SkyTools 4 Updates

Latest version: SkyTools 4.x.11.14

Note: the x in the version signifies your (paid) upgrade level. It is zero if you have the original version, or 1 if you have the latest version 4.1 upgrade. The rest of the version code signifies the minor (11) and release version and are independent of the upgrade level. All updates are cumulative; only the most recent update needs to be applied. Updates contain fixes and minor features, upgrades are paid and include new features. 

Update Manually

If connected to the Internet you will be prompted from within SkyTools to download the latest update automatically and no further action is necessary. To update manually, close SkyTools, download the update file from the link below and run it.

 

Download latest SkyTools 4 update (25 MB)  

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.14  (2024 October 21)

  • Imaging: fixed an error that sometimes caused a crash on the Exposure Goals tab of the Imaging Project dialog

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.13  (2024 October 10)

  • Imaging: fixed an error that could occur when entering an observation on the Observations tab of the Imaging Project

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.12  (2024 October 4)

  • Visual: the seeing selection and the new transparency selection were not keeping their settings after closing a tool, and then reopening.

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.11  (2024 September 27)

  • The surge in brightness due to dust forward scattering is now accounted for in predictions for Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). 

  • Visual: the visual difficulty label "Apparent" has been replaced with "Perceptible"

  • Visual 4.1 only: the weather settings have been replaced with a Transparency selection; this section has also been added to various charts

  • Fixed a problem with FITS images not loading correctly in the Image Viewer for some SkyTools versions.

  • There are now Chart Preference settings for the Earth Shadow that include color, line thickness, and line style

  • Imaging Scheduler: fixed an issue where the subs taken before a meridian flip were not counted toward the exposure goals

  • Visual Real Time: the Nightbar is now properly updated after a list/ tour update

  • Visual Real Time: changing the seeing was not immediately affecting the results

  • Imaging Advanced Exposure Calculator: the auto filter selection has been removed (it no longer did anything after other changes)

  • Visual: a problem was fixed that could binoculars and telescopes could sometimes become confused on the instrument dialog

  • Many other minor fixes and updates have been made

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.10  (2024 June 27)

  • Visual: Fixed a problem with the Plan feature of the Nightly Planner that sometimes led to blank plans

  • Imaging Smart Project Builder: the Auto choice was removed from the Binning selection because it was confusing and inconsistent with how other parts of SkyTools worked. When color composite mode is selected and Binx1, options will be presented that include Binx2 for color filters (RGB), just like the Auto selection did previously.

  • Imaging Smart Project Builder: The "region" label for stellar objects (stars, quasars, minor planets, etc.) consisted of garbled characters.

  • Imaging Schedule: a printed schedule sometimes overwrite one line with another.

  • Imaging Scheduler: added a feature to copy the schedule to the Windows clipboard in addition to printing it

  • Imaging 4.1: the help system has been improved for many new version 4.1 features or changes, and entering Gain Settings in particular.

  • Various minor fixes

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.09  (2024 May 15)

  • PNG files in a wider variety of internal formats are now supported

  • Various minor fixes

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.08  (2024 May 10)

  • Fixed a bug that caused the SkyTools Visual 4.1 upgrade to not always be offered on the Upgrade Your Product page

  • V4.1: a missing DLL has been included to support images in .png format

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.07  (2024 May 3)

  • Update Your Product now allows  for the purchase of early access to version V4.1 of SkyTools Visual 

  • V4.1: support has been added for images in .png format

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.06  (2024 April 22)

  • The "New Folder" button on the list selection dialog now functions again

  • Improved startup behavior if there is no valid internet connection (will open much faster)

  • Imaging: More filters have been added to the filter pool, now available to assign to your imaging system

  • Imaging: The "No Filter" filter has been fixed. To apply the fix: delete the "No Filter" filter from all of your imaging systems. Delete this filter from the "My Filters" database (selection at top of left side of the filter dialog). Assign the updated filter from the Filter Pool to your imaging systems, or choose the Color filter for color cameras, or the Clear filter, all of which are functionally the same. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.05  (2024 April 12)

  • A fix was made to an issue that could make some upgrades fail

  • Fixed an issue where plottable background images, when drawn on the charts, had thick black borders that could hide parts other background images. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.04  (2024 April 6)

  • Imaging: the filter plan label has been extended to 32 characters

  • Changing top level settings on the Nightly Planner and Target Selection tools did not always update the data for the selected object on the nightbar

  • The Observing List / Target List Picker did not open in the right location when the main window was on a second monitor

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.03  (2024 April 2)

Narrow Band Imaging Update

We're providing a significant update tailored for the narrow band imaging community. We've embarked on a rigorous campaign of narrow band photometry to map out the emission line strengths of H-alpha, OIII, and SII band passes for commonly images nebulae. In this update we release the data for the first 25 HII nebulae and Supernova remants. This first-of-its-kind data release is integrated directly into SkyTools Imaging, offering much improved accuracy in modeling signal-to-noise ratios for your astrophotography projects. More data releases will follow. 

