Congratulations on selecting
DEEPSKY 2000 as your observing tool. Its many features will enhance your
observing preparation and will keep your notes, photos, and images
organized. Many new features have
been added and many have been made easier to use. DEEPSKY 2000 was written
with the observer in mind. Its simple yet powerful features will
provide you with the information you require making your observing sessions
productive.
Don’t be intimidated by all the
features in this software. DEEPSKY 2000 is easy to use, yet it
offers far more capabilities for observation planning than traditional
planetarium software. In fact, you may not need any other
software for your planning tasks.
DEEPSKY 2000 contains many
features not found in ordinary planetarium programs. Among these are:
·
426,000-object searchable database of deep sky objects
including double and variable stars
·
18 million stars – Hubble Guide Star Catalog
·
2 million stars – Super Tycho Star Catalog
·
Solar System Information
·
Observing Planner
·
Observation Logbook
·
Star Chart Creator with stars to 15.5th magnitude
·
Integration with Cartes du Ciel astronomy software
·
Image Processing
·
Ultima, LX200, AutoStar, and Nexstar Telescope Support
·
Support for Bob Denny’s ACP software for the Meade
LX200 and Autostar telescopes
Two versions are available:
1. Download version (Evaluation)
This version is available on the Internet and lets you try all of
DEEPSKY 2000’s features free for 30 days.
The evaluation version can be converted to a registered version by
paying the registration fee and entering the registration code, which you will
receive when you place your order.
2. CD-ROM version (includes Hubble Guide Star Catalog of 18
million stars) This version contains
all of the features found in the Evaluation version Plus it has the Hubble
Guide Star catalog showing stars to about 15.5th magnitude.
The
only difference between the download version and the CD-ROM version is that the
Hubble Guide Star Catalog is included on the
CD-ROM. Please keep in mind that the
evaluation version is a very large download.
The minimum downloadable components require 50 megabytes of hard disk
space. This includes the smaller
26,000-object deep sky database. The
optional 500 CCD images require an
additional 40 megabytes. The optional
426,000-object database is another 33 megabytes.
·
The digital sky survey and
Sky rover sketches link to the Internet now launches the default web browser to
display the image. This now works with
any browser and not just IE
·
Celestron Ultima Telescope
control has been added.
·
Super Tycho star catalog has
been added.
·
Hubble Guide star catalog has
been updated to version 1.3
·
Identify Objects at Current
Scope Position - Displays a list of objects that are within X number of degrees
from where the scope is pointing.
·
Added separation calculation
on the spreadsheet that calculates for each object in the spreadsheet, the
separation between a home object (selected by right clicking and selecting the
SET AS HOME TARGET option) or the current telescope position. The target column color can be set from the
spreadsheet formatting preferences
·
Added new logbook feature
called "EZ LOGBOOK UPDATE - WITHIN DATE RANGE". This feature lets you go back and update
your log within a certain date range.
You might want to use this if you normally record your observations by
clicking the OBS column in the spreadsheet since this only updates the date and
time. The new feature lets you go back
and easily add things like location observed, equipment used, and other
non-object specific information.
·
Added several new Deepsky
catalogs to the database - 1. Alignment Stars Catalog, 2. Catalogue of
Reflection Nebulae, Custom ed. [vdB], 3. Catalogue of Southern Emission
Nebulae, 4. Catalogue of Southern Stars embedded in nebulosity 5. SAC 7.1
·
Added more descriptive
objectid labels to the following catalogs: PGC, Zwicky, Abell, HII Regions,
Lynds bright and dark nebula, ESO Planetary Nebulae, Fourth Cambridge Radio
Survey, Hickson galaxy groups, Catalogue of Galaxies behind Milky WAY, Southern
Dark Clouds, Catalogue of Southern Peculiar galaxies and associations , and NGC
2000
·
The LX-200 Control panel
displayed position results incorrectly at times after hitting refresh. This has been fixed. Setting the Scope/Time Location values
sometimes caused an error and did not display the results properly. Also corrected selecting the SITE.
·
A SYNC command has been added
to the right click menu to sync an LX200 or ULTIMA scope to the currently
selected object.
·
Added information on meteor showers to the solar system
menu.
·
Short date style and decimal
separator are now automatically determined from your regional settings. This will improve using Deepsky for
international users.
·
Integrated Cartes du Ciel
software into Deepsky. Deepsky can now
take the objects on its spreadsheet and send them to be displayed in Cartes du
Ciel.
·
Deepsky 2000 now interfaces with Cartes du Ciel
allowing real sky images to be viewed.
·
Integrated Variable Star
Observer into Deepsky. Deepsky can now
display more information on variable stars and produce light curves by sending
data to the freeware application - Variable Star Observer.
·
When viewing stars from the
GCVS, additional information such as Period, Epoch of Maximum, and Duration of
Eclipse are shown on the spreadsheet headers and in Object details and Object
Maintenance.
·
An INCLUDE BLANK SIZE
checkbox has been added to the RANGES 1 tab to provide finer control over
object size selection.
1. FIXED: When
entering a personal observing location, entering quotes or double quotes caused
the location entry to not be added to the list.
2. FIXED: The date
is shown incorrectly on the logbook entry screen if you were jumping from the
logbook spreadsheet. Jumping from the
logbook spreadsheet is done either by double clicking the row, or by selecting
VIEW EDIT LOGBOOK FOR SELECTED OBJECT.
3. FIXED: If the
log entry screen is already loaded when you jump from the logbook spreadsheet,
the object selected on the spreadsheet will not be shown on the logbook entry
screen.
4. FIXED: The
daylight savings checkbox had no effect if you live in the southern hemisphere.
5. FIXED: CD ROM
users would get an error message and crash when going into Database Sources
under the HELP menu.
6. UPDATED:
Latitude and Longitude in the status bar now show as hms instead of as a
decimal. Also added time zone next to
the longitude
7. FIXED: Using the ACP driver, Deepsky would send an
incorrect value for declination when declination < 0.
8. ENHANCED: The
digital sky survey and Sky rover sketches link to the Internet now launches the
default web browser to display the image.
This now works with any browser and not just IE
9. FIXED: In Sync
Internet Time, The time server mit.edu was hard coded into Deepsky. You could change the server to another name
but Deepsky always reverted back to mit.edu.
Now, Deepsky remembers and uses the last timeserver entered. In addition, I've added several other
timeservers in case one isn’t working.
10. ADDED: Lunar
Map to MOON tab under Solar System Info.
11. ADDED: Current
Lunar Appearance as an image representing what the moon would look like on the
date selected.
12. FIXED: When
changing the time in Date preferences, leaving the time blank (ie. __:__)
caused a system crash
13. FIXED: Object
Details Print Screen now prints the star chart
14. ENHANCED:
Redesigned the Solar System Information screens. Added a moon phase image to the moon information depicting the
approximate phase. Changed the Solar
System Summary screens color scheme to something reasonable.
15. FIXED: When
the logbook entry screen was displayed for a new observation, the date now
defaults to today’s date.
16. ENHANCED:
Convenient toolbar added to the image processing screen.
17. ENHANCED:
Images displayed on the following screens now have a toolbar associated with
them for additional functionality: Object Details, Database Maintenance,
Logbook Entry, Image Gallery, Slide Show
18. ENHANCED: Rise
and set times in the spreadsheet and on solar system screens no longer is in 24
hour format (ie. shows AM/PM)
19. FIXED: Made
the software more reliable by correcting a couple memory leaks.
20. NEW: Identify
Objects at Current Scope Position - Displays a list of objects that are within
X number of degrees from where the scope is pointing. User can add the objects to the observing plan
21. BUG
(INTERNATIONAL USERS ONLY): Adding or removing personal observing locations did
not work in some cases. This is now
fixed.
22. NEW: Added
separation calculation on the spreadsheet that calculates for each object in
the spreadsheet, the separation between a home object (selected by right
clicking and selecting the SET AS HOME TARGET option) or the current telescope
position. The target column color can
be set from the spreadsheet formatting preferences
23. NEW: Added new
logbook feature called "EZ LOGBOOK UPDATE - WITHIN DATE RANGE". This feature lets you go back and update
your log within a certain date range.
You might want to use this if you normally record your observations by
clicking the OBS column in the spreadsheet since this way only update the date
and time. The new feature lets you go
back and easily add things like location observed, equipment used, and other
non object specific information.
24. FIXED: On the
select CATALOG, CONST, and TYPES screens, clicking CLEAR would always take you
to the end of the list.
25. ADDED: 4
catalogs to the DeepPro413000.mdb database - 1. Alignment Stars Catalog, 2.
Catalogue of Reflection Nebulae, Custom ed. [vdB], 3. Catalogue of Southern
Emission Nebulae, 4. Catalogue of Southern Stars embedded in nebulosity 5. SAC
7.1
26. NEW: Added Go
to Support for the Celestron Ultima telescope.
27. NEW: Added
menu option to call the program : Cartes du Ciel . This is a nice star
charting package that is freeware.
28. NEW: Added
Super Tycho star catalog
29. FIXED: A
problem existed with displaying the rise, set, and transit times in AM/PM
format. This has been corrected.
30. ENHANCED:
Added more descriptive objectid labels to the following catalogs: PGC, Zwicky,
Abell, HII Regions, Lynds bright and dark nebula, ESO Planetary Nebulae, Fourth
Cambridge Radio Survey, Hickson galaxy groups, Catalogue of Galaxies behind
Milky WAY, Southern Dark Clouds, Catalogue of Southern Peculiar galaxies and
associations
31. ADDED: 5 new
catalogs for a total of 54 catalogs - Alignment Stars, Catalogue of Southern
Stars embedded in nebulosity, Strassbourg Planetery Nebulae, Catalogue of
Southern Emission Nebulae, SAC 7.1
32. UPDATED: The
LX-200 Control panel displayed position results incorrectly at times after
hitting refresh. This has been
fixed. Setting the Scope/Time Location
values sometimes caused an error and did not display the results properly. Also corrected selecting the SITE.
33. FIXED: A
problem existed with the generic LX200 driver that gave false positions in rare
instances. In some case an object
slewed to may be missed.
34. ADDED: A SYNC
command has been added to the right click menu to sync an LX200 or ULTIMA scope
to the currently selected object.
35. FIXED: When
changing the lat, long, or time zone for your personal observing location, the
change was not saved permanently to the database.
36. ADDED:
Information on Meteor Showers to the solar system menu.
37. UPDATED: The text 'NGC' is now prefixed to
the object id's in the NGC 2000 catalog for clarity while viewing a star chart.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: EXISTING
DEEPSKY USERS WILL WANT TO RESET PREFERENCES BEFORE USING THE SOFTWARE FROM THE
FILTER TAB.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
38. UPDATED: Short
date style and decimal separator are now automatically determined from your
regional settings.
39. ADDED:
Integrated Cartes du Ciel into Deepsky.
Deepsky can now take the objects on its spreadsheet and send them to be
displayed in Cartes du Ciel
40. ADDED:
Integrated Cartes du Ciel into Deepsky.
Deepsky can now display real sky cd images in Cartes du Ciel.
41. ADDED:
Integrated Variable Star Observer into Deepsky. Deepsky can now display more information on variable stars and
product light curves by sending data to the freeware application - Variable
Star Observer.
42. UPDATED: When
viewing stars from the GCVS, additional information such as Period, Epoch of
Maximum, Duration of Eclipse are shown on the spreadsheet headers and in Object
details and Object Maintenance.
43. UPDATED: An
INCLUDE BLANK SIZE checkbox has been added to the RANGES 1 tab to provide finer
control over object size selection
44. FIXED: On rare
occasions, when clicking the refresh button on the main spreadsheet, Deepsky
loads objects from ALL catalogs even though a selected catalog may be visible
on the select tab. This may give the
appearance that the system has froze on slower computers (depending on other
filters).
Patrick Chevalley and I have joined forces
to bring tight integration between Cartes du Ciel (http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/index.html)
and Deepsky 2000 ver 2.
