Dwarf Planet Quaoar

[Dennis]

Dennis,

I must admit that your message pains me. You talk about SkyTools doing mundane things that other software can do, such as confirming a position. But you make no mention at all of the calculations that SkyTools does to estimate which of these objects you can detect and help you choose exposure times to do it. I know that it works very well for this, because I use it myself for these very same things. SkyTools should be able to give you a very good idea of whether or not a minor planet can be detected. That's what its for.

So I am baffled as you why you aren't using SkyTools 4 fully. This is basic stuff that plays to SkyTools strengths. A minor planet has a well determined magnitude and color. Its not like a diffuse emission line object with poor data for the line strengths, which vary over the extent of object. What on earth has gone wrong that you aren't using it?

Hi Greg

Thanks for your feedback as the developer of SkyTools and your attempt to encourage me to take a deeper dive, I do appreciate it.

I guess the short answer is that as I have moved from ST2 to ST3 and now ST4, the way I have traditionally used the earlier versions of the program has continued to meet (actually exceed) my needs.

The long answer is that a lot of my imaging is very ad hoc in nature, ill-defined and generally not planned in terms of dates, times, equipment configurations and targets. When an opportunity to set up the scope arises, I just select a target and off I go. I don’t really have Projects or Programs, so I haven’t done a deep dive into that functionality.

I think how I operate is more like a home DIY enthusiast who goes into his shed to grab a few materials he has lying around, to then knock up an ad hoc piece of furniture, versus a manufacturing plant that has a large inventory store with all the components codified which allows them to assemble a repeatable, standard product efficiently and effectively.

So far this has worked for me and meets my requirements based on my observing patterns and needs throughout the year. But, I am always open to being re-educated.

However, please don’t despair at my simplistic usage, I really enjoy what I do and how SkyTools enables me to achieve my objectives and have fun.

Cheers

Dennis