Visual & Imaging

  • Get DSS image dialog now properly inherits the attachment folder when opened

  • On the Designation search, entering an NGC number that points to both a cluster and a nebula will default to the nebula

  • A one hour delay has been added before subscriptions will be checked for download after the last check

  • Copy objects from the Nightly Planner / Target Selection tools was not properly inheriting the folder selection

  • The Attachments Manager dialog was not handling attachment folders properly

Imaging

  • Cameras shared via our server were not appearing in the list to be downloaded

  • The gain and CMOS status was not being properly imported from the Camera Pool

  • The Smart Project Builder (SPB) was showing objects that never rise

  • Tye SPB now inherits the focal changer selection from the Target Selection tool

  • The SPB could sometimes become confused about whether it is editing an existing project or creating a new one

  • The Tiles check box was not being properly set on the SPB

  • The source of a possible crash on the SPB has been fixed

  • Target Selection: some targets were not properly displaying a value in the Exp column

  • The plottable images folder selection was not always working properly on the Composition tab of the Imaging Project dialog

  • Target Selection: the observation status filter was not working properly

  • Opening the NINA configuration from the Scheduler before configuring the NINA folders from the top-level menu now properly resturns an error instructing the user to see the top level menu

Visual

  • Pro: objects with no magnitude or size data were too often being drawn on the charts, causing clutter. A control has been added to the View Controls to enable/disable the display of these marginal objects.

  • Added a button to read shared log files (in  .stx format) to the Log Browser.

  • Fixed a bug that could scramble shared log files that were shared from the Log Dialog

  • The help link for the Real Time Tutorials has been fixed

  • The Event Finder was not remembering the last location selected

Plus many other minor fixes!

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.02

  • V4.1 Imaging only: The previos update errantly reset the new format used for long lists of Attachment Folders. It has been restored.

  • The Download DSS Image dialog was not properly setting the Attachment Folder selection.

  • Imaging: Setting a project to have the complete dstatus was not removing it from the Scheduler right away.

  • V4.1 Imaging only: positions passed to N.I.N.A for negative Declinations were not properly formatted

  • A crash was fixed that could occur when opening a FITS image in the SkyTools Image Viewer

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.x.11.01

  • The subscriptions for current comets, minor planets, and novae/supernovae are once again working properly

  • An ntermittent crash has been fixed when changing values on the Exposure Goals tab of the Imaging Project tool before filters have been added 

  • The height of the Upgrade Your Product dialog has bee shortened to allow full display on lower resolution monitors

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0k / 4.0.11

 

This update prepares SkyTools 4.0 to be upgraded to version 4.1 by updating your databases, and adding the option to upgrade to version 4.1 via the Upgrade Your product selection of the Setup menu.

 

After installtion a new version scheme is inttroduced. Your new version will be 4.0.11, if you haven't purchased a V4.1 license and 4.1.11 if you have.

 

It is reccomended to peform a Backup from SkyTools before installing this update.

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R22

Visual & Imaging

  • Atlas: changing the Plottable Images Attachment folder was resetting many of the chart label View Controls.

  • Atlas: the Moon Shadow label color/font preferences were not being properly applied to what was specified in the chart Preferences and there was no check box to enable the label separately from the Major Planets. 

  • Searching for objects from the NSV catalog was always returning NSV 1. 

  • Scheduler: changing the date when Before or After filters are applied would leave the filters in place, but the schedule would ignore them as if they had been reset.

  • Nightly Planner and Database Power Search: the list of catalog designations was improperly sorted alphabetically, placing "w" before "v" in some cases.

  • Minor Planet numbers that are greater than 621999 will now be read properly from MPC data sets. The code has been updated to work with the new standard that was recently introduced.

  • The messages that appear when you right-click to delete a Minor Planet or one of its sets of elements have been made more clear.

Imaging

  • The Camera View was inadvertently being enabled when a new target object was entered

  • Scheduler:  a project that uses Total Exposure time could fail to fill the entire night

  • iTelescope plans were inadvertently including a #WAITFOR command

  • Database Power Search: it is now possible to set the minimum SNR for a search on a specific night to "None" which disables the SNR test.