Cartes du Ciel is currently a freeware
astronomy application that compliments Deepsky 2000 very nicely. Using Deepsky 2000 ver 2, you are able to
create Cartes du Ciel star charts from within Deepsky 2000 by sending data from
the Deepsky 2000 spreadsheet to the Cartes du Ciel star chart. The picture above shows data from Deepsky
2000 plotted onto the Cartes du Ciel star chart.
The integration between our two software
applications is as follows:
- Create
Cartes du Ciel star charts using data from the Deepsky 2000
spreadsheet. This works similar to
how Deepsky creates its own star charts.
- Display
Real Sky CD images in Cartes du Ciel by right clicking on an object in the
Deepsky 2000 spreadsheet and selecting REAL SKY.
- Using
the General Catalog of Variable Stars, users can send object information
from the Deepsky 2000 spreadsheet to Patrick’s Variable Star Observer
software. Here you can view
detailed data on variable stars and create light curves.
·
Hubble Guide Star Catalog (GSC) ver
1.3 -This database of 18 million stars (CD-ROM version only) is distributed on
the DEEPSKY 2000 CD-ROM. DEEPSKY 2000
can access this database from your CD drive or your hard drive. Mag 15.5.
·
Supertycho Catalogue of 2 and a half million
stars was contributed by Bill Anderson. This is the new Tycho-2 Star
Catalogue supplemented with stars from the Tycho and Tycho Reference Star
Catalogues. This is a catalogue of stars to magnitude 12 and is a
very nearly complete to this magnitude limit.
·
SAO
star catalog. Mag 9
·
Meade LX200 - Control Panel, Goto, Slide Show,
Identify, ACP
·
Meade Autostar - Goto, Slide Show, Identify, ACP
·
Celestron Nexstar - Goto, Slide Show, Identify
·
Celestron Ultima - Goto, Slide Show, Identify
·
54 Astronomical Catalogs including NGC 2000 and SAC 7.1
·
Query the database quickly and easily by setting
various filters OR by using standard SQL statements.
·
Show the separation in degrees from a target object
(ie. Scope position, deepsky object, etc)
·
View Data in a spreadsheet format.
·
Easy selection and sorting through filters and
preferences.
·
Herschel Cross Reference
·
Sky Catalog 2000, Uranometria, and Millennium Chart
numbers
·
Report writing features allow you to select what you
want printed
·
Select and sort the data the way you want, then click PRINT to produce an easy to use report
that can be used at the telescope.
·
Quickly locate any object instantly - supports
wildcards searches
·
Provides all the information you’ll need. (RA, Dec, Alt, Azm, Rise, Set, Transit and more)
·
Fully integrated with the logbook makes recording
objects easier than ever.
·
Five tab selectable spreadsheet windows permit up to
five queries at one time. Now you can
create an observing plan in one window and query the database with
another.
·
Customize the colors and fonts in any spreadsheet
tab.
·
Faster retrieval of data into the spreadsheet. Easier to control the volume of data
returned.
·
Save your spreadsheets for even faster retrieval
later.
·
Sort on any column in the spreadsheet quickly--even on
calculated fields!
·
Start-up tips provide quick answers to any questions
you may have.
·
Add as many additional objects as you like to the
database.
·
Store pictures of your favorite objects in the
Database. Over 30 image formats
supported!
·
Shows data for the sun, moon, and planets
·
Database is in Microsoft Access 2000 format – Use
Access 2000 to perform additional queries and reports.
·
DEEPSKY 2000 includes a database import wizard so that
you can import additional ASCII
catalogs from the ADC or CDS. Hundreds
of catalogs are available and can be imported into DEEPSKY 2000 very
easily.
·
The observing planner is now integrated with the
telescope Slide show feature. Now, your
telescope can make it extremely easy to show objects you specified in your observing
plan.
·
Click on the PLN column in the spreadsheet and Deepsky
flags that object as being in your plan.
Use the SHOW PLAN button to show only those objects you selected for
your plan.
·
The new Log Sheet report makes it easy to log your
observations at the telescope.
·
Pre-built Herschel club-observing plans.
·
The Observing Plan Details report helps you find the
object you are looking for by providing detailed information on the object,
logbook notes, and a chart all on one page.
·
Record an observation by clicking on the OBS column on
the spreadsheet, or go into the detailed logbook directly and enter tons of
information about the object. Includes
fields to track CCD imaging observations.
·
Multi-tabbed windows make it easier to view and enter
information during logbook entry.
·
Track general information, session notes, observing
notes, CCD information, and images.
·
Session notes gives you a spot to keep general
information on your observing session.
·
EZ Logbook Update feature has been integrated with the
telescope Slide Show feature so you can automatically have logbook entries
created for you while you are at the telescope.
·
Partition your personal logbook into multiple
logbooks. This lets you keep different
types of observations separate.
·
Import NGP logbooks into DEEPSKY 2000.
·
Observations from other amateurs. Over 3,500 included!
·
Store all your observations quickly and easily in
DEEPSKY 2000’s efficiently designed and easy-to-use interface.
·
Default Last
Record saves time making multiple log entries.
·
Table view lets you view your observations in a
spreadsheet format.
·
New Entry facility allows you to enter common data only
one time. DEEPSKY 2000 will create the
logbook entries for the objects you have selected.
·
Store as many observations as you like for as many
objects as you observe.
·
You can attach as many images or sketches as you like
to each observation!
·
Word processing text editor allows you to store
detailed notes for each observation.
Change fonts, colors, or sizes to accent your notes.
·
Integrated with the Observing Planner and Image
Processing system.
·
Logbook is in Microsoft Access 2000 format.
Deepsky’s star charts are unique compared to
other software on the market. Unlike
other programs, you can create an observing plan in a spreadsheet format and
then transfer only those objects to the star chart. What you end up with is a concise star chart customized for your
observing plan.
·
Display star charts on screen
·
Print star charts in either portrait enhanced or
landscape mode.
·
Charts show stars to about 16th magnitude with the
CD-ROM
·
Plot any or all objects that are in your observing plan
·
Plot the positions for the Sun, Moon, or Planets
·
Plot comets or asteroids
·
Improved information window shows information
pertaining to the object selected in a clear and concise format.
·
Nebula shapes, Ecliptic Lines, and Milky Way boundaries
are included.
·
Telrads and Eyepiece circles can now be superimposed on
top of the star charts.
·
An Atlas feature has been added that lets you print out
a range of RA and DEC. Using this
feature, you can create your own star atlases quickly and easily.
·
Telescope Go To support has been added.
·
There are now several additional reports and queries
pre-defined for quick access. Now you
can easily keep track of your Messier and Herschel lists.
·
The print preview window has been improved making it
more consistent and easier to use.
·
Improved report writing allows you easy control over
which fields get printed.
·
Print out your observing notes
·
Integrates with the observing planner and logbook
·
Image preview while loading or before altering
·
Perform various effects including Flip, Rotate,
Reverse, Resize, Posterize, Average, Median, Sharpen, Noise, Emboss, Underlay,
Edge Enhance, Invert, Brightness, Contrast, Histogram Contrast, Hue,
Saturation, Histogram Equalize, Stretch intensity, Gamma, Intensity Detect,
View, Zoom, Fit to Window
·
Perform Color Separations - RGB, CMYK, HSV, HLS, CMY
·
Support for over 30 popular image formats including
BMP, JPEG, LEAD, and TIF
·
Convert images from one format to another
·
Built in TWAIN scanning interface (requires 32 bit
TWAIN driver) will scan your pictures right into the logbook.
·
Render images in any color depth from 1 bit to 32 bits
·
Produce high quality printouts
·
Save images using variable degrees of compression for
JPEG and several other formats including LEAD.
·
Screen capture utility copies any screen you have
placing it in the imaging processing system.
·
Send objects from the Deepsky spreadsheet into Cartes
du Ciel for display on its star charts.
·
View real sky CD images in Cartes du Ciel by selecting
the object to view from the Deepsky spreadsheet.
·
Send objects from the Deepsky spreadsheet (GCVS
catalog) into VarObs to display detailed information on variable stars and to
plot light curves.
·
Improved night vision mode
·
You can now set your PC clock to a highly accurate
atomic clock via the Internet.
·
Open and enhance multiple images at the same time using
multiple windows
·
Receive Time Signals from the internet LIVE
·
Digital Sky Survey interface
·
NGC Online Interface
·
Skyrover Sketches On-line
·
Astro Bookmarks integrates with your favorite web
browser
·
Windows 95, 98, NT, or Windows 2000
·
A minimum of 16 megabytes of RAM is required, 32
megabytes is recommended. The more
memory you have, the faster Deepsky 2000 runs!
·
CD-ROM drive (for the CD-ROM version)
·
Any Windows-supported printer (optional)
·
50 to 350 megabytes of hard disk space. The actual amount required depends on which
components are installed to the disk
·
Internet Explorer 4 or higher is required for the
following features: Digital Sky Survey integration, NGC Online integration, and
the ACP Script Generator used by the Slide Show feature. We recommend that users install IE5 even if
they plan on using a different browser because IE5 updates their windows setup.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
It’s recommended that you stay up
to date with all Microsoft Critical Updates and service packs. You can visit Microsoft’s update site at http://www.windowsupdate.com to determine
if any critical updates are available for your operating system.
Getting started with DEEPSKY 2000
is easy. DEEPSKY 2000 is available as
either a downloadable .ZIP file or as a CD-ROM. Just follow the installation instructions depending upon how you
obtained DEEPSKY 2000.
1.
Please make sure
your Windows operating system is up to date before you install DEEPSKY
2000. If you are at an older release of
Windows, such as early Windows 95 or NT, DEEPSKY 2000 may not function
properly. For Windows NT 4.0 users,
make sure you are at Service Pack 4 or higher.
It is always best to keep your operating system up to date.
2. Close
all programs running on your computer.
It might even be a good idea to reboot your computer before running
setup. Unload any virus checking software that may be running in the system
tray.
3. DEEPSKY
2000 is optimized to run on screens whose resolution is set to 800 x 600 or
higher. Although DEEPSKY 2000 works fine
at lower resolutions, the higher resolutions provide better views and more real
estate to work with.
1.
You can download an evaluation copy of DEEPSKY 2000
from
http://www.deepsky2000.com. Deepsky is
available as a single large self-extracting .EXE file or as several smaller
.ZIP files.
2. If you downloaded the single large file, run that
file. This will start the installation
process.
3. Otherwise, UNZIP each file you just downloaded, then run
the SETUP.EXE that you just extracted.
4. Follow
the simple instructions during the setup process.
5. Reboot
your computer to complete the installation.
This process will install a
small, 26,000-object database. You may
also download the larger, 426,000-object database and copy it into your DEEPSKY
2000 directory.
Before beginning the
installation, you must decide on which setup type you wish to run.
Compact
This is
the minimum installation of DEEPSKY 2000, and requires about 50 megabytes of
hard disk space. A small, 26,000-object database (DeepPro13000.mdb) is
installed on your hard drive. You can access the Hubble Guide Star Catalog
(GSC) database from the CD-ROM. You can
also, at any time, copy the GSC and the 54-catalog astronomical database
(DeepPro413000.mdb) to your hard disk.
Typical
This
option installs DEEPSKY 2000, the 26,000-object database (DeepPro13000.mdb),
and the 109 Messier Bitmap images onto your hard drive, requiring 80 megabytes
of hard disk space. As with the compact
installation, the GSC can be accessed from the CD-ROM. You can also copy the GSC or the 54-catalog
astronomical database to your hard disk at any time.
Custom
This
option allows you to choose which components to install. A full installation of DEEPSKY 2000 with all
components (including the GSC and 54-catalog database) requires 350 megabytes
of hard disk space. If you have room,
this is the best option because everything will run at its fastest. During installation, you will be asked to
choose the Small database or the CD-ROM Database. Choose one or the
other.
1. Insert
the DEEPSKY 2000 CD-ROM into your drive.
2. If
the installation does not start automatically, run SETUP.EXE from the root directory of the CD-ROM.
3. Follow
the simple instructions during the setup process.
4. Reboot
your computer.
5. Run
DEEPSKY 2000. When the program is run
for the fist time, you may get a wizard indicating that the database is not
found. If this happens, browse to the
root directory of your CD-ROM and select the file named Deeppro413000.mdb.
