Easy Astronomy Blog

I discovered an awesome website and wanted to share it with all of you. It is an online store focused exclusively on astronomy!

www.starrynightstore.com
There are all kinds of products from softwares to scopes to books and DVDs. Do not think this is a little creepy online store. These guys have a serious reputation and an excellent customer service. Shipping is very fast, your products are shipped the same day if your order is received by noon Pacific Time. And the best part is they have a 100% satisfaction guarentee. If you are not satisfied in anyway by your product within 30 days, just return it and you will receive a full refund.

Definitely visit and add to your bookmarks! www.starrynightstore.com

I already had an article about different astronomy softwares here but I just found a very special one.

LunarPhase Pro is a utility for Windows which provides a range of information on the Moon and, to a lesser degree, the Sun, graphically displaying the current phase of the moon and lunar data, in real time. Lunarphase Pro (LPP) needs about 35Mb hard disk space for its installation. The recommended minimum amount of RAM on a PC is 128Mb (this will display the Moon in medium resolution graphics) but 256Mb is required for high-resolution displays. A 500Mhz or faster PC is recommended but some screen load times on calculation-intensive screens will be slow on less-specified PCs.

The initial window is clean and uncluttered. The ’skin’ is chrome-like, it is impossible for the user to change this to give a more conventional Windows ‘feel’. The number of buttons on the toolbar is small; however one of the buttons is entitled Display Menu of Other Functions. This gives an extensive list of other functions, all which really deserve their own icons. While this would increase the ‘busyness’ of the Window, I feel it would be preferable to the current situation. In general, I think that while some users might be unhappy with the non-standard appearance of the User Interface, this departure from the standard Windows ‘look’ looks very high-tech.

Lunar Phase Pro is primarily a planning tool for lunar observers and offers an enormous amount of information to assist the observer in this regard. Obviously, it graphically displays the current phase of the moon in real time and displays the times and dates of the major lunar phases for the month. However, it also provides much more information for planning your next night of moongazing, including the real-time position of the moon in both RA/Dec and Alt/Az coordinates, a calendar of lunar phases for each day in the selected month and monthly lunar libration diagrams. It is also possible to display a Lunar visibility diagram for the month showing when the moon is above the horizon and the brightness of the Moon. In addition, the software calculates and displays Moon’s Rise, Set and Transit times. If you see an interesting feature under a particular illumination condition, it is possible to find times and dates when this feature will be under similar illumination, taking into account libration effects. Far-side and North/South Polar features can also be viewed and identified.

Lunar Explorer

Clicking the Lunar Explorer button is the gateway to the mapping functions of this software tool. If you want to take full advantage of the features here, you should activate Use OpenGL and High Resolution Graphics in the configuration screen.

The appearance of the Moon is very realistic once your PC has sufficient graphics capability (which shoudn’t be a problem for modern PCs) to take advantage of the maps. Maps can also be oriented to match the view through your telescope or binoculars. Zooming and panning is smooth, although when you zoom in to the maximum, the image quality suffers a little. A new feature added to Version 3 of the software is diplaying very high resolution Moon charts. These have to be downloaded from the internet (LPP handles all of that for you) but you can save them for later viewing through the software. All maps in LPP can be printed out if you need to take something out to to the ’scope.

One very nice feature is that the software allows you to produce a high resolution animation of lunar libration showing how the moon wobbles over the course of a month. If you don’t know what libration is, click this button once and all will be revealed!! It’s a pity that the feature only runs for 1 month, it would be nice if it ran until the user decided to stop it. The Lunar Explorer also lists which lunar features are currently on the moon’s terminator. The utility includes Rukl Chart outlines and a list of features on the chart, a feature which will become of more importance with the imminent re-issue of these charts by Sky and Telescope. Once you have entered the details of your telescope/ eyepiece combination it can emulate the view through your instrument. It is possible to link images to specific lunar features and record your observations in the software in order to keep a permanent record of your observations (there are over 800 observing notes provided with LPP to get you going). Not only is a visible view of the Moon provided, you can choose to view 3 mineral maps, a gravity map and a Clementine image, a nice touch for educational purposes.

So Lunar Phase Pro is a great observation planning tool for lunar observers or imagers. The utility can teach you a lot about how the Moon orbits the Earth. In addition, it provides near photo-realistic views of the Lunar surface via the Lunar Explorer utility and these can be printed as custom built maps. Support for the software is excellent and the author, Gary Nugent, is very responsive to requests for enhancements.

So get your copy of this excellent software now :
Lunar Phase Pro

Astronomy Software

Many people love Astronomy.  Some are serious scientists who study it for a living, or who even teach it.  Some are enthusiasts who delve into the stars as a hobby.  Some of these hobbyists have even made important discoveries at times.  It used to be that astronomy required a telescope or at least binoculars.  But now thanks to astronomy software, everyone with a computer can take part in this interesting and at times exciting endeavor.  Here are some of the programs available.

One of the most well known programs is SETI@Home.  Launched in May of 1999 this was a project to create a virtual supercomputer, made up of large numbers of Internet connected home computers.  Before SETI@Home the SETI  radio telescope, SETI meaning Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, scanned the heavens for radio signals that would indicate a pattern, an intelligence behind them.  Supercomputers on site were used to analyze the data.  But now it’s all being done during the spare cycles on people’s computers at home and the office.  There won’t be some kind of alert if intelligent life is found.  But if SETI ever does find intelligence, then everyone who was part of SETI@Home can say they played a role.

A simple type of astronomy software is the 3D screen saver.  These programs kick in when a PC is idle, and show various space objects rendered in spectacular 3D computer graphics.  This can include simple views as well as navigable planets, solar systems or other objects that the user can explore from any angle and distance.  Search “3D Space Tour” on Google or Yahoo to find some of these fun programs.

Most people don’t know about F.I.T.S.  It’s Flexible Image Transport System, which is a NASA and IAU endorsed format to store and deliver not only images but spacial data and multi-dimensional arrays such as 2-D and 3-D images.  There are a variety of programs that can read and display this type of data.  These include free ware FITSview and AVIS to for sale programs like AstroArt and AIP.  A wide selection of FITS viewers can be found with a simple Internet search.  Some are listed at Duke University’s web site:  http://www.phy.duke.edu/~kolena/imagepro.html

Software such as Aberrator allows an amateur astronomer to view images of stars through various telescopes with aberrations in the lens.  By comparing the image seen through the telescope with the image displayed in the software, the user can make adjustments to gain the best possible view of these vastly distant objects.

There is a lot more astronomy software out there in the world.  Web search for it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.