  • Database Power Search: filtering Minor Planets by minimum SNR on a specific night has been greatly speeded up.

Visual

  • Nightly Planner: changing the date while the list was refreshing could sometimes cause erratic results

  • Nightly Planner: changing the "Plan" check box while the list was refreshing could sometimes result in a misalignment of the columns and column headers

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R21

Visual & Imaging

  • The MPC NEA Today minor planet download was not correctly replacing orbital elements with future epochs with that of the daily update. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R20

Imaging

  • The process for adding gain settings for a new variable gain CMOS camera has been simplified: the user must only enter sets of Gain Setting, gain (e-ADU), and offset values without any intermediate calculation. This process will now work for any CMOS camera. Existing cameras will continue to function normally. 

  • Scheduler:  a project that uses Total Exposure time could fail to fill the entire night

Visual & Imaging

  • Column sort on Alt ID in the Nightly Planner / Target Selection tools was causing a crash on an obscure star ID

  • The direction indicators on the printed Atlas were not always drawing properly

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R19

Imaging

  • A bug was fixed that caused a crash when scheduling a project in the Scheduler

  • In some cases the Scheduler could schedule an observation beyond the end of the available time period. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R17

Visual

  • A rare situation was causing log files to multiply exponentially when backups were restored regularly. As a result, the Restore/Sync process could take much longer than normal. This had to do with log entries for supplemental deep sky objects. The problem occured when a supplemental deep sky object had its object type changed (e.g. from galaxy to open cluster) after a log entry had been created for it. To address this issue, it is no longer possible to change the object type after a log entry has been created for the object. A Restore of a backup should automatically remove the duplicate log files. To be certain of this: create a backup, delete the log folder in your "SkyTools 4" folder, usually found in C:\Users\"your user name"\AppData\Roaming\Skyhound\SkyTools 4, then restore the backup.

  • For some users, the Sun, Moon, and planets were not being plotted at the correct position in the Thumbnail charts. This should be fixed by the update. If you see this problem occcur again please report it. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R16

Visual & Imaging

  • When the date was changed on the Object Info the popup text on the NightBar didn't reflect the new date.

  • Plottable Images dialog, Import Images sub dialog: when importing a FITS file with a WCS (plate) solution, the WCS data wasn't being proplerly saved unless the user selected the WCS data tab before closing the dialog. This would cause the image to not display properly in a chart background.

Visual

  • Nightly Planner: the Plan mode slew/find time and View times were not retaining their set values after closing the dialog. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R15

Visual & Imaging

  • After a Sync, the chart preference schemes were being duplicated. The issue is fixed and the duplicates have been removed. 

Visual

  • Database Power Search: the Visual Detection Difficulty Filter is now available when selecting ideal conditions

  • The Vela Supernova Remnant was being mistakenly returned by the Showpieces search in the Nightly Observing List Generator.

  • The Print Logs for Observing Reports feature formatting has been improved

  • A zero or blank can now be entered for the size of the Dobson's hole to disable it

  • A control has been added for the number of double star pairs read by the spoken Object Information

  • Some events had either no magnitude associated with the objects, or a garbage value

  • The screen blank when Nightvision is enabled is now enabled separately via the Preferences

  • Various minor improvements have been made to the Real Time tool

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R14

Visual & Imaging

  • The rings of saturn now draw correctly

  • All solar system moons were checked to enure that, in 2022, they are still delivering accurate positions. As a result, Saturns moons Iapetus, Hyperion, and Titan have improved orbits.

  • ASTORB minor planet downloads could fail to properly add minor planets to your database. If you had this issue, after updating, use the Cleanup function to delete all minor planets. Only the minor planets not currently in use will actually be deleted, so this can be done safely.

  • A bug was fixed that could potentially cause crashes in the Visual Real Time tool (Best Now mode) when connected to a mount.

  • The position of Jupiter's Great Red Spot has been adjusted slightly to better fit observations

Visual

  • The Real Time (Best Now) tool was not properly handling the sorting of objects with a lower priority.

  • Optomizations were made to the Real Time tool Best Now and Sky Tour algorithms to ensure they always include every object when possible

Imaging

  • When reading a FITS header, filter labels will now match either the SkyTools filter abbreviation or the SkyTools plan filter label.

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R12/R11

Visual & Imaging

  • Fixed: in the process of importing the MPC NEA Today minor planets, some minor planets were being deleted from the database. 

  • Fixed: updating the comet database via Download MPC Observable Objects was failing to update/add comet orbits with the "A" (for asteroidal) designation.