6. Follow
the rest of the screens in the wizard to specify where the DEEPSKY 2000
supplied images and the GSC catalogs are located. Both are located in folders on your CD-ROM drive. If you don’t specify these paths, images
will not be viewable in the software and the star charts won’t show stars past
11th magnitude.
Follow steps 1
through 4 above, then
5. Copy
the DEEPPRO413000.MDB file from the
root directory of the CD-ROM to the directory on your hard drive that contains
DEEPSKY 2000.
6. Using
Microsoft Explorer, show the properties for this file on your hard drive, and
uncheck the Read Only box.
7. Run
DEEPSKY 2000. Select Preferences®Misc, and select the Specify
Deepsky Database button. Then,
specify the location of the DEEPPRO413000.MDB
file that you just copied.
·
During the installation, DEEPSKY 2000 installs several
components. Please read each screen as
it appears.
·
Microsoft Word Viewer 97 is included on the CD
ROM. DEEPSKY 2000’s user manual (this
document) is in Microsoft Word 97 format, so you should install this viewer if
you do not already have Microsoft Word 97 installed on your computer.
·
If setup finds any read-only Windows system files, a
message will be displayed. Click OK to
overwrite them.
- If you choose
to use the 54-catalog database file from the CD-ROM, you will not be able
to perform the following functions in DEEPSKY 2000:
1. You
will not be able to add additional objects to the main database. You will still be able to enter as many
logbook entries as you like since the logbook is stored on your hard drive.
2. You
will not be able to filter by objects observed.
If
DEEPSKY 2000 displays a message that says an option doesn’t work, it is
probably because you are running with the database from the CD-ROM. For the most part, this is a minor
limitation. Most of DEEPSKY 2000 will
work just fine from the CD-ROM.
If
you receive any error messages during setup that indicate that a file did not
Register correctly, continue with the installation and reboot your system when
finished. Then run DEEPSKY 2000. If DEEPSKY 2000 does not run, please contact
me and I will provide technical support to get you going. See the Technical
Support section at the end of this manual for contact information.
The following information gives a summary of
every menu option used in the software.
Edit
This
option is used to add or edit additional objects to the Deepsky database.
Find
Displays
objects in either a spreadsheet or form format. This option lets you search by object id, other id, or Messier
#. If more than one object is found,
you should display the results in the spreadsheet since the form format only
shows the first one found.
Table Maintenance
View and edit the core Deepsky tables using
an Access 2000 like screen.
Object
Database – The main table that keeps track of all the Deepsky objects,
variable stars, and double stars.
Object
Logbook – The main table that keeps track of all your observations.
CCD
Logbook – The main table that stores CCD Logbook information
Object
Images – Keeps track of all linked logbook images. This table stores the image path for a
particular object.
User
Catalog – Keeps track of the other amateur logbooks.
Import
Allows you to import other ASCII object
catalogs into Deepsky 2000. See the
Import Wizard section in this manual for more details.
Export
Export Selected Objects To Ascii File
– This option takes whatever objects are shown on the spreadsheet and outputs
them to an ASCII file.
Export All Objects To Ascii File –
This option takes all objects in the database and outputs them to an ASCII
file.
Export Selected Objects To Excel –
This option takes whatever objects are shown on the spreadsheet and outputs
them to an Excel spreadsheet.
Export Selected Objects To HTML Table
- This option takes whatever objects are shown on the spreadsheet and outputs
them to an HTML file for viewing with a web browser.
Utilities
Fix Images – When adding images to the Deepsky database,
the image path is stored in the database as well as the image table for speed
purposes unless the database is used on the CD-ROM. In this case, the IMG column on the spreadsheet will not be
checked for those images since Deepsky looks at the database to see if an image
is available. If you decide to copy the
database to your hard drive, this utility instructs Deepsky to update the
database on the hard disk with the image paths in the image table, re-enabling
the check mark on the spreadsheet.
Fix Observations – When you add an observation to your
logbook, Deepsky also flags it as observed in the database for speed purposes,
unless the database is used on the CD-ROM.
In this case, the OBS column on the spreadsheet will not be checked for
those objects observed since Deepsky looks at the database to see if an observation
has been made. If you decide to copy
the database to your hard drive, this utility instructs Deepsky to update the
database on the hard disk with the objects observed in the logbook, re-enabling
the check mark on the spreadsheet.
Important Note
If
you are using the database on the CD ROM and are unable to use it from your
hard drive, you should check the box labeled Data/Log Lookup Type
located in MISC preferences. This
causes Deepsky to examine the logbook as the spreadsheet is loading to
determine if the object has been observed.
The only downside to this option is that the spreadsheet will load a little slower since it has to do
additional work.
Compact
Database – (Not available if using database from the
CD-ROM). This option removes all deleted objects from your database file if the
database resides on your hard disk.
When Deepsky deletes an object, it really only flags it as being
deleted. Even though it’s no longer
available to Deepsky, it is really still in the database. This option permanently removes those
deleted records freeing up some space in the database. The option is really only useful if you
delete a large # of objects like deleting whole catalogs using the import
wizard.
Add
New Catalog To Database – Deepsky comes with 54 astronomical
catalogs and the import wizard can be used to add more. However, you may want to create your own
personal catalog to add objects to over a period of time. This option lets you create such a catalog.
Setup Wizard
This option is normally displayed when you
run Deepsky for the first time.
However, it’s also available as an option here. The setup wizard walks you through setting
up the database location, image location, and Hubble Guide Star location. You can also set your SHORT DATE format and
decimal separator here.
Important Note: The
SHORT DATE format should match what is shown in your Regional Settings in
control panel.
Date and Time
Sets the date and time used for calculations
in Deepsky.
Geographic Preferences
Sets the latitude and longitude of your
observing site. You can also set up
multiple personal locations using this option.
Equipment
Allows you to select the equipment you use
for your observing. The information
selected here will be made available in a selection box during logbook entry.
Misc
Lets you set various items including
database, image, and HGC file paths.
You can also set up multiple personal logbook types and do a few other
things.
External Applications
Lets you specify the path to FITS and
Moonrise applications if you have these applications installed.
Spreadsheet
Controls the color scheme for each
spreadsheet tab and allows you to specify certain spreadsheet formatting
options like suppressing zero values.
Chart
Controls various default settings for
Deepsky’s star charts. Here you can
control for example if you want other amateur log notes passed to the charts
for display in the chart information window.
Image
Controls how images are painted to the
screen. Different image effects are
available.
Query Builder
This option walks you through the process of
creating an SQL query. SQL is very
powerful, however it’s syntax is confusing to some users (Note:
SQL is optional in Deepsky 2000).
After creating a SQL query, you can save it for later use or run it
immediately.
What’s Up Wizard
This wizard asks you several questions
regarding the objects you want to have displayed. When you click FINISH, only those objects currently visible will
be shown on the spreadsheet.
What’s Up - Messier
This query displays only those Messier
objects visible at your location.
What’s Up – Herschel
This query displays only those Herschel
objects visible at your location.
Show All Objects Brighter than 8th
magnitude
This query displays bright Deepsky objects
from the NGC 2000 catalog.
Show Objects with Attached Image
This query displays objects that have an
image available to view.
Show Objects Already Observed
This query displays objects that have been
observed.
Show All Messier Objects
This query displays all 109 Messier objects.
Show Messier Objects Observed
This query displays all Messier objects that
have been observed.
Show Messier Objects Not Observed
This query displays all Messier objects that
have not been observed.
Show All Herschel Objects
This query displays all Herschel objects.
Show Herschel Objects Observed
This query displays all Herschel objects
that have been observed.
Show Herschel Objects Not Observed
This query displays all Herschel objects
that have not been observed.
Database Report
This option will print a report of those
objects currently on the spreadsheet tab selected.
Logbook Report
This option will print a report of all
objects observed.
Messier Certificate Summary
Displays a summary report of all Messier
objects that have been observed.
Messier Certificate Detail
Displays a detail report of all Messier
objects that have been observed.
Herschel Certificate Summary
Displays a summary report of all Herschel
objects that have been observed.
Herschel Certificate Detail
Displays a detail report of all Herschel
objects that have been observed.
Logbook Observed Statistics
Counts the number of objects you have
observed and displays this information by object type including messier and
Herschel objects.
Print Screen
Sends the current screen to the printer.
Image Processing
This option takes you to Deepsky’s image
processing features. Here you can view
or edit images.
Solar System Image Gallery
Displays 80 hi-resolution images from
various solar system objects. NOTE: Requires that the image path is set
properly in MISC preferences.
FitsView –from NRAO/AUI
FitsView is a FITS image format editor. This program is separate from Deepsky 2000
and must be installed either off the CD-ROM drive or downloaded from the
Deepsky website.
Sun, Moon, and Planets
Click on one of these to see detailed
information on the solar system object.
Included are times of rising, position, brightness, and more. You also will see a star chart showing
where the object is currently located and a nice photo of the object.
Summary
The summary screen displays an overview of
the Sun, Moon and planets.
Dates of New and Full Moons
This option shows you when the new and full
moons will occur for the year you specify.
Lunar
Map
Select this option to view a map of the moon
showing major lunar features.
Meteor
Showers
This option shows information on various
meteor showers throughout the year.
Image Gallery
Displays 80 hi-resolution images from
various solar system objects. NOTE: Requires that the image path is set properly
in MISC preferences. This option is
also located on the Imaging menu.
Comet Data
This option shows the orbital elements of
all currently visible comets and allows you to generate a custom
ephemeris. You can even plot the
ephemeris onto a star chart.
Asteroid Data
This option shows the orbital elements of
about 8,000 asteroids and allows you to generate a custom ephemeris. You can even plot the ephemeris onto a star
chart.
Moonrise – By Dr. Bruce Sidell
Moonrise is a separate program which
provides excellent information on the moon.
The software can be downloaded from http://www.iserv.net/~bsidell/moonrise.htm
Show Objects In Plan
To add objects to your observing plan you
click on the PLN column on the spreadsheet.
When you do this, the software keeps track of all objects you clicked
on. Show Objects simply loads only
those objects back into the spreadsheet so that you can view what was selected.
Note: Each spreadsheet
tab can have its own observing plan.
Clear Observing Plan
Clears all objects from the observing plan.
Open Existing Plan
Loads an observing plan that was previously
saved.
Save Current Plan
Saves the current observing plan to your
hard disk.
EZ Logbook Update
Deepsky 2000 lets you quickly update your
personal logbook by moving objects from your observing plan into the log. This option lets you enter common data like
date, location observed, equipment, etc. one time and then select the objects
shown on a list to add to your logbook.
View/Edit Logbook
This option is the main one you use when you
want to enter objects into your logbook.
From this screen, you can access all other personal logbook related
screens.
View Logbook in Spreadsheet
This option lets you view all your
observations in a spreadsheet where you can select the ones you want and order
them to your liking.
Print
Blank LogSheet
Use this option to print out copies of a
Logbook sheet you can use to record your objects while observing.
Print Logbook – 1 object per page
Use this option to print your logbook so
that it can be bound or used elsewhere.
You can select the objects you want printed along with the sort order.
Print LogSheet For All Objects On
Spreadsheet
Use this option to quickly print out your
logbook.
View Other Amateur Logbooks
Deepsky comes with over 4,000 observations
from amateur observers. This option
displays the list of catalogs for you to view and the objects within the
catalog. When selected, the details of
the observation are shown.
Backup Logbook
This option lets you copy the logbook to
another disk drive so that it is backed up.
Import Log Maintenance
This option lets you define new logbook
names you wish to import using the Import
Other Logs into Deepsky option
Import Other Logs into Deepsky
Performs the import process adding
observations from an outside file into Deepsky 2000.
Convert NGP Export File to ASCII Format
This option takes NGP logbook files and
converts them into an ASCII format so that it can be imported using the Import Other Logs into Deepsky option.
Export Personal Logbook Data
Use this option to make your observations
accessible to other astronomy programs.
The option reads through your logbook and creates an ASCII file
containing the data.
Deepsky 2000 is capable of displaying very
beautiful star charts. By default,
Deepsky 2000 includes its own star charting functions. In addition, Deepsky 2000 also supports creating
star charts using Cartes du Ciel by
Patrick Chevalley (A great freeware software included with Deepsky 2000). Select either charting option and you will
be presented with several options to choose from.
