Mobile Astronomy

I continue to be amused at the capabilities emerging for mobile astronomy. While there are several mobile applications available to astronomers with smartphones and tablets, the combination I have at the moment is Deep-Sky Planner on Windows 7 plus either Sky Commander (digital setting circles) or SkySafari Plus (planetarium software) on an Android phone.

I have found that I can use the extensive planning features in Deep-Sky Planner to create observing lists that I can load into Sky Commander or my phone for use with SkySafari. I am working with a push-to telescope (no GoTo).

The Sky Commander option works well for finding asteroids and other objects that aren't in the Sky Commander database. This is actually my favorite option as I have worked in push-to mode for many years with the Sky Commander and printed charts. The greatest drawback with this method is that Sky Commander identifies custom objects with only a sequential ID number. I have to keep track of ID # 1 = asteroid Toutatis, for example. Users of Argo Navis get the text name which is most helpful. Deep-Sky Planner can format custom files for upload into Argo Navis; I just don't have one.

In my use, the SkySafari option is more or less a digital notepad that also shows the sky context in which the object may be found. It works quite well even though I am operating with a few limitations:

• I am using the intermediate version of SkySafari - not the pro version. The database is not as complete as I sometimes need. Should this become too great a limitation, I can upgrade to Pro.
• I am using SkySafari on a smartphone. The screen is small, although it is larger than many models (it's a Motorola phone with a 4.3" screen). I don't find that the size of the planetarium view on my phone is sufficient for every target. This may not be a problem at all for others.
• I do not use telescope control, so I rely on the coordinates given by SkySafari to use with my Sky Commander digital setting circles. I use the same technique when running Deep-Sky Planner on a laptop at the telescope.

Even with these limitations, I am able to take observing lists anywhere, anytime. It doesn't fit my needs for every observing session, but it's so darned handy! I can also log into the Deep-Sky Planner Plan Library and browse hundreds of plans with the browser on my phone. This is a terrific help when the plan prepared for the evening goes awry and a new one would serve better.

If you want to learn more about using a full-featured observing/imaging planner with SkySafari, please see this knowledgebase article on the Knightware website. It walks you through a complete example of using Deep-Sky Planner with SkySafari on an Android phone.

Search menu on SkySafari (Android) shows Custom Observing Lists

Custom list 'RASC Finest NGC Objects' uploaded from Deep-Sky Planner displayed in SkySafari (Android)