  • The process of creating an auto-generated observing list when updating comets and minor planets via manual download is now much faster.

  • Auto-generated lists are now deleted if the Minor Planets or Comets database dialog is canceled after an import of comets or minor planets. Otherwise the list could have objects in it that were not in fact added to the database. 

Visual

  • The Sync feature now copies the observation status for observing lists when importing from SkyTools 3.

Imaging

  • Fixed: a problem where, in some cases, the Scheduler was refusing to schedule imaging projects that had observations logged for them, even though the total progress was not yet 100%. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R10

Visual & Imaging

  • The Database Power Search tool has been added to the top-level Tools menu

  • Minor Planet download source files from the MPC have been updated to download the files from https://minorplanetcenter.net/data

  • The display of comet tails on charts has been improved to accommodate better observation data, which now includes tails for many more comets

Visual

  • A new feature has been added to the Real Time Telescope menu that will generate the files required for the Nexus DSC to target comets and bright minor planets (see the dialog for additional information). 

  • The Real Time Sky Tour was inheriting custom View Times from the Best Now mode. Right-click on the View Times column in Sky Tour mode to reset custom View Times for lists that may have been affected.

  • The Sky Tour was failing to fully recalculate the tour when custom View Times were changed

  • A crash related to printing Observing Awards has been fixed

Imaging

  • It is no longer possible to close an Imaging Project with no filters and exposure goals assigned.

  • It is no longer possible to remove a filter from an Imaging Project that has had an observation logged using that filter

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R9

Visual & Imaging

  • A call to ASCOM telescope control found its way into a thread in SkyTools, which lead to erratic behavior when connecting to an ASCOM mount. If you have experienced any kind of trouble connecting to your mount, received a "missing property" error, or SkyTools abruptly closed after connecting, this should fix the problem.

  • The Eyepiece/Camera Viewer for the Atlas now defaults to being locked to the telescope position if opened with a mount connected to SkyTools. This should help people find where the telescope is pointing on the atlas.

  • Chart labels for some moving object trails had the hours for the time truncated such that the first digit was not visible. 

Visual

  • When printing logs using the Print/Copy logs for Observing Award feature: observing conditions text will now wrap when printed, and the text copied to the clipboard is better suited to pasting into Word or Wordpad.

  • The Crab nebula was using the larger diameter of 8'x8' when estimating the visual difficulty. This outer diameter is mostly H-Alpha emission and not visible to the eye. The diameter was adjusted to a more appropriate 6'x'2 for the calculation, which now provides better results.

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R8

Visual & Imaging

  • Several bugs were fixed in the minor planet database management, affecting the deletion of minor planets (or orbital elements) and adding orbital elements manually. Database corruption should no longer occur when using these features after the update.
  • Manually adding a minor planet to the database is now threaded so you should no longer see a "not responding" message.
  • A potential corruption of the comet database has been dealt with. Affected databases are fixed during the update
  • The novae/supernovae database cleanup has been improved
  • The warning that objects in your list have out of date orbital elements has been moved to the status bar at the bottom of the window
  • A bug was fixed that sometimes miscalculated the sky brightness for the Overhead Sky and Naked Eye charts

Visual

  • Major improvements have been made to the Real Time tool, and the Best Now mode in particular. Look for an upcoming youtube video tutorial that explains how to get the most out of this tool. Improvements to Best Now mode include:

    • All objects will now be listed if no filters are applied

    • Added an "Automatically mark objects as observed" to the Telescope Control menu that will set everything up so that objects are marked as observed and hidden after they are viewed

    • Added a "Reset all objects to unobserved status" item to the List Functions menu

    • Automatically advance to the next object via pressing the Enter key

    • A verbal warning is given when there are no more objects in the real time list

    • A bug was fixed that could cause the list of objects not to be sorted in the proper order, especially with regard to how far they are away from the current telescope/viewing position

  • A blank can now be entered for a Coma Corrector magnification on the Eyepiece dialog, which now switches the coma corrector off

  • Chosing to enter a new telescope manually no longer defaults to the first telescope listed

  • Eyepiece circles on charts were not taking into account the proper motion of target objects when plotted, which could lead to noticeable offsets for nearby stars

  • A bug in the "Auto" eyepiece selection for finder charts that could cause a crash has been fixed

  • Double labels no longer appear for minor planets in the eyepiece view of a chart

  • Nightly planner: switching to Auto weather was not refreshing the observing list data

  • "Share Observing List --> Export to file" function was not working when the Real Time tool was selected

  • Pressing Apply on the View Controls for a finder chart sometimes caused the magnitude limit and FOV to change randomly

  • The View Chart for each checked entry option on the Nightly Planner was not always selecting the correct eyepiece for the charts when Ideal Eyepiece was selected.