Deepsky
2000 Charting Options
Star Charts
Use
this option to create a star chart showing only those Deepsky objects that are
on the currently selected spreadsheet.
Plot Planets, Sun, and Moon
Use
this option to create a star chart showing only solar system objects.
Plot Entered Coordinates
This
option let you enter a series of coordinates and then have a chart created with
those coordinates plotted.
Plot Scope Location
When
telescope control is activated, this option will create a star chart with the
field centered on the telescope position.
Go To Constellation
Creates
a simple star chart centered on the selected constellation.
Show Charts With Stars Only
Creates
a simple star chart with no Deepsky objects.
Cartes du Ciel Charting Options
Star Charts
Use
this option to create a star chart showing only those Deepsky objects that are
on the currently selected spreadsheet.
Plot Entered Coordinates
This
option let you enter a series of coordinates and then have a chart created with
those coordinates plotted.
Go To Constellation
Creates
a simple star chart centered on the selected constellation.
Cartes du Ciel
Launches Cartes du Ciel astronomy
software.
Scope Enabled/Disabled
When this option says SCOPE DISABLED,
clicking it activates telescope control.
If telescope control has not been used before, you will be prompted to
enter the com port #. If the option
says SCOPE ENABLED, then clicking it turns off the scope control.
Scope Setup
Before using telescope control, you should
select this option to specify the scope you are using and whether you are using
the generic Deepsky driver or ACP.
Control Panel
Available only for LX-200 telescope users,
this option provides a control panel, which you can use to control the LX-200
instead of using the hand controller that comes with it.
Current Scope Position
This option returns the scope’s current
right ascension, declination, altitude, and azimuth.
Identify Objects at Current Scope Position
This option will display objects that are
currently within a certain number of degrees from your telescope. You can use this feature to help identify
objects nearby in order to help minimize slewing.
Slide Show (Tour Mode)
This option will take you on a tour of the
universe based on whatever objects are currently displayed on the spreadsheet.
Show Scope Location on Chart
Create Slide Show Script for ACP
Astronomer’s Control Panel enables you to
write scripts to control your telescope.
This option automatically creates an ACP script based on the objects
currently displayed on the spreadsheet.
Create
Tour Script
If you are using a scope with a Meade
AUTOSTAR controller, then you can create a tour script that can be loaded into
the Autostar. Whatever objects are
displayed on the currently selected spreadsheet will be added to the
script. Once the script is created, you
simple load it in using the Autostar update utility.
Go To ACP Website
Takes you to the ACP website. ACP is an excellent telescope control
software package that includes voice recognition to navigate your scope. Check it out!!
Astro Bookmarks
This option provides over 500 categorized
website links relating to all aspects of astronomy. You can use this feature to lookup a summary of the website prior
to visiting it or have it launch your web browser automatically.
Sync Time
Synchronizes your PC’s internal clock to an
accurate TimeServer on the Internet.
Time Signals in Browser
Launches a website that will provide verbal
time signals.
Internet Configuration
Sets various parameters that are used in the
NGC On-line and Digital Sky Survey interfaces.
Deepsky 2000 Help
Takes you to Deepsky’s on-line help file
Enable Screen Tips
Shows tips while you use Deepsky 2000.
Check For Deepsky Updates
Automatically checks the website to see if
the version of Deepsky you are running is up to date.
Make Fully Operational
This option is used to register your copy of
Deepsky 2000. You will be prompted to
enter the user id and the registration code.
Note: Both the user id and code
are case sensitive so enter them exactly as given to you.
Registration Information
Provides information on how to register
Deepsky 2000
Database Sources
Displays detailed information on each
catalog used in Deepsky.
Acknowledgments
Credits to those who help make Deepsky 2000
what it is today.
About Deepsky 2000
Provides the current version of the software
you are using.
DEEPSKY 2000 provides a pop-up menu when you
select an object that is displayed on the spreadsheet. In order to display the
Right-Click pop-up menu, first click once on the row you are interested in,
then right-click after you have selected the row. The pop-up menu will then be displayed. Many of the tasks can also be accessed via a pull-down menu or
toolbar button. Most of the options on the pop-up menu relate to the object you
selected.
Sort Column in Ascending Order
This
option sort the list of objects in ascending order based on the column
selected.
Sort Column in Descending Order
This
option sort the list of objects in descending order based on the column
selected.
Reports
Print Logsheet For Selected Object
This
option prints a log sheet report for the object selected. This report shows information for the
object, provides a space for notes, and shows two circled areas for making
sketches of the field.
Print Observing Plan Details for Selected
Object
This
option prints a report showing detailed data for the object, a small star
chart, and observing notes, all organized neatly on one page.
Charts - Deepsky 2000
Print Finder Chart For
Selected Object
This
option prints a report showing 3 charts of different levels of detail. One chart gives you a wide angle view,
another a telrad view, and finally an eyepiece view.
3-Panel
Finder Chart
This
option display a 3 panel finder chart for the object you have selected showing
various
field of views.
Plot and Center All Objects
This option plots all the objects
currently selected and displayed on the screen onto a star
chart.
Plot
Currently Selected Objects Centered on Selected Object
This
option plots all the objects currently selected and displayed on the screen
onto a star
chart
centered on the object you selected.
Plot Selected Object and Center It
This
option plots only the selected object onto a star chart with the object
centered
Charts – Cartes du Ciel
Plot and Center All Objects
This option plots all the objects
currently selected and displayed on the screen onto a star
chart.
Plot
Currently Selected Objects Centered on Selected Object
This
option plots all the objects currently selected and displayed on the screen
onto a star
chart
centered on the object you selected.
Plot Selected Object and Center It
This
option plots only the selected object onto a star chart with the object
centered
Real Sky Image
This option takes the selected object on the
spreadsheet and instructs Cartes du Ciel to display a Real Sky CD ROM
Image.
Send Current Object To Variable Star
Observer
Variable Star Observer is another freeware
product by Patrick Chevalley that displays information including light curves
for variable stars. Deepsky’s GCVS
catalog can be used to select variable stars that can be viewed in Patrick’s
program. This option sends the
currently selected object on the spreadsheet to the Variable Star Observer
program.
Send All Objects To Variable Star Observer
This option sends all of the variable stars
(GCVS catalog only) on the Deepsky 2000 spreadsheet to the Variable Star
Observer program.
Internet
Go to the Interactive NGC Catalog Online (Requires Internet Explorer 4.0 or later)
This
option will load Internet Explorer and show information regarding the object
you are on from a web site on the Internet.
Go to Digital Sky Survey Online (Requires Internet Explorer 4.0 or later)
This
option will display an image of the object selected from the Digital Sky Survey
on the
Internet.
Go to Skyrover Sketches (Requires Internet Explorer 4.0 or later)
This
option will display a sketch of the object selected from the Skyrover website.
The
site
showcases the work of Jere Kahanpää and was put together by Tim Harincar. This
feature
shows what the object actually looks like visually through a telescope. The
website
http://www.skyrover.net/ds/
can be viewed using your webbrowser as well.
Object Details
This
option shows detailed information on the object selected and displays any
images that are attached to the object along with a simple finder chart.
Database Maintenance
This
option is similar to the Object Details option, but allows you to change information
relating to the object selected.
View/Edit Logbook for Selected Object
This
option displays your logbook for the currently selected object. You can add as many observations to the
logbook as you want and view them one at a time or all together using the TABLE
view.
Amateur Logs
DEEPSKY
2000 comes with several logbooks obtained from other amateur observers. Selecting this object will display the
logbook information for the selected object if the object is in one of the
other logbooks.
Description Details
DEEPSKY
2000 provides a lot of additional information for each object depending upon
which catalog is selected. This option
shows this information in a notepad like window.
Description Key for NGC 2000
This
option displays a key of the abbreviations used by the NGC 2000 catalog
description field.
Set As Home Target
Deepsky can display the separation in
degrees between an object in the spreadsheet and a selected target object. A target object can be any object on the
spreadsheet or it can be the current telescope position. When targeting is turned on (Target button
on Ranges 2 tab), the number of degrees between it and each object in the
spreadsheet is displayed in the separation column of the spreadsheet. The separation column is highlighted so that
you know that targeting is turned on.
Locate Object in Telescope
This
option will slew your telescope to the object selected.
Sync
This option can be used with either the
LX200 or the Ultima telescope to Sync the coordinates of the currently selected
object. You could use this to
essentially update your alignment as you view objects in different parts of the
sky.
This wizard lets you specify the
path to where the database, images, the Guide Star Catalog, and the Super Tycho
star catalog files reside. The first
time you run DEEPSKY 2000, the following setup wizard may appear:
Answer the prompts as you go
through the setup wizard and click Finish when you are done.
If you have used a Deepsky
product in the past and have upgraded to the present version, you may see a
window indicating that a conversion of your previous logbook and other
miscellaneous files is necessary. Click
on the button and your files, with the exception of your preferences, will be
converted to the new format. When this
process is complete, DEEPSKY 2000 will start.
If you are an unregistered user,
a 15 second delay window will be
displayed each time DEEPSKY 2000 starts, reminding you that your copy is for
evaluation purposes only. You have 30
days to evaluate DEEPSKY 2000 before you are required to register it. This 15-second delay will be removed when
you enter the registration code.
If you have purchased DEEPSKY
2000 and have a registration code, you should register your copy the first time
you run DEEPSKY 2000. Select the Help pull-down menu, and select the Make Fully Operational option. When prompted, enter the registration code
that you were given along with the user name shown. You will only have to do this once. This information is case
sensitive and should be entered exactly as shown on the sheet
Before you get too far into the
software, please set your basic preferences.
These include your location, time zone, date, etc. The following section will assist you in
getting DEEPSKY 2000 ready for action.
Select Date and Time from the Preferences
menu. The date and time shown are used
to calculate planet positions, altitude and azimuth on the spreadsheet,
etc. A time zone should be entered and
daylight savings should be specified if necessary. The Use PC Clock
check box will cause DEEPSKY 2000 to use your PC’s clock when it makes any
calculations instead of using the static date entered.
Enter the location where you will
be observing. You can select your city
if it appears in the list. If your city
is not in the list, you must create a personal observing location by entering
the latitude, longitude, and time zone. Sites entered under personal observing
locations will show up during the logbook entry on a pull-down list
Enter any observing equipment
that you use. You can specify
telescopes, eyepieces, CCD cameras, or you can enter additional equipment. This information will be available in a
personal list box when you make logbook entries.
Use MISC preferences to specify
the location of several Deepsky 2000 Database files and images. Because these files are large, Deepsky lets
you keep them anywhere you like, so long a drive letter can be mapped to their
location.
1. If
you have the CD-ROM version, you should enter the path to the Hubble Guide Star (GSC) files. Simply browse to the folder by clicking the
button to the left of the text box.
2. Enter
the path to the Super Tycho star catalog.
Deepsky defaults this path, however if you move the files, you will need
to update the path here.
3. Next,
if you have the DEEPSKY 2000-supplied images, enter the path to where you
placed them. You should keep all your
images the folder you select here.
4. Next,
the location of the Deepsky database is shown.
Specify the path to the database.
The 426,000 object database is named DeePro413000.MDB and the smaller
26,000 object database is named DeepPro13000.MDB
5. Log
Types allow you to partition your observer’s logbook into multiple
logbooks. You could for instance set up
a double star logbook, a variable star logbook, and a deepsky logbook. When you specify the logbook type, only that
logbook type will be active for data entry and queries.
6.
The Data/Log Lookup
Type checkbox controls how Deepsky places an
X under the OBS column on the
spreadsheet. If this box is not
checked, then Deepsky refers to the main object database flag, otherwise the
logbook is consulted to see if it’s been observed. Whenever you add an object to your logbook, the software updates
a flag in the object database indicating it has been observed (if the database
is not on the CD-ROM). Otherwise,
Deepsky looks at the logbook to make the determination. The reason for doing this is because when
loading the spreadsheet, it’s much quicker to look at the object database by
itself than having to examine both the database and the logbook.
