Solar System Observing
Planets, Sun and Moon
Deep-Sky Planner 5 provides planetary ephemeris calculations (meaning position, magnitude, size, etc.) and 2 styles of reporting for the major planets, sun and moon. The detailed style is useful for viewing information for an object at a specific time, including physical ephemeris data for sun, moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn; the other more brief style is useful for reporting changes to an object over time, e.g., motion, magnitude or size.
You can calculate these ephemerides for an interval that you define over any range of date and time, but calculations lose accuracy in the distant past or future. Motion of each object over time is also calculated and reported.
Similarly, you can calculate and report the date and time of planetary phenomena (events) over a range of date and time. These phenomena include solar and lunar eclipses, lunar phases, greatest elongations (inferior planets), conjunctions/oppositions, aphelions/perihelions, equinoxes/solstices (sun).
You can also:
- add an observation to your log for any reported object
- view your logged observations of any reported object
- view a graph of any reported object's altitude over time on the specified date
- 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)
- print or save reports as formatted text or HTML
Example report shows a detailed ephemeris of Mars near opposition in January 2010.
Example report shows the same information as above but in the brief ephemeris style.
Astronomical Darkness Analysis
You can calculate and report the times of astronomical darkness (meaning that the sun is at least 18° below the horizon and the moon is down) over a range of dates. Times of sun rise/set, moon rise/set and moon phase are included. Darkness reports may be presented in either tabular text or graphically. You can also print or save reports as formatted text, HTML or delimited text (CSV.)
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Many astronomical software products incorrectly report that the moon rises or sets on dates when in fact it does not. Deep-Sky Planner accurately reports no moon rise or set for these dates.
Example report shows darkness text report for the month of January 2010.
Comets and Asteroids
Orbital Elements Manager
Up-to-date orbital elements are required to compute accurate data for comets and asteroids but getting correct orbital elements is often tedious or confusing. Deep-Sky Planner addresses this with an innovative data management feature that acquires and maintains orbital elements. You can download updated orbital elements for groups of objects, or enter elements manually for any object, including newly discovered ones. You can also determine when you last updated an object's elements. Read more in a Deep-Sky Planner White Paper
Reports
Deep-Sky Planner provides 2 reporting capabilities for comets and asteroids: ephemeris calculations for selected objects over time, or searching for objects that meet your observing criteria for a specified date. The reported data include position, predicted magnitude, solar elongation, phase, rise/set/transit and best time to view.
You can also:
- add an observation to your log for any reported object
- view your logged observations of any reported object
- view a graph of any reported object's altitude over time on the specified date
- 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)
- print or save reports as formatted text, HTML or delimited text (CSV)