  • A crash has been fixed when exporting comet log entries to a text file in tab delimited format

Imaging

  • Lenses, filters, and cameras that were manually added by the user were not being properly saved in the backup. It is reccomended that all users create a new backup right away and to avoid using older backups.

  • In some rare instances it was possible for a Restore to merge imaging projects and imaging programs with the ones already in the folders

  • Fixes have been made to the Real Time Imaging tool, including

    • The "Speak telescope status" menu item was not working for some people and and not being saved

    • A crash could occur in some cases, depending on what tool had been open before selecting the Real Time tool

    • The weather settings are now saved

  • The Real Time tool failed to display the project list when opened directly at App startup

  • Imaging systems can now be flagged as "offline" so they no longer show up in the available imaging system list if they are no longer available. This feature is primarily for iTelescopes that have been taken off line. Remember that any imaging system that has been used in a project must be retained in SkyTools. But you don't necessarily want to see it listed if it is no longer available. 

  • For a DSLR camera the f-stop was not always being set correctly for the Imaging Project Exposure Goals, which affected the data displayed in the exposure table.

  • The Target Selection tool sometimes defaulted to the current date when opened for those who have the visual+imaging bundle

  • The Exposure Goals of the Imaging Project will now automatically default to the filter if only one filter is available for the imaging system

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R2

Visual

  • Star ratings have been updated for better visibility, especially in Night Vision mode

  • The Ideal Eyepiece on the Nightly Planner didn't always match the Ideal Eyepiece selection on the charts for double stars

  • Logging an object no longer causes a full refresh of the Nightly Planner list

  • The Catalog Notes tab is now restored to the Object Information Window 

  • The gray background has been removed for the Finder Chart View Labels in Night Vision mode for better visibility

Imaging

  • The Synopsis tab now displays information for comets and other soloar system objects

  • It is now possible to set the ACP Scheduler dither to -1 to enable auto dither for a project

  • Target Selection Tool: the NightBar now displays data for the same filter as the columns when the filter is automatically selected

  • The signal for some extremely blue quasars was being overestimated

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j R1

General

  • Links have been updated on the top level Help menu to support the new video tutorials

  • The East/West name labels were reversed for the Double Nebula on the charts

  • The magnitude estimates for classical novae have been improved

  • The Update Now button on the Subscriptions dialog now forces an update regardless of how long it has been since the last update

  • The StSci DSS image server has been updated to address recent changes in that server and is now working again

  • The FOV outline widths on charts could no longer be changed to > 1 after the last update

  • Version nuimbers now include a "release number." The version is 4.0j R1, for version 4.0 with "j" as the major subversion, and a release number of 1. 

  • Many other minor fixes have been applied

Visual

  • The double-star splittabilitry filter on the Nightly Planner has been restored to working order

  • In some cases multiple Barlow lenses could lead to problems selecting eyepieces

  • Log entries now support "not seen" as a difficulty reporting option

  • Plottable image links were lost when restoring a backup with image attachments made on another computer

  • The FIV label at the top of Eyepiece views on the Finder Charts could sometimes display incorrectly

  • The Nearby Objects tool (Object Info) was not being refreshed when the date, observer, location, or instrument were changed

  • A double-click now opens the Object Info for an object in the Neaby Objects list

  • The Sync feature when used with a Sync database could fail on attachments because it was not finding an important file

  • Ephemeris for planets was not properly formatted when copy/pasted into excel

  • Imported telescope names could be more than 31 characters, which could cause data corruption

Imaging

  • Reading filter data from a file has been improved with more informational error messages. Non-regular wavelenght intervals are now fully supported

  • The Scheduler has been updated with many fixes, especially with regard to imaging systems that use GEM mounts, and now should work more reliably

  • The Database Power search tool has been updated with many fixes and now should work more reliably, especially for a specific imaging system and/or night.