Users who want
to start using the object database on the hard after they’ve used it on the
CD-ROM, should run the FIX OBSERVATIONS
option under the database utilities pull-down menu. This utility reads through your logbook and updates the object
database with a flag indicating you’ve observed the object this making the
spreadsheet load faster on subsequent uses.
Chart preferences allow you to
specify a few things about how the charts are drawn or used. Here you can set
the starting field of view for star charts, specify whether you want observer’s
notes to be passed to the charts so that when you click and object the notes
will be displayed, or set finder chart
preferences.
DEEPSKY 2000 can use the SAO
catalog which contains stars to about 9th magnitude and brighter,
the Super Tycho star catalog with stars to about 12th
magnitude, or it can use the Hubble
Guide Star Catalog – GSC (CD-ROM VERSION ONLY), which has 18 million stars to
about 15.5 magnitude.
Because of its smaller size, the SAO catalog runs quite a bit faster
than the GSC. If speed is of concern,
you may wish to start out using the SAO catalog.
You can specify which star
catalog to use by choosing Misc from
the Preferences pull-down menu, and
selecting the Specify GSC location or
the Tycho Star catalog location. If
you leave these values blank, DEEPSKY 2000 will default to using the SAO
catalog. If you wish to use the GSC
from the CD-ROM, select the path to the GSC folder on the CD-ROM.
If you wish to use the GSC but
desire better performance than you get from the CD-ROM, you can copy the GSC
from the CD-ROM to your hard drive by performing the following steps:
1. Copy
the 432 .DAT files from the root directory of the CD-ROM to any directory on
your computer. These files require
about 180 megabytes of space on your hard drive. Using Windows Explorer, remove the Read-only attribute from these
files on your hard drive. Select all
the files, then do a right-click and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
Uncheck the Read-only box then start DEEPSKY 2000.
2. Select
PreferencesàMisc,
and then select the Specify GSC Location.
54 catalogs
have been placed into the DEEPSKY 2000 database. These catalogs were downloaded from the CDS (Strasbourg
astronomical Data Center) at http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cats/cats.html.
A list
of all catalogs used in the software can be found on the Database Sources screen on the Help pull-down menu.
"The
Strasbourg astronomical Data Center (CDS) collects
and distributes astronomical data catalogues, related to observations of stars
and galaxies, and other galactic and extragalactic objects. A few catalogues about the solar system
bodies and atomic data are also included."
Note: By
default, the DEEPSKY 2000 download version only includes the NGC 2000 and the
SAC 7.1 catalogs. To use the full 426,000-object
database, you must download it separately or use the CD-ROM. Then specify the location in Misc Preferences.
DEEPSKY 2000 is composed of 7
primary components. Combined, these
components provide an integrated suite of observing tools for the amateur or
professional astronomer.
- Database Includes finding and reporting
information.
- Solar
System Provides data for the
Sun, moon, planets, comets, and asteroids
- Planner Create a custom-observing plan.
- Logbook Keeps
track of your observing notes, drawings, and images.
- Imaging Provides image enhancement and file
conversion.
- Star
Charts Displays useful color
star charts including objects from the database.
- Telescope Provides Go To capability for the
LX200, Autostar, and Nexstar
telescopes
The remaining sections of this
user manual will provide detailed information on each component and explain how
each one is integrated with the others to provide a complete environment to
plan and record your observing sessions.
The Deepsky spreadsheet screen is
your primary interface into the software.
From here, you can access all of the features available. The screen is divided into 3 sections, the
top, the middle, and the bottom. The
top section consists of menus, toolbar icons, and pull-down lists. Use this area of the screen to navigate to
other areas of the software. The middle
section consists of 5 tabs with a spreadsheet on each and an image tab. The spreadsheet is used to display selected
objects from the database as well as your observing plans. Each tab can contain a separate selection of
objects. The Images tab consolidates
all images supplied with DEEPSKY 2000 into one location for easy viewing. The bottom section has the REFRESH button, SHOW
PLAN button, and various tabs. Use the REFRESH
button after you have changed preferences or filters and want to load (refresh)
objects into the spreadsheet. Use the SHOW PLAN button to show just the
objects that you’ve already tagged in the spreadsheet. This option lets you browse through the
database selecting objects you are interested in viewing. At any point, use the SHOW PLAN button to show just what you’ve selected. To tag an object, just click on the PLN column. To deselect it, click it again.
DEEPSKY 2000 has two databases
available and both are in Microsoft Access 2000 format. The default database (DeepPro13000.mdb) contains 26,000 objects from
the NGC, IC, Messier, and the SAC 7.1 catalogs. This database provides most of the objects that are within the
visual range of amateur telescopes. The
larger database (DeepPro413000.mdb) contains over 426,000
objects, consisting of 326,000 deep sky objects, 30,000 variable stars, and
70,000 double stars.
SIZE OF THE DATABASE
Deeppro13000.mdb = 2.5 megabytes
Deeppro413000.mdb = 105 megabytes
The CD-ROM's database can be
installed onto your hard disk as described earlier in this manual or can remain
on the CD-ROM. Significant performance
increases are obtained when the file is copied to your hard disk. However, keep in mind that the uncompressed
database is around 105 megabytes. In
addition, if you ever want to import more catalogs into DEEPSKY 2000 using the
Database Import Wizard, this database must reside on your hard drive.
Design of the Database
The
DEEPSKY 2000 database is a Microsoft Access 2000 (.MDB file) database. It can also be used directly by Microsoft
Access 2000, Microsoft Visual Basic 5, 6, or C++. This enables advanced users to create their own programs to
utilize the extensive DEEPSKY 2000 database.
DEEPSKY
2000 provides various maintenance capabilities for the database, including a
Microsoft Access-like spreadsheet that can be used to Add, Update, and Delete
objects. In addition, users can add or
update the database using simple data entry forms.
DEEPSKY 2000 also provides an
empty database called TEMPLATE.MDB. You
can use this database to create your own collection of objects separate from
the DEEPSKY 2000 database. To use this
database, simply put it in a new folder all by itself, then rename it to some
other name with the extension of .MDB.
Then run DEEPSKY 2000 and change the path to the database to match the
new location using MISC preferences.
Before getting too specific with
the actual commands and screens used in DEEPSKY 2000, I want to explain generally
how DEEPSKY 2000 could be used to find information in the database.
There are only two things that
you have to do to find information in the database.
1. Set
the preferences/filters or use the optional SQL command line, and
2. Click
the Refresh button to filter and
sort the data based on your settings.
Note: The SQL command line can
be used in place of setting preferences/filters if you are familiar with
SQL. It is beyond the scope of this
manual to explain the details of SQL.
However, some general information will be explained later in this
document.
The first step is to set the
various filters or preferences. All
filters and preferences, which affect the display of objects in the
spreadsheet, are found in the various tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet
screen.
It is important to remember
that after you set filters, you must click the Refresh
button on the main DEEPSKY 2000 screen to have DEEPSKY 2000 display the objects
that meet the criteria that you set in filters.
Once you click the Refresh button, DEEPSKY 2000 will look
up the information in the database based on how you set your filters. During this process, a small window will be
displayed in the center of your screen that shows the process is running. In addition, a progress bar will appear on
your screen indicating the percent of data that has been retrieved. If at any time you want to stop the database
lookup, just click on either that window or the Stop button in the lower left corner of your screen. By stopping the lookup, DEEPSKY 2000 will
display what it has found up to the point it was interrupted. This might be necessary if you selected a
large number of objects and the look-up function was taking too long.
You can also set an option on the
main database spreadsheet screen that limits the number of objects returned
during a query. Some queries may take a
long time and you may want to see only the first 100 or so returned. This option, located in the toolbar, lets you specify when to stop the query
automatically.
After the list of objects is
displayed, you can perform a variety of tasks by right clicking on a
object. These tasks include printing
the data, displaying a star chart containing the data selected, selecting objects
for an observing plan, viewing logbook information for a particular object, and
more.
The
wizard, located on the Query menu, will assist you in determining what objects
are visible at your observing location.
It walks you through a series of screens gathering information from
you. After this information has been
collected, the FINISH button will query the database and display a list of
objects for you in the spreadsheet.
The What’s Up Messier and What’s
Up Herschel have been pre-built since you might use these frequently.
If you need to find an object or
objects quickly, you don't necessarily have to change your filters. You can simply hit the search icon on the
spreadsheet, CTRL-F key, or double-click anywhere on the list of objects
displayed in the spreadsheet.
Performing this action causes the FIND OBJECT window to appear.
FIELD TO SEARCH: Selects
the field you wish to search in the database.
DISPLAY OPTIONS: Outputs the results of the search to
either the spreadsheet or a form. If
you want more than one object to appear, as would be the case in wild card
searches, make sure you select the Spreadsheet option
SEARCH ALL CATALOGS: Performs the
search on all catalogs in the database, otherwise Deepsky will prompt you for
the catalog to search.
For instance, to find all objects
in the catalog selected that begins with 12,
enter 12*. The asterisk is a wildcard character.
Option Tabs (Bottom of Spreadsheet Screen)
11 option tabs at the bottom of
the spreadsheet screen provide additional functionality while using the
spreadsheet.
TIP: The RESET button on the general tab sets all filters back to
the default setting. Because Deepsky
has so many filters available, you might not understand why some objects don’t
appear on the spreadsheet when you refresh the screen. Using the reset button puts you back at
where you started.
|
TAB
|
FUNCTION
|
|
FILTERS
|
Controls what appears in the
spreadsheet and provides an altitude and azimuth filter.
|
|
SELECT
|
Controls which catalogs, object
types, and constellations appear in the spreadsheet.
|
|
RANGES 1
|
Filters for magnitude, object
size, RA, and declination (see note1 below).
|
|
RANGES 2
|
Filters for object ID, other
ID, separation, and position angles.
|
|
SORT
|
Specifies how you want the
spreadsheet sorted during the database lookup.
|
|
QUERY
|
Perform SQL queries and load
saved observing plans.
|
|
PERSONAL LOG
|
Displays personal logbook
information on the selected object in the spreadsheet.
|
|
OTHER LOG
|
Displays other logbook
information on the selected object in the spreadsheet.
|
|
DESC
|
Shows additional information on
the selected object.
|
|
TRANSIT
|
Displays transit information on
the selected object.
|
|
IMAGES
|
Displays an image thumbnail on
the selected object if one exists
|
Note1:
The
Include Blank Magnitudes checkbox for
Magnitude 2 should be left checked in all cases except for possibly when using
the Washington Double Star or the GCVS catalogs. If you are getting NO OBJECTS FOUND when refreshing the screen,
you will want to make sure this checkbox is checked.
DEEPSKY 2000 allows you to expand
the database to include any object you like.
To add a new object to the database, click on the EDIT menu option under the Database pull-down menu. You will then be presented with a new window
with several empty fields. Enter the
required information and click the Add
command button. If you make an error,
DEEPSKY 2000 will issue a pop-up message alerting you.
If you have ever used Microsoft
Excel you are familiar with the bottom tabs that let you have more than one
worksheet open at a time. DEEPSKY 2000
provides five tabs, which are customizable.
These tabs are your worksheets.
Here you will load data from the database into one of these worksheets
so that you can perform tasks.
The icon of the moon at the
bottom of the screen will change phase depending on the date entered in the
preferences. This icon represents only
the approximate phase of the moon and is not meant to be highly accurate.
DEEPSKY 2000 has several
preferences that can be set to affect the operation of the software.
Setup Wizard
The setup wizard will walk you
through setting up the various file paths that DEEPSKY 2000 needs to operate.
Date and Time
Use these preference settings to
set the date and time DEEPSKY 2000 uses for its calculations.
Geographic Location
Use these preference settings to
set your latitude and longitude. You
can select your location from GENERAL LOCATIONS if it appears on the list, or
you can set up your own observing locations under the PERSONAL OBSERVING
LOCATIONS tab. This tab lets you define
multiple locations from which you normally observe. This information is provided as a drop down box in the logbook to
facilitate recording your objects and also controls the calculation of
altitude, azimuth, rise, set, and transit times for objects.
