2022-04-06, 02:40 AM (This post was last modified: 2022-04-06, 03:00 AM by theskyhound.)
Hello,
SkyTools does have that capability. Its right there on the Share Observing Lists menu, Export to File.
To be honest, I think you are making things unnecessarily difficult for yourself. I would not have left a useful feature out of SkyTools, provided that it was actually useful for observing. The point of being self contained is so that you don't NEED to use other software. I have been developing SkyTools since 1996. Its unlikely I missed something useful at this point. Most of the time when people believe then need to use other software, they are either doing something extremely niche or unusual, or have simply not taken the time to to learn SkyTools. I'm assuming in this case its the latter, and that's a shame, because by insisting on doing things your old way, you are only making things difficult, and in the process you are depriving yourself of a lot of very useful features.
I'll wager that if you explain to me what you mean by having an observing list "mapped to the horizon" (because I'm not sure what you mean by that) I'd bet anything that feature is available in SkyTools.
That′s quite a lecture. I think you are unnecessarily defensive about ST4 and more than a bit condescending. You asked me about my preferences, I answered and now you tell me that I haven’t done my homework and should reform my preferences for a better fit with the software. That reminds me of the earliest days of computing.
I am familiar with “Export to File” but it definitely does not do what I described in my previous note (no coördinates included).
I'm sorry that the file export function doesn't include positions. I had recalled that it did so that other software could use the coordinates to recognize the object when the designations failed to match. But I must have removed that at some point, or I'm thinking of another feature from an earlier version of the software.
Regardless, the Observing List Print/Copy function will do what you want.
I'm also sorry that you have chosen not to listen to what I was trying to tell you. I was just trying to help you get more out of the software. It's a pity that you didn't accept my challenge. I would think you'd be curious if there is a solution already in SkyTools. I mean, presumably you paid for it and it would certainly be a lot easier than exporting data to some generalized mapping software. I simply cannot imagine why would would believe that you need to do that. But I have to admit that I'm really curious what you mean by "mapped to the horizon." It sure sounds to me like the sort of thing SkyTools already does...
Hi,
yes, I do seem to recall that “Export to File” included the coördinates before the latest two or three updates that you released in quick succession.
I thank you for the tip on using Print/Copy: the is easily turned into a TSV file which I can easily use.
I am not sure who is not listening. In an area as new to me as astronomy I am eager to listen to advice but in this conversation what I have heard were mainly admonitions to use the software as intended by you and refrain from using other software. That is off-putting.
The “horizon″ of a location is an old-fashioned mapping expression for the hemisphere centered on a given location. The maps in ST4 are aesthetically very pleasing and very useful for certain purposes but they are also slow (panning/zooming) and, as far as I can tell, I cannot use them for charting the objects of one or more observing lists. And that is fine but such charts would help me in planning.
In a GIS application (such as QGIS) I can have a separate layer for each observing list and/or for each object type within those lists, I can turn those layers on/off in any combination, panning and zooming are instantaneous and labels can be made to turn on/off as a function of scale. These are among the reasons why I intend to rely partly on other applications.
If have missed something in ST4, of failed to learn to use ST4 as well as you demand, or if I belong to some weird niche in your assessment, feel free to ignore me.
2022-04-07, 02:00 AM (This post was last modified: 2022-04-07, 02:04 AM by theskyhound.)
You have me at a bit of a disadvantage because I'm not certain if you are observing visually, or imaging.
Regardless, SkyTools is software for observing, first and foremost. It's not a planetarium program. So, the primary purpose of the charts is for finding things in the sky. To do this for visual observing, they match the field of view, orientation, and magnitude limit of your telescope, binoculars or finding device. In addition, SkyTools provides a more efficient kind of star hopping with its charts that is much quicker and much less tedious than traditional star hopping. One thing about charts meant for observing is they really don't need to move around quickly. That's for what they call armchair astronomy. There is an overhead sky chart, which shows your "horizon", and a naked eye chart. There is also an interactive atlas, which is just like a fine atlas, but fully customizable. An atlas is not the same thing as a planetarium. There is planetarium software for that. Planetariums were designed for education rather than observing.
All of the charts can have objects turned on and off at will, by type, or whatever. Look at the View Controls for the charts. Labels can be enabled/disabled as a function of scale. Look at the Labels tab of the View Controls for that functionality. Select what to label, and apply a number of options. Then choose the label density that you wish for each different type of object. But the most useful thing for observing is to show only the objects you can actually expect to see in your telescope under the current conditions at your location. No planetarium or mapping system can do that.
You can mark all of the objects in an observing list on any chart, including the Overhead Sky Chart (your horizon) by using the multiple selection column. Select one or more objects in the list by clicking in the multiple selection column (red check marks), or select all of them by right-clicking on the column heading. Then right-click anywhere in the multiple selection column and choose one of the many options, such as "View Overhead Sky For All Checked Entries."
Are you trying to define an obstructed horizon for your observing site? SkyTools has the ability to do that although I haven't used it. Here's a screenshot of the instructions for creating an Obstructed Horizon if that's what you're after: [attachment=2317]
To access the dialog, Clk the Gear icon on the 'Locations' box in the NP or the 'Setup' menu, select your observing site, Clk the 'Create' button at the bottom right (by 'Obstructed Horizon' box) & follow the instructions in the next dialog box shown to the right of the location dialog in the screenshot. There are several methods to create the obstructed horizon. 'Read from File' seems like the simplest. At least it should get you close pretty quickly.
After you've defined the Obstructed Horizon, my understanding is that SkyTools won't display any objects in that region of the sky. Is that what you want to happen?
The chart labeling options in ST4 are very sophisticated, allowing you to define your own customized schemes for a chart's parameters which you can save & recall later. As Greg mentioned, the red check-mark column can be used to designate selected objects on your charts (Naked Eye, Overhead Sky, Interactive Atlas, or Scope Finder) by placing the checks, then R-Clking & selecting the desired option in the dialog. It may not be as convenient as turning layers on/off though.
One thing ST4 does have is a very complete catalog of objects already installed. You know what you're after though, so if you found something that does what you need, maybe there's no need to reinvent your wheel. Your call.
The attached might illustrate what I have been looking for. It shows objects from three different observing lists: 1) Turn Left at Orion, 2) carbon stars and 3) color-contrast doubles. Each has its own layer in my GIS application and each can be filtered in any way based on the ST4 characteristics. Zooming in bring up the object designations. Clicking on any object brings up details. Etc., etc. Not very different from ST4's Overhead Sky but focused on fileterd objects from selected observing lists.
You will no doubt :-) tell me that I shouldn’t have bothered but I find this very helpful in making up my mind about what to find and then use ST4 to figure out how best to find it.
Best regards, tiha
2022-04-18, 09:06 PM (This post was last modified: 2022-04-18, 09:08 PM by theskyhound.)
Its easy to combine multiple lists to be displayed in this way in SkyTools. Create a new list. Then use the multiple object selection (red check mark) column (try right-clicking on the column header) to copy all of the objects to the new list. Then display the targets on the Overhead Sky Chart.
You are right, you have me really scratching my head. SkyTools is really smart, when it comes to advising you when to observe each object. Indeed, that is its purpose. I think sometimes people just don't realize that, and yes, that confounds me. It's fun to make your own custom charts, and I think that's cool. But when you go out to observe, you have essentially short-circuited the primary purpose of SkyTools by doing it this way. Let it help you!