  • Exporting a Target List to a file is now working again

  • Target Selection tool: the Nightbar data now properly reflects the filter when a specific filter is selected 

  • The time sliders on the Scheduler were sometimes displaying a different time than was actually being applied to scheduling

  • A printed schedule for imaging systems that use a GEM mount could sometimes be truncated

  • Target Selection: newly created lists for double stars did not always have the pair selection initialized properly

  • Imaging Systems: the OTA selection is now disabled when  "camera only" is selected for the imaging system type

  • Compare Imaging Systems (tab of Object Info) had incorrect column labels for double star targets

  • The Backup/Restore process was not always restoring the lenses for a camera

  • The camera FOV is now drawn on printed Atlas charts

  • The Camera View of the Atlas chart was not always correctly restoring the last camera used

  • Target Selection tool was not saving the focal changer selection when switched away to another tool and then back again

  • The delete option has been removed from the schedule, as it had not been intended for the final release version and could corrupt the schedule if used

  • Some of the key presses on the Scheduler tool were being mapped to the wrong function, e.g. the delete key was producing a Control-S

  • Exposure Calculator: under some circumstances the time to reach SNR function could sometimes return a time when the SNR could not actually be reached

  • Target Selection Tool: the Target iQ and iQ blocks were not being properly updated after changes to the date, location, and imaging system

  • The Plottable Image dialog sometimes failed to appear after being used previously

  • Target Selection: the location menu is now being properly refreshed after adding a new location

  • Imaging Project FOV and/or mosaic outlines were not visible on the printed Interactive Atlas

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0i

General

  • Common names for some nebulae were incorrectly labeled on the charts

  • Comets with long tails now display the approximate length of the actual tail on the charts

  • Some variable stars, such as R CrA, were not being found correctly in the Designation search

Visual

  • Planning for bright comets has been improved. For example, the Nightly Planner could sometimes pick the evening when the morning was the better time period

  • Binoculars with a mirror mount are now oriented correctly on charts

Imaging

  • In some rare instances an observation that was split by a required meridian flip could be scheduled at the incorrect time
  • Exposure Goals for comets have been improved with more options for the part of the comet that is being targeted for a given SNR

 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0j

General

  • In some cases notes were not being imported properly from ST4 observing lists in stx format

  • Pro/Imaging: comet data can now be imported from a file, in case the regular download from the MPC has not been update recently

  • The Manage Plottable Images dialog now has a New button to create a new folder, and it now lists all attachment folders, rather than just those with plottable images already assigned to them

  • Many minor fixes have been made throughout

Visual

  • Printed/Copied logs are now better sorted

  • The drift arrow on printed eyepiece charts was not using the correct line style and color. 

  • A problem was fixed where the incorrect telescope or observer could be passed to the Object Info  window via a log entry

  • The keyboard shortcuts for adding eyepiece strings to a log were sometimes not getting the correct string for Barlow lenses

  • Imaging Project, Composition Tab: mosaics with overlaps of more than 250 pixels were not saving the overlap size properly

Imaging

  • Imaging Systems: a problem has been fixed that could make it impossible to properly select if a DSLR was modified or not

  • Imaging Project: Observations Tab. The observations table columns are now better sized and they will remember modifications to the column widths made by the user

  • Estimates of emission line strengths have been improved for supernovae and HII regions

  • Under certain conditions the Scheduler would not schedule for filters with long total exposure times

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0i

General

  • Common names for some nebulae were incorrectly labeled on the charts

  • Comets with long tails now display the approximate length of the actual tail on the charts

  • Some variable stars, such as R CrA, were not being found correctly in the Designation search

Visual

  • Planning for bright comets has been improved. For example, the Nightly Planner could sometimes pick the evening when the morning was the better time period

  • Binoculars with a mirror mount are now oriented correctly on charts

Imaging

  • In some rare instances an observation that was split by a required meridian flip could be scheduled at the incorrect time
  • Exposure Goals for comets have been improved with more options for the part of the comet that is being targeted for a given SNR

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0h

General

  • The intermittent startup crash has been fixed

  • Import of ST3/ST4 .stx files with attachments now works for all kinds of attachments, including ratings

  • Printed charts no longer print in the red color scheme when Night Vision was enabled

  • Database Power Search: fixed a crash wen searching for minor planets

  • Database Power Search: selecting Today as the date now properly unlocks the date-dependent fields

  • Some red text in Night Vision mode was not changing brightness according to the Preferences setting

  • The Backup-prompt before closing SkyTools has been re-enabled

  • Real Time: entering temperatures in C now works consistently

  • Background (plottable) images now display properly on the Thumbnail Viewer

  • Minor Planets Data: downloading a single minor planet a second time, before the first completes, could lead to corruption of the minor planet database

  • Events: circumstances for a minor planet at opposition now properly displays the magnitude

  • Real Time: the telescope control voice can now be disabled, although this is not recommended, as it is often the only feedback for what the mount is doing

  • Object Info now properly displays the R.A. label for Quasars

  • A crash could occur when downloading DSS images

  • Many minor fixes have been made throughout

Visual

  • Real Time Best Now: objects can now be automatically marked as observed and hidden from the list as each one is observed

  • Real Time Best Now: no longer loses the selected object when the list updates

  • Nightly Planner: keyboard shotcuts could stop working after a list refresh

  • SkyTools 3 import via Sync now properly imports all attachments, including ratings

  • Real Time : objects that were up all day, or visible only during the morning/afternoon (such as the sun) did not always show up properly

  • Real Time: Obs. Time and View Time columns are now enabled automatically.