Equipment
Use
this preference to select the equipment you use during your observing
sessions. You can select from a
predefined list of scopes, eyepieces, and CCD equipment or you can add your own
equipment. The information will be used
in the logbook to facilitate recording your objects and to create eyepiece circles on the star charts.
Miscellaneous
Use
this preference to set other options in DEEPSKY 2000. This preference can be used to set your default file locations
for the Hubble Guide Star Catalog, images, and the Deepsky database. In addition, you can create multiple
logbooks by adding new log types to the software.
Spreadsheet
Use
this preference to set the colors and fonts you want to use for the
spreadsheet. In addition, several
spreadsheet-formatting options are available including suppressing zeros from
appearing on the spreadsheet.
Chart
Use
these preferences to set the chart creation options. Here you set the default chart field of view along with other
options like whether you want to include logbook notes in the object
information dialog.
Image
Use
these preferences to set how images are displayed.
Looking up information in a
database is useful, but unless you have a laptop computer, you will need to
print your database lists for use at the telescope. DEEPSKY 2000 accomplishes this task easily by providing customization
as to what information is shown on the report.
You can easily adjust field widths and spacing to suit your needs. Most printing is sent first to the preview
screen (below) where you can examine the contents before you print.
You can click the Preview button to see the default report layout or
you can change the way the information is printed by clicking the Report Setup button.
Report setup provides you with a
list of fields that can be printed on the report along with the width of the
column in inches. If during a preview
the fields overlap causing the column to be printed in two lines instead of
one, adjust the column widths then preview the report again. Once you get your report looking the way you
want it, then save the report layout so you can recall it again if you need to.
The line spacing pull down box
provides different line spacing options.
This is useful if you want to leave room on the report for notes taken
at the telescope.
Finally, you can change the font
used in the report by selecting Change
Font. This allows you to make the size of the
print smaller so that more fields will fit on a single page.
This report shows information for
the selected object in the spreadsheet.
To generate this report, just right click on any object shown in the
spreadsheet and select this option under REPORTS. When the preview screen appears, you can change a few options
relating to the chart that will appear.
To see the report, press the PREVIEW button then click PRINT to have it
printed.
This report is useful for
recording your observations while at the telescope. It shows detailed information on the object selected along with
plenty of space to record notes and to make sketches. To generate this report,
just right click on any object shown in the spreadsheet and select this option
under REPORTS.
DEEPSKY 2000 provides several
predefined Queries and Reports for you on the Query and Report
pull-down menus. These reports include
showing objects that have images attached, showing the Messier objects, showing
objects you observed, showing objects brighter than 8th magnitude, etc.
A report titled Logbook Observed Statistics shows a count of the different object
types you have observed and tells how many Messier and Herschel objects you
have observed.
When you select a query, DEEPSKY
2000 will retrieve the information from the database and display it on the
spreadsheet screen.
When you select a report, DEEPSKY
2000 will display the report in the preview window so that you can change
fields and column widths prior to printing.
The DEEPSKY 2000 database engine
is based on SQL (Structured Query Language).
Although it is not necessary to understand SQL
in order to use DEEPSKY 2000, the SQL interface allows for more powerful
and flexible database searches. DEEPSKY
2000’s implementation of SQL syntax is not difficult to understand. However, for a more thorough description of
its syntax, I recommend that you pick up a SQL reference book at your local
bookstore.
Internally, when DEEPSKY 2000 is
looking up information based on the filters you set, it is translating the
preferences into SQL statements under the covers. This eliminates the need for you to understand SQL to operate
DEEPSKY 2000. The command line of the
QUERY tab on the main DEEPSKY 2000 screen, shows what the actual SQL statement
is that retrieved the information you requested based on your filter
settings. You can use this statement as
a way to learn the SQL syntax.
For those of you who know SQL,
you may enter your own queries on the SQL command line or in Deepsky’s QUERY
BUILDER. For the most part you will be
using the Select statement only.
In order to use the SQL command
line, you must know the table name and field names defined in the
database. The DeepskyTable is the file that stores all the objects in
the database. When entering an SQL
statement, this table name is used to specify which table you want to look
information up in. In DEEPSKY 2000,
there is only one object database table.
Field names in the table are used to identify the type of information the
table stores. As required by SQL, you
must know the field names so that you can use them in your SQL statement. Use
these names exactly as shown–they are case sensitive.
·
ObjectID
·
OtherID
·
ObjectType
·
RAhours
·
RAminutes
·
DeclinationDegrees
·
DeclinationMinutes
·
Epoch
·
GalacticLongitude
·
GalacticLatitude
·
Constellation
·
ObjectSize
·
Magnitude
·
Magnitude2
·
Mcode
·
PositionAngle
·
Separation
·
Description
·
Catalog
·
ImageFile
·
MessierNumber
·
Observed
·
Hobject
Note: In the following examples, the general SQL
syntax is highlighted in blue and the information that is dynamic is
highlighted in maroon.
Example 1
To select all
Messier Objects in the database and then sort them by Constellation and then
within constellation, sort them by Magnitude, enter the following into the SQL
command line:
SELECT * FROM DeepskyTable WHERE MessierNumber > 0 ORDER
BY Constellation, Magnitude
To run the query, just press Enter or click the Run command button. If an
error exists in the SQL statement, a message will be displayed and you will
have to try again.
Example 2
To show all
records that have an image attached to them in Constellation order in the NGC
2000 Catalog, use the following:
SELECT * FROM DeepskyTable WHERE ImageFile <> " " and Catalog =
"2000" ORDER BY Constellation
It's that easy. Make sure you enter spaces just like the
examples above.
The following wildcard characters
are available in Deepsky’s implementation of SQL:
* Matches any number of characters. For example, A* will match all entries of any length that begin with the letter A.
?
Matches any single alphabetic
character.
[
] Matches any single character within
the bracket.
#
Matches any single numeric character.
Example 3
To find all
constellations starting with the letter A,
key in the following query:
SELECT * FROM DeepskyTable WHERE Constellation Like
"A*" ORDER BY Constellation
Example 4
To find all
constellations starting with An, use
the following query:
SELECT * FROM DeepskyTable WHERE Constellation Like "An?" ORDER BY Constellation
Query
Builder extends DEEPSKY 2000’s filtering and sorting capabilities giving you
unlimited flexibility.
Query Builder is designed to help
create an SQL statement for you. It
essentially walks you through the process of creating an SQL statement. Query Builder gives you the ability to
create powerful SQL queries without any prior knowledge of SQL. When you select this option, the Query
Builder screen is displayed.
To create a query, select any
field that you want to select specific data on. For example, if you select ObjectType,
you are telling DEEPSKY 2000 to select only the data that match the object type
you specify. After you select the
field, you should click on one of the comparison operators (e.g. =, Not
=, <, >). Next, enter a
comparison value in the text box above the Sort
By options. You may also select a
field on which to sort the selected data.
If you want to sort on multiple fields, click the Sort By box multiple times in the order you want sorted.
If you intend to create a complex
query using the And or Or operators, don't specify a Sort By until you have finished with
your expression. The Sort By is always the last thing you
add to your query. The ( ) bracket symbols on query builder
should be used to nest complex And/Or
logic to your query.
As Query Builder creates your query, the equivalent SQL syntax is displayed on
the lower portion of the screen. If you
know SQL you can enter your query directly in the box, bypassing Query Builder. If you are not familiar with SQL, watch as
you build your query. Basic SQL is
quite easy.
Once you have created your query,
click the Run command button to see
if your query will run. You should
notice that Deepsky will select the objects you have requested. While the query is running, you can
double-click the Stop button to halt
the execution of the query. Once you
have successfully run your query, you may save it by clicking the Save button.
If at any time you want to start your query over, click New. You can make changes
to the actual SQL statement at any time by clicking on it and editing it.
The Table Maintenance function
(from the Database Menu) allows direct access to the primary tables (files)
that are used by DEEPSKY 2000. By
selecting one of the available options, you are able to gain direct access to
these files for maintenance or inquiry.
Be careful when using these options with Read Only turned off–you could inadvertently change the
tables.
Object Database
Provides direct access to
the deep sky objects themselves. You
can easily add, update, or delete objects using this option.
Object Logbook
Provides
direct access to your logbook. You can
easily add, update, or delete objects using this option.
Object Images
Provides direct access to
any images you have linked to your logbook.
You can easily add, update, or delete objects using this option.
User Catalog
Provides direct access to
the OTHER LOGBOOKS. This data consists
of logbook information by author. You
can easily add, update, or delete objects using this option.
CCD Logbook
Provides direct access to CCD Logbook records.
Information
on the sun, moon, planets, comets, and asteroids is available in DEEPSKY
2000. To display this information,
select one of the options from the Solar
System pull-down menu.
Sun, Moon, and Planets
Click on one of these to see
detailed information on the solar system object. Included are times of rising, position, brightness, and
more. You also will see a star chart
showing where the object is currently located and a nice photo of the object.
Summary
The summary screen displays an overview of the Sun, Moon and
planets.
Dates of New and Full Moons
This option shows you when the
new and full moons will occur for the year you specify.
Lunar Map
Select this option to view a map
of the moon showing major lunar features.
Meteor Showers
This option shows information on various meteor showers
throughout the year.
Contains
nearly 80 high-resolution images of objects in the solar system and over 400
Messier and NGC objects.
Comet Data
This option shows the orbital
elements of all currently visible comets and allows you to generate a custom
ephemeris. You can even plot the
ephemeris onto a star chart.
Asteroid Data
This option shows the orbital
elements of about 8,000 asteroids and allows you to generate a custom
ephemeris. You can even plot the
ephemeris onto a star chart.
Moonrise – By Dr. Bruce Sidell
Moonrise is a separate program
which provides excellent information on the moon. The software can be downloaded from http://www.iserv.net/~bsidell/moonrise.htm
One feature of DEEPSKY 2000 that
sets it apart from other astronomy programs is its Custom Observing
Planner. The planner is used in
conjunction with the database features of the software. As you look up information in the database,
objects that you’d like to add to the plan can be tagged by simply clicking the
PLN column in the spreadsheet. Tagging objects from the database provides
a way to filter out all of the objects you are not interested in.
An Observing plan is simply a collection of objects that you have
tagged while browsing the database
For example, let's say that you
want to concentrate on viewing galaxies in the constellation Virgo. What you could do is to set your
constellation to Virgo along with any other filters. After the REFRESH button is pressed, you can simply click on the PLN column for the objects you want
Deepsky to remember. At any time as
you are browsing through the database, just click the Show Plan button to show a list of those objects you have selected.
TIP: Each tab in the spreadsheet can
have its own observing plan. Thus, you
could have separate plans set up for Messier objects, Herschel objects,
galaxies, etc.
After you click on the object,
DEEPSKY 2000 will put an X on the PLN column in the spreadsheet next to
the object id. By repeating this
process, you are building a list of objects that you will use when you
observe. Feel free to open other catalogs
and tag any object you want added. When
you are ready to see what you have tagged, just click the Show Plan icon on the toolbar.
To
add all objects on the current spreadsheet to your plan, go to the Query tab on
the bottom of
the
spreadsheet screen and select the +ALL
to PLAN button.
At any time, you can remove an
object from your observing plan by clicking on the PLN column for the object
you have selected. This feature acts
like a toggle switch letting you add or remove objects.
Showing objects in your plan is
easy. Just click the Show Plan button on the spreadsheet
screen. Only those objects with an X in
the PLN column (ie. Those you tagged)
will be shown on the spreadsheet. All
of Deepsky’s features like the options
on the right click menu are available for you to use.
TIP: Use the REFRESH button to show objects in the database and the Show Plan button to show objects you
have selected.
Deepsky comes with two observing
plans pre-built for you. The HCLUB1.pln
consists of the first 400 objects in the Herschel club plan. The HCLUB2.pln consists of the next 400 objects in the Herschel
club plan.
The EZ Logbook Update feature
will save you considerable time entering your observations into the
logbook. The idea here is that much of
the data you have, such as date, time, conditions, etc will be the same for most
or all of your objects. EZ Logbook
Update is a DEEPSKY 2000 feature that automatically creates logbook entries
based on the objects that you have tagged in your observing plan. This eliminates the need to manually enter
each one into the logbook. DEEPSKY 2000
quickly creates each logbook entry for you, leaving you only the task of
updating notes and attaching any drawings or images if so desired.
