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Transparency Conditions

Deep-Sky Planner can display transparency conditions on the Equipment/Conditions Bar. This data can be entered manually as either a relative Transparency Descriptor, or an actual Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) measurement. Transparency is a very important element in describing sky conditions. Deep-Sky Planner uses this transparency value to calculate atmospheric extinction, and it is used in the visibility model for extended deep-sky objects.

Select a Transparency Descriptor to assign a value to Aerosol Optical Depth. The table below shows the AOD value assigned for each descriptor.

Transparency Descriptors	AOD
Perfect	0
Clear	0.1
Slightly Hazy	0.2
Hazy	0.3
Very Hazy	0.4
Extremely Hazy	0.5

You can enter an actual measurement in Aerosol Optical Depth. Valid values are 0 to 1.0, but values above .4 indicate very poor conditions.

Show AOD allows you to open a mini-browser to your favorite aerosol optical depth information web page. A default (local) web page is displayed until you select another page in the mini-browser. The web icon indicates that a live Internet connection may be required for this function.

Press OK to accept the changes.

Press Cancel to discard the changes.

Important: Transparency conditions may change throughout an observing session.You may need to update the value periodically while you observe.