  • Real Time Best Now: the View Time column has been renamed "Time Left" to avoid confusion

  • Nightly Planner: Obs. Time and View Time columns are now automatically enabled for an Observation Plan as needed

  • The Eyepiece "West" arrow is now properly drawn on printed charts

  • A crash could occur when printing finder charts for multiple target objects

  • Stars on printed finder charts were not being scaled properly

  • Nightly Planner: the log filter is now reset with the other filters

  • Ephemeris: distance column switches to km for close minor planets

  • Nightly Planner/Real Time: the right-click selections and filetrs for the Observation Status now work

  • Real Time Best Now: changing column schemes now updates the list

  • Real Time: an empty list no longer generates an error

  • Finder/Eyepiece charts: background images could only be displayed for the first attachments folder

  • Syncing logs with ST3 no longer generates an error if there are no log entries

  • Nightly Planner / Real Time: deleting the currently selected list could cause a crash

  • The YearBar didn't always repaint properly after changing the month

  • Nightly Planner / Real Time: deleting the currently selected list via the List menu sometimes deleted the wrong list

  • Deleting binoculars could cause problems with the telescope/binoculars data

  • Binoculars were not always importing from ST3

  • Print Chart Dialog for Eyepiece charts didn't always select the correct eyepiece

  • The Optimum Ephemeris for the Moon sometimes reported the moon twice for the same night

  • Optimum Ephemeris: for some objects the position columns were not displaying the correct data

  • Real Time Best Now: better handles daylight observing of the Sun, Moon, and other bright objects

Imaging

  • Scheduler: if the target SNR could not be reached during the time available, a bug could result in very short exposure times for some systems

  • Scheduler: slews and meridian flips have been better optimized

  • Scheduler: no longer adds unnecessary filter changes

  • Scheduler: extra meridian flips are no longer added after manually adding an observation

  • A crash could sometimes occur at startup while refreshing the observing/target list for the first time.

  • There was no telescope control speech after the ST4g update (Imaging-only). It has been restored.

  • Target Selection: changing the class filter no longer results in a full list refresh

  • More f-stop selections have been added for DSLR cameras

  • Many other minor fixes have been made

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0g

  • A crash could sometimes occur at startup while refreshing the observing/target list for the first time.

  • Deleting a list from the List Functions menu could delete the wrong list. After deleting the list open in a tool, a new list is automatically selected.

  • It is no longer possible to add a single comet/minor-planet orbit more than once

  • Upgrade Your Product is now working. Use this Setup menu item to purchase an upgrade to a higher edition or bundle.

  • The YearBar sometimes failed to repaint after selecting a single month to view

  • Deleting the last binoculars could under certain cirumstances delete a telescope instead

  • There was a problem with printed charts that could lead to scaling issues, including tiny stars and other issues, such as poorly spaced object trail labels

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0f (Imaging only)

  • New!  Event Finder Tool

  • New! Backup/Restore has been added to the Tools menu

  • New! Upgrade Your Product has been added to the Setup menu, which can be used to upgrade to the SkyTools 4 Imaging + SkyTools 4 Visual Bundle

  • Many many fixes and improvements have been made (too many to list here)

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0e (Imaging)

  • The code that estimates the longitude of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) was not working properly for dates after mid-June. This has been fixed.

  • The Add Objects button on the Target Selection Tool has been replaced with a menu with two selections: Designation Search (the original result of pressing Add Objects), and Database Power Search.

  • A bug was fixed that affected the surface brightness used in the calulations for some galaxies.

  • On the locations dialog, the Bortle class selection for the skjy brightness was not being correctly set to match the sky brightness when the sky brightness dialog was re-opened.

  • The detector selection on the select Camera dialog (for your imaging project) now uses a fixed size dialog rather than a large menu, which was awkward to scroll.

  • Various other minor fixes and enhancements have been made. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0d (Imaging)

  • The algorithm for estimating the signal and SNR for comets has been completely redone from scratch. It should now be much more accurate and consistent. A new selection has been added to the "Expose for..." menu for comets called "Comet core" which estimates the signal/SNR for the central bright part of the comet only.