The right pane of this screen
shows you all of the objects that you have tagged in your observing plan. To update your logbook, just fill out the
left portion of the screen, then check all the objects you would like to add to
your logbook. When you are ready, click
the UPDATE LOG button and those
objects will be recorded in your logbook.
Shows the currently tagged
objects in the spreadsheet. Use this
option to view your plan as it stands at any moment. To refresh the screen, use the Show Plan icon on the toolbar or
next to the Refresh button.
This option clears all of your
selected items.
Select this option to open a plan
you have previously saved.
Saves the current plan for later
use. You must save your plan before
ending if you do not want to lose it.
To assist in the planning
process, Deepsky can display a 3 Panel finder chart for an object wherever you
see the Finder Chart icon .
Finder charts are separate from
the normal Deepsky charting functions.
They do not include all the functionality such as telescope control like
in the normal Deepsky charts. However,
each panel is selectable and can have the field of view, movement, and a few
other things changed in them.
Keeping track of observations is
an essential task for every serious observer. DEEPSKY 2000’s unique and
innovative implementation of the logbook integrates very well with its other
components. For example, DEEPSKY 2000’s
database highlights objects that have been observed and logged. Further, the planner provides a quick and
easy way to log observations from your observing plans. This integration eliminates the repetitive
task of entering common data for each log entry. Simply enter it once, and DEEPSKY 2000 can create all your
logbook entries automatically. You can
use the logbook to record an unlimited number of observations, and describe
those observations using an enhanced rich text editor capable of storing about
64,000 characters per observation.
The logbook can be accessed in
one of two ways. First, you can open
the log by selecting the View/Edit
Logbook option under the Logbook pull-down menu. Second, you can right click on an object in the spreadsheet and
select View/Edit Logbook For Selected
Object to view the log information for the selected object
The logbook consists of different
tabs that separate it into 5 functional areas: Information, Session Notes, Observing Notes, CCD, and Images.
The Information tab is where the primary information is stored and
contains all the common fields that you will need to track what you
observe. The Session Notes tab is where you can put general notes about
your observing session such as the weather conditions. The Observing
Notes tab is where you can record notes on your
observation. The CCD tab is
where users of CCD equipment can log additional information relating to
imaging. Finally, the Images tab keeps track of all the
images, sketches, or photos that you have made during your observation.
DEEPSKY 2000 allows you to
maintain an unlimited number of personal logbooks. This enables you to keep some observations separate from
others. Log Name was added to the logbook to identify the individual
logbooks. You can define these logbooks
in the MISC preferences under LOG TYPES, and select which logbook you want to
use either there, or on the Information tab of the logbook screen.
DEEPSKY 2000 assigns an
observation number to every object you add.
This is required to ensure that each entry in the observation database
has a unique key.
To add an entry to the log,
simply fill in the screen and click the Add
button. If you wish to add another
observation to the logbook for the same object simply enter the information and
click the Add icon in the
toolbar. You can review entries in the
logbook by selecting the observation from the list. When you click on an observation, the information for that entry
is shown on the screen. You may make
changes to an observation at this time.
In order to save any changes you make, you must click the Update button.
|
Observation #
|
Assigned by Deepsky to make
each record in the logbook unique.
|
Object
|
The object you observed. This value corresponds to the Object ID in the database or an
object that you enter (e.g., a comet or asteroid).
|
Log Name
|
This lets you specify which
logbook the observation will go into
|
Date
|
The date of
the observation in the format MM/DD/YYYY (or DD.MM.YY).
|
Time
|
The time of the observation in
the format HH:MM:SS. Tab out of this
field to have the current time automatically used.
|
Location
|
Text to identify the location
the observation took place.
|
Equipment
|
Text describing the equipment
that was used to make the observation.
|
Short Notes
|
Enter anything you want to
here.
|
Transparency
|
Select one of the options to
describe how transparent the sky was during the observation.
|
Seeing
|
Select one of the options to
describe how the seeing was during the observation.
|
Rating
|
Select a rating code from A+ to F. I've used the
traditional school rating scale since everyone knows it.
|
One method of recording your observations
is to find the object in the database and then right-click on the object and
select VIEW/EDIT Logbook for Selected
Object. It is possible to record
observations of objects that are not in the database as well. Objects such as comets or asteroids can be
added easily too. To perform this
function, go into the logbook by selecting VIEW/EDIT
Logbook from the logbook pull-down menu.
If you want to retrieve an observation
for one of these objects, simply click on the SEARCH button
under the Information tab. The search window provides various options
for searching for your log data. Simply
fill out the search form and click the FIND OBSERVATIONS button to see a list
of those objects matching your search criteria.
The CCD tab can be used to enter
information pertaining to your CCD observations.
DEEPSKY 2000 lets you attach
multiple images to your logbook entries.
Deepsky actually stores the full file path to your image and not the
image itself.
Follow these steps to add image
links to a logbook entry:
2. Locate the image on your hard disk and select it using the
Open dialog box that appears. Select
the image to attach to the logbook. The
image path, not the actual image, will be stored in the logbook.
Note: If
you move your images to a different directory, you will have to update every
affected logbook entry.
This will add the image to the
pull-down list box located above the image.
This list box will show all the images that you have linked to the
selected observation. You can load an
image onto the screen by selecting it from this list box. The full path and filename is shown in the
list box so you know where the image is actually stored on your machine.
To remove an image from the
logbook, simply load the image onto the screen and click the Delete icon. For additional image processing features, just click the Image Processing icon. This will invoke DEEPSKY
2000’s image processing function.
When you are finished processing the image, save the image and return to
the image processing logbook window by clicking on the Return button.
When you add an entry to your
logbook, Deepsky updates the logbook database and also flags the object
database (If the object database is not on the CD-ROM). The object database is told about your
observation to improve identifying observed objects in the spreadsheet. When objects are loaded into the
spreadsheet, an X will appear under the obs
column if the object has been observed.
If you are using the database on the CD-ROM, this process is not enabled
by default. In order to identify
objects on the spreadsheet as being observed, Deepsky must refer back to the
logbook to make that determination. The
end result is that the spreadsheet will load slower because of the additional
overhead, which occurs. To turn this
feature on, you need to go to the MISC preferences and select the DATA/LOG
LOOKUP TYPE checkbox.
DEEPSKY 2000 has a new feature
that makes recording your objects even easier. Normally when you create a log entry, you go to the VIEW/EDIT
LOGBOOK. Here you can enter a lot of
information regarding the object you observe such as detail information, notes,
images, etc. But what if you just want
to keep track of the object names and the date you observed and really don’t
care about the other information?
Well, just click the OBS column
for the object and select YES to add the object to your personal logbook. An X will be placed in the column to
indicate the object has now been observed.
The following fields are saved to your logbook when you click the OBS
column:
Object ID, Catalog, Date
Observed, Time Observed, and Observation #
If you are like me, I like to keep track of what objects I
observe, but I don’t necessarily want to keep detailed notes. So using the method above to record objects
is appealing while I sit at the scope using my laptop. Frequently the following day, I like to go
back through the objects I observed and enter additional information such as
the equipment, sky conditions, and the location the observations were
made. Since most of this information
is common among the observing session, wouldn’t it be nice to enter this
information once and have the software apply it to all the observations made
during that observing run? Deepsky 2000
makes this possible by having you enter in a date range and the information you
want updated. When you click the update
button, Deepsky goes into your logbook by the date range specified and applies
the information you entered to each observation. This saves a lot of time especially when you observe large numbers
of objects.
You can view your logbook in a
spreadsheet format by clicking the Spreadsheet
View icon on the toolbar of the information tab. All observations for the selected object will be shown. Like with the main spreadsheet, DEEPSKY 2000
allows you to key in SQL statements on the command line.
Using table view, you can see all
your observations sorted anyway you want.
To select records, just click a button at the top and enter a value in
the combo box. Some buttons will
pre-fill a list of options for you to select instead of requiring you to enter
a value.
You can also specify up to three
levels of sorting by selecting the sort options. The default for all sorts is ascending sequence. If you want the sort to appear in descending
sequence, click the button to the right of the sort box.
This tab conveniently shows all
your images that are in your logbook.
Viewing them in once place is handy when you are looking for a
particular picture.
This tab shows all your logbook
notes.
DEEPSKY 2000 allows you to select
observations from your logbook using any of the following criteria:
Date Observation
date
Type Object
Type
Location Location
of Observation
Equipment Equipment
used to make the observation
Transparency How
transparent the sky was during the observation
Seeing How
stable the sky was during the observation
Rating How
did the object appear in typical school report card fashion
ObjectID Object
observed
Constellation Constellation
the object was observed in
ObjectType Type
of object that was observed
Messier Objects Observed Shows
which messier objects have been observed
Show all objects Shows
all objects that have been observed
Exposure Mode
Exposure Time
CCD Camera
Picture Rating
Simply click on the button you
want to select and enter a value into the combo box. If you want to find all observations based on what you have
entered then unclick the Exact box
and DEEPSKY 2000 will use whatever you enter to match the observations. If you selected ObjectID and entered 19
then Deepsky will load all observations beginning with the characters 19.
To find a specific match, make sure the Exact button is clicked.
DEEPSKY 2000 allows you to
specify 3 levels of sorting. You can
tell Deepsky to sort in ascending or descending sequence by clicking on the
appropriate button next to the sort option.
DEEPSKY 2000 automatically builds
queries when you use the selection criteria windows. It is not necessary to use or understand SQL. The ability to code SQL commands is provided
for advanced users who may want to use the flexibility of SQL to customize
their queries. The following field
names can be used:
Table: Logbook
·
ObservationNumber
·
ObjectId
·
DateObserved
·
TimeObserved
·
LocationObserved
·
Transparency
·
Seeing
·
EquipmentUsed
·
OtherEquipment
·
Rating
·
ShortDescription
Table: CCDLOG
·
ObservationNumber
·
ImageName
·
ExposureTime
·
ExposureMode
·
Telescope
·
CCDCamera
·
FocalDistance
·
FieldofView
·
CoolingRate
·
DarkFrame
·
FlatField
·
PictureRating
·
Notes
Note: SQL
is case-sensitive. You must use the
field names below exactly as shown in order for the SQL command to work.
Example 1:
List all observations to
which you have assigned an A+
rating, sorting the list by Date.
SELECT * FROM Logbook WHERE Rating = "A+" ORDER
BY DateObserved
Example 2:
List all observations
that took place at 912 N RANDALL and
sorts the list by Date, then ObjectId.
SELECT * FROM Logbook WHERE LocationObserved = "912 N RANDALL" ORDER BY DateObserved,
ObjectId
DEEPSKY 2000 stores regular
non-CCD information in the Logbook
table. Anything pertaining to CCD is
stored in the CCDLOG table. It is possible to get a spreadsheet display
of the combination of files by joining the two tables together by ObservationNumber.
Example 3:
List all
entries in the Default personal
logbook with a corresponding CCD log entry indicating that ABC CAMERA was used. Order
this list by Exposure Time.
SELECT * FROM Logbook
LEFT JOIN CCDLOG
ON Logbook.ObservationNumber
= CCDLOG.ObservationNumber WHERE LogType = ‘Default’ AND CCDCamera
= “ABC CAMERA” ORDER BY ExposureTime
DEEPSKY
2000’s contains an easy to use yet sophisticated rich text editor. You can enter approximately 64,000
characters of notes for each observation you record. To use the editor, just start typing. It functions similar to other Microsoft-style editors. Here is a list of some of the things the
editor can do.
·
Ctrl-B Make selected text bold
·
Ctrl-U Underline selected text
·
Ctrl-L Left Justify
·
Ctrl-N Center
text
·
Ctrl-R Right Justify
·
Ctrl-C Copy selected text to clipboard
·
Ctrl-X Cut selected text to clipboard
·
Ctrl-P Paste text from clipboard to cursor
position
·
Alt-C Font Color
The editor also allows you to
change the font name and size. Simply
click the Change Font button and a
font dialog box will be shown. Just
pick the font, style, and size you want.
