Variable, Double & Carbon Star Observing
Deep-Sky Planner 5 allows you to search through a database of over 284,400 stellar objects from 6 catalogs - carbon stars, binary/multiple stars, variable stars and G2V stars - and report results in a tabular format. In addition to essential object data, the contents of a report can be configured to include or exclude any item (column) of data.
The star atlases cross referenced in Deep-Sky Planner reports include:
- The Herald-Bobroff AstroAtlas by David Herald and Peter Bobroff, HB2000, 1994.
- Millennium Star Atlas by Roger Sinnott and Michael A.C. Perryman, Sky Publishing Corporation, 1997.
- Pocket Sky Atlas by Roger Sinnott, Sky Publishing Corporation, 2006.
- Sky Atlas 2000.0 by Wil Tirion, Sky Publishing Corporation, 1981.
- Uranometria 2000.0 by Wil Tirion, Barry Rappaport and George Lovi, Willmann-Bell, Inc, 1987.
- Uranometria 2000.0 2d Ed. by Wil Tirion, Barry Rappaport and Will Remaklus, Willmann-Bell, Inc, 2001.
Click here to see a list of stellar catalogs included with Deep-Sky Planner.
Stellar catalog search criteria include:
- object designation, including range of object numbers or object name with wildcard pattern matching
- common name of object, e.g., search CGCS for 'Hind's*'
- whether ever viewable at your latitude
- magnitude range
- angular separation for binary & multiple stars
- spectral type(s)
- variable type(s) - includes major types (e.g. pulsating) and all subtypes (RR Lyrae, etc)
- variability period
- constellation(s)
- sky position (on a chart from 5 supported atlases, within a range of altitudes and azimuths, or within a radius of an equatorial position)
- viewing time (up during the date's astronomical darkness or during a user-specified time period)
- whether observed
The results can be sorted in any combination of ascending or descending order of any one or more data items (columns) in the report.
- compute altitude and azimuth of objects at specified date & time
- slew your GO TO telescope to the object (or sync the telescope position with the object)
- show a star chart centered on the object using TheSky, Redshift, Starry Night or Cartes du Ciel (see version compatibility)
- view a graph of any reported object's altitude over time on the specified date
- view a graph of any reported object's altitude at a time of day over a specified year
- view all common names and cross references for any reported object
- view your logged observations of any reported object
- add an observation to your log for any reported object
- print or save reports as formatted text, HTML or delimited text (CSV)
Example report shows a search of bright red variable stars in the east and at least 30 degrees above the horizon at 11 pm on 20 January 2010.