9775 ET 05 10 23 57 17 8m 14 3 02 2 R D 01 35 30 45 10 0m 70 7 34 5 R D 20 13 38 25 A h 98 5 64 0 R D 20 60 44 29 10 9m 308 9 30 1 R D 05 36 05 31 5 ey os a ce 63 Da eI i amp eS 9 patch DSS image with EP DSS and object size patch DSO contour custom DSS patches and overlay contours Star Chart Figure 3 shows stars and objects from selected layers and ALL objects from the current Observation list OL In the Settings menu you can select an option to limit OL objects to those without the check mark only intended use mark already observed objects in your OL to remove them from the chart Star Chart module 15 Besides stars the Star Chart displays bright star and object labels names catalog numbers bright planets alt azimuthal or equatorial grid horizon line mathematical and user defined shape constellation figures lines and constellations boundaries objects contours and Milky Way contour selected eyepieces field of view red dotted circles Telrad rings square CCD FOV contour selected object marker and hopping direction line downloaded DSS images and their frames useful to see where the
82. y are at a wide zoom of the chart Chart s Layout At the very top of the Chart you see the dynamic transparent notifications zone e In the top left corner you see the current chart FOV size width and height which might be complemented below by the angular distance of the selected objects from the previously selected one e Inthe middle of the top section you might see some system messages like Loading note when the screen is pending long update i e filtering the UCAC4 catalog or Battery Low XX Night mode only e In the right top corner you might see Mirror note if the Chart displayed in left to right mirrored mode or Rotated if the chart is in upside down 180 rotation mode At the bottom of the Chart you see the interactive Chart s Control Panel In the bottom left corner you see the currently selected object s information e First line is the short object s name designation and its object type which might be followed by semicolon marker if the object is from the current OL e The second line displays object s magnitude and its current Azimuth and Altitude apparent Azimuth and Altitude if the Aligned Settings Circles mode is in effect e Tap on this side to open the Details screen with all of the information available for the selected object offline data e In the middle of Control Panel you see the red zoom button with the current fixed FOV size value in angular degrees or minutes Tap in the middl
83. y be needed if you would like to use the same databases on another device Please note that when restoring the databases all existing user databases will be removed and replaced by the databases from the backup To be on the safe side we recommend to backup the most critical information into the text format as well Import Export Quick Start Guide Show the brief user guide which was shown after the initial app s installation What s new Show the developers note on the versions history Rate Open app s page on Google Play so you can update or rate it conveniently Localize Contact developers Oh if you would like to help translate the app s interface to your own language open email client About Show brief information about application acknowledgements and licensing rights Settings module 26 References 1 http dsoplanner com Mail dsoplanner gmail com 27 Sub Modules Select Conditions Overview Figure 8 Select Conditions screen module screenshots Se t Conditio Select opjeci catalogs Ngcle Select search type Primary Select object types AST CG Comet DN GC Gx GxyCld HIIRg mPlanet Neb OC OCN PN SNR Star DS CUSTOM Empty field treatment Treatment of objects that have empty fields e g magnitude Treat empty field as zero Primary search parameters a gt 0 0 mag lt 12 0 alt gt 20 0 SQL like expression Exclude duplicates EEN ETE Filter type

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