2017-11-29, 08:56 AM
(2017-11-28, 10:15 PM)blakesphere Wrote: Dennis,
Wow. It is amazing to me how faint they are. Explains why visually I've never been able to see them...
Hi Blake
It can be great fun chasing down these more unusual objects, but it also has its share of frustrations and here is where SkyTools has been extremely helpful. Examples are:
- Showing the best date/time for Mars’ Satellite Elongations, in particular Phobos.
- Showing the best date/time for Elongations of Mimas which is never far from the disc/rings of Saturn.
These are under the “Special Events” Tab.
Another feature is the accuracy of SkyTools.
With such a small FOV of my ‘scope/camera, it is painful to be imaging at the incorrect time, or chasing an incorrectly calculated position. An example was when chasing the 9 brighter Satellites of Saturn, one of my other (popular) planetarium programs positioned Iapetus some 180 degrees out of position in its orbit. Had I arranged Saturn in the FOV to accommodate this “ghost” position, I would have missed it completely due to the small chip in my camera.
With obstructed horizons, limited opportunities and the need to set up and tear down each night, it is good to start off with reliable data. I have previously checked predicted positions against data obtained from the JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System, but no longer bother with this additional planning step as SkyTools has consistently plotted these objects accurately.
Cheers
Dennis