  • Many fixes and enhancements have been made for imaging systems that employ multiple focal changers.

  • Many fixes and enhancements have been made for imaging systems consisting of cameras with multiple fixed lenses. 

  • Fixes and enhancements have been made to the f-stop settings for imaging systems consisting of cameras with multiple fixed lenses.

  • Fixes have been made to the guider FOV for external guide scopes.

  • Fixes have been made to the minor planet database so that it will work properly with the epochs used by the MPCORB database.

  • The download of a single minor planet is once again working.

  • The Camera dialog has been redesigned to be shorter so it will fit on small screens.

  • The All Novae/Supernovae subscription is now working properly

  • The Scheduler now displays coordinates for slews of imaging systems that use a hand controller.

  • Various fixes and enhancements have been made to the Exposure Calculator to better initialize itself when opened for targets and imaging projects via a right-click on the Target Selection, Scheduler, and Real Time Tools. 

  • The Exposure Calculator now opens properly via a right-click on the Atlas.

  • A fix has been implemented that could cause problems after deleting an imaging project.

  • Adding multiple imaging systems without exiting the Imaging Systems dialog should no longer cause confusion between OTAs attached to the imaging systems.

  • Various other minor fixes and enhancements have been made. 

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0c (Imaging)

  • Viewing a FITS image in the SkyTools Image Viewer could cause a crash, which has now been fixed. 

  • Target Selection Tool: the Start and Duration of the exposure period was always displayed for the automatically selected time period to image. Now it will display the time period corresponding to the IQ selected when the Night Filters are enabled. This means that if you set the IQ to C, the exposure time period listed (Start and Duration columns) will be from the start to the end of the period of time when the IQ is C or better. 

  • Support has been added for smarter window positioning on multiple monitors, particularly when maximized. A check is also made to see if the window is opening on a missing monitor. The window is repositioned on the main monitor if this happens. 

  • As a result of the multiple monitor support, chart windows will now open in their last size and position.

  • The IQ line on the NightBar was not always drawing correctly for comets on the Target Selection, Scheduler, and Real Time tools.

  • The spoken object information feature was missing a DLL file to make it work. This feature was developed primarily for SkyTools Visual, but some may find it useful for Imaging as well. Press the Speech button on the bottom right of the Object Info dialog to enable/disable spoken info.

  • When SkyTools starts, the introduction window that appears will now display the progress of the subscription updates that are occurring. In some cases it may take more than a few seconds to update one or more subscriptions, so this lets the user know what's going on. 

  • The Designation Search dialog now defaults to the target list displayed on the Target Selection tool when opened via the "Add Objects" button.

  • When editing a camera, the detector had to be set to manual in order for the camera to be saved without an error.

  • Target Selection: enabling the time sliders was forcing the Night Filters to be enabled even though they were turned off.

  • The open cluster NGC 2112 had no position and magnitude and there was also a non-existent open cluster that sometimes appeared. 

  • Some additions have been made to the help system.

  • Various minor bugs have been fixed

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0b (Imaging)

  • A fix was made to a bug in the iTelescope update process

  • A new button has been added to the Subscriptions dialog that will force an update of your selected subscriptions

Fixes/Additions/Changes in Version 4.0a (Imaging)

  • Download and display of DSS images on the Imaging Project Composition tab is now supported 

  • Selecting a camera from the camera pool sometimes added the wrong camera

  • The Gain selection on the exposure calculator was not working properly

  • Classic stars were being drawn on the charts with an unwanted "shadow" outline

  • An important settings file was not being properly created the first time SkyTools was started, causing a wide range of strange behaviors 

  • The camera and filter pools are now being updated automatically from the web when SkyTools starts. This will allow Skyhound to quickly disseminate new cameras and filters

  • When SkyTools 3 observing lists with supplemental database objects are imported, an attempt is made to associate the supplemental database objects with newly added primary database objects

  • The YearBar sometimes failed to redraw properly as it was being computed

  • Supplemental Deep Sky Database objects were failing to delete

  • Some nebulae were failing to draw on the charts (including the Tarantula nebula)

  • The Exposure Calculator was using surface brightness calculations when Expose For was set to Stars

  • The air temperature units on the Exposure Calculator were not always working correctly, nor were they being saved properly

  • The STScI Digital Sky Survey image server has been added as choice to download DSS images from. Note that as of this writing the LEDAS server no longer seems to be working, apparently due to a problem on their end. 

  • Various problems associated with attachment folders have been addressed

  • Various problems associated with importing SkyTools 3 observing lists have been addressed

  • Various minor bugs have been fixed