The editor also lets you change
the font color. Just click the Font Color button and a color dialog
box will be shown. Then click on the
color you want and click OK.
DEEPSKY
2000 comes with several other logbooks from various amateur observers. The data provided in these logbooks are
provided courtesy of the indicated author.
To view this information, click on the name you wish to view. Data from their logbook will be presented in
a table. To view the text of any
observation, just click on the one you want.
In addition to being viewable in the Other
Logbook screen, information for the selected object on the spreadsheet can be viewed
when you right click on a row and select
Amateur logs.
DEEPSKY
2000 provides the ability to import an ASCII text logbook into its own logbook
database. Follow these steps:
1.
Before importing an existing
logbook into DEEPSKY 2000, select LogbookàImport
Log Maintenance and click the Add button.
2.
Type in the name to be
associated with this new logbook.
3.
Before importing the data,
please make sure it is in ASCII format.
4.
Select LogbookàImport Other Logs into Deepsky.
5.
Type the filename or use the Specify File To Import browser to
select the file to import.
6.
Select your Import Format.
7.
Specify the starting and
ending positions for the Object ID
and for the Notes.
8.
Specify the catalog name or
author that you want to associate with this logbook.
9.
Click the Import Notes button.
10. Click the Close
button to exit from the Import window.
11. You can now view the logbook information by selecting LogbookàView Other Log.
Note: If the data does not
import properly, you can delete the log from Deepsky. To delete a log, select LogbookàImport Log Maintenance, then select logbook by
the catalog name or author specified in step 8 above. Now click the Delete
button. This will delete all data in
that logbook. Click the Close button and try again.
DEEPSKY
2000 can now import NGP files. Follow
these steps:
1. Create
an export file from within NGP.
2. Run
the option Convert NGP file into Plain ASCII
under the Logbook menu in DEEPSKY
2000.
3. Finally,
import the resulting ASCII text file into DEEPSKY 2000 using the process
described for importing other logbooks into DEEPSKY 2000.
Note: You
should use the second import format on the LogbookàImport Other Logs into Deepsky panel. Click on
the Fixed format ASCII – Object ID
occurs once per observing note button.
Specify 1 for the starting
position of the object ID and 25 for
the ending position. Specify ~ as the character that specifies a new
record.
You may export your logbook to an
ASCII text file by using the Export
Personal Logbook option under the Logbook
menu. This function will copy all the objects in your DEEPSKY 2000 logbook to a
fixed length ASCII text file.
DEEPSKY 2000 provides basic image
editing and enhancement features which integrate with the database and logbook
components. Using DEEPSKY 2000’s imaging features, you can easily
enhance, convert, print, or do just about anything a normal paint program can
do. DEEPSKY
2000’s resizing algorithms also lets you enlarge pictures without losing
much detail.
Images can be attached to
database objects or to logbook observations so that they can be viewed along
with the object or observation at any time.
DEEPSKY 2000 stores the directory path to your image, rather than the
image itself. This gives you the
flexibility of putting your images anywhere on your system. Once you begin
adding images to DEEPSKY 2000, do not
move them. If you do, you will have
to go back into DEEPSKY 2000 and update their locations. I recommend that you set up a single
directory dedicated to storing your images.
Deepsky uses Lead Technologies,
Inc.’s LEADTOOLS 9 OCX toolkit for all imaging tasks. Because this is a general-purpose toolkit, some astronomical
imaging filters are not present.
However, DEEPSKY 2000 can still act as a sophisticated image enhancing
system and allows over 30 image format types to be displayed and manipulated.
The GIF file format has been
intentionally left out due to strict licensing by its owner. However, I recommend using the LEAD or JPEG
formats since they allow you to specify the level of compression, which can
save you large amounts of disk space.
·
LEAD – This
is the LEAD CMP compressed format for grayscale and color images. 8 bits (256 levels) for grayscale and 24
bits (16,777,216 colors) for color.
·
JFIF – This
is the JPEG File Interchange Format.
Deepsky supports YUV 4:4:4, 4:2:2, and 4:1:1 color spacing, and YUV
4:0:0 for gray scale. 8 bits for
grayscale, 24 for color.
·
JTIF – This
is the JPEG Tagged Interchange Format.
Deepsky supports YUV 4:4:4, 4:2:2, and 4:1:1 color spacing, and YUV
4:0:0 for grayscale. 8 bits for
grayscale, 24 color.
·
TIFF – This
is a tag-based file format designed to promote universal interchanges of
digital image data. Because TIFF files
do not have a single way to store image data, there are many versions of TIFF. DEEPSKY 2000 supports the most common TIFF
formats: 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32 bits.
·
MPT – This
is a multi-page TIFF format that enables a file to contain more than one
image. It is handled the same as a
regular TIFF file, except for the multi-page feature. DEEPSKY 2000 supports the following formats:
1, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32 bits.
·
TIFF CCITT –
These are compressed TIFF files that are commonly used for FAX transmission and
document imaging. 1 bit for grayscale
(2 levels), 1 bit for color (2 colors).
·
TIFF CCITT Group
3 – These are TIFF CCITT files in a format that is more advanced and more
compressed than TIFF CCITT. DEEPSKY
2000 supports both 1-dimension and 2-dimension variations of this format. 1 bit for grayscale, 1 bit for color.
·
TIFF CCITT Group
4 – These are TIFF CCITT files in a format that is more advanced and more
compressed than TIFF CCITT Group 3. 1
bit for grayscale, 1 bit for color.
·
IOCA (ICA) –
This is the Image Object Content Architecture developed by IBM. DEEPSKY 2000 supports these files in an
MO:DCA wrapper with embedded 1-bit CCITT Group 3 or Group 4 images. DEEPSKY 2000 also supports IOCA files
without an MO:DCA wrapper. 1 bit for
grayscale, 1 bit for color.
·
WinFax Group 3
– This is a FAX format created by Delrina for Group 3 support. 1 bit for grayscale , 1 bit for color.
·
WinFax Group 4
– This is a FAX format created by Delrina for Group 4 support. 1 bit for grayscale, 1 bit for color.
·
FAX Group 3
– This is a raw FAX format (without a header) for Group 3 support. DEEPSKY 2000 supports both 1-dimension and
2-dimension variations of this format.
1 bit for grayscale, 1 bit for color.
·
FAX Group 4
– This is a raw FAX format (without a header) for Group 4 support. 1 bit for grayscale, 1 bit for color.
·
Truevision TGA
(TARGA) – This is a file format created by Truevision, Inc. DEEPSKY 2000 supports all uncompressed and
RLE-compressed TGA file formats. 8, 16,
24, 32 8, 16, 24, and 32 bits.
·
PNG (Portable
Network Graphics) – This is a replacement for the GIF format. It is a full-featured (non-LZW) compressed
format intended for widespread use without legal restraints. 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits for grayscale, and 1, 4, 8, 24 bits for
color.
·
Photoshop 3.0
(PSD) – This is the format produced by the Adobe Photoshop graphics
editor. 1, 8, and 24 bits for
grayscale, 1, 8, and 24 bits for color.
·
Windows Bitmap
(BMP) – This is a file format created by Microsoft. Some BMP images are compressed with an
RLE-type compression. 1, 4, and 8 bits
for grayscale, and 1, 4, 8, and 24 bits for color.
·
Windows Metafile
(WMF) – These files are not bitmap based images. A Windows metafile consists of a collection of device-independent
functions that represents an image.
When a program loads a metafile, these functions are executed to obtain
the image. 8 and 24 bits for both
grayscale and color.
·
PCX – This
is a file format created by ZSoft. This
format compresses its image data with the RLE type compression. 1, 4, 8, and 24 bit for both grayscale and
color.
·
DCX – This
is a multi-page PCX format that enables a file to contain more than one
image. It is handled the same as a
regular PCX file, except for the multi-page feature. 1, 4, 8, and 24 bits for both grayscale and color.
·
PostScript
Raster (Encapsulated PostScript) – These files are used primarily on PostScript
printers. These printers usually offer
a larger variety of fonts and higher resolution than standard laser
printers. EPS files will work on any
PostScript compatible printer and any user application that supports placement
of EPS files in its workspace. 1 and 8
bits for grayscale raster images, and 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32 bits for
color.
·
OS/2 Bitmap
(OS/2 BMP) – These are files created on an OS/2 operating system. DEEPSKY 2000 supports both 1.x and 2.x
formats. 1, 4, and 8 bits for
grayscale, 1, 4, 8, and 24 for color.
·
CALS Raster
– These are 1-bit CCITT Group 4 CALS raster files. CALS is a United States government standard. 1 bit for grayscale, 1 bit for color.
·
MacPaint (MAC)
– These Macintosh Paint files are commonly used for monochrome clip art. 1 bit for grayscale, 1 bit for color.
·
GEM Image (IMG)
– These files are native to the Graphical Environment Manager developed by
Digital Research. 1 bit for grayscale,
1 for color.
·
Microsoft Paint
(MSP) – These files from early versions of Windows are used for
black-and-white drawings and clip art.
1 bit for grayscale, 1 for color.
·
WordPerfect
(WPG) – These are WordPerfect raster files. 1, 4, and 8 bits for grayscale, 1, 4, bits for color.
·
SUN Raster (RAS)
– These files are native to Sun UNIX platforms. 1, 4, 8, 24, and 32 bits for grayscale, 1, 4, 8, 24, and 32 bits
for color.
·
Macintosh Pict
(PCT) – These files, produced using Macintosh QuickDraw, are used in
desktop publishing and imaging applications.
1, 4, 8, and 24 bits for both
grayscale and color.
·
LEAD 1-BIT –
These are 1-bit LEAD compressed files.
1 bit for grayscale, 1 for color.
·
PCD – These
are Kodak PhotoCD files. All read-only.
DEEPSKY
2000 provides a general imaging package that integrates with the rest of the
program. These features highlighted
below provide many of the features of advanced image processing software.
New
Creates a new
image workspace.
Open
Loads a new
image into a window.
Save
Save the image
in the active window to the current image format.
Convert
Save the image
in the active window to any image format.
Color Merge
Creates a color bitmap by
merging grayscale bitmaps that were created as color separations. You can use this to recombine the bitmaps
that the Color Separate method creates.
The supported color-space models are RGB, CMYK, CMY, HSV, and HLS. The resulting bitmap is 24 bits per pixel.
Capture Screen
Captures any the screen
loading the contents into a window.
Acquire
Acquires the
TWAIN scanning device to start scanning.
You must have a 32-bit TWAIN
driver installed for this option to work.
Contact your scanner vendor for an updated driver.
Select Source
Selects the scanner
device if you have more than one scanner driver.
Print Setup
Shows the Windows 95
print dialog screen.
Print
Prints the
image in the current active window.
Copy
Copies the
image in the active window to the clipboard.
Paste
Copies an image
in the clipboard into a window.
Undo
Shows previous image
before it was modified by a command.
Select Region
Provides selecting a
region of the bitmap to process.
Normal
Displays the image
at its original size
Zoom
Displays a
control that allows you to zoom into and out of the image
Fit Image to Window
Displays the
image at the size of the active window while maintaining its aspect ratio
Stretch Image to Window
Displays the
image at the size of the active window while NOT maintaining its aspect ratio
Snap
Makes image the size of
the window.
Paint Effects
Controls how images are
painted to the screen.
Several options are provided to
combine images so that an animation can be made.
Flip
Flips the
bitmap from top to bottom.
Reverse
Reverses the
bitmap to produce a mirror image.
Rotate
Rotates the image 90,
180, or 270 degrees, or any amount specified.
Resize
Resizes the image,
changing its actual storage size.
Posterize
Imposes a poster effect
on the bitmap by quantizing the bitmap's colors to a specified number of color
levels per plane. For example, two
levels means two of red, two of green, and two of blue.
Mosaic
Imposes a mosaic effect
on the bitmap by dividing the bitmap into tiles of a specified size and
changing the color of all pixels in each tile to the average color of pixels
within the tile.
Average
Changes the color of each
pixel in the bitmap to the average color of pixels in its neighborhood. This results in a blur effect. You control the amount of blur by specifying
the size of the neighborhood that is used for averaging.
Median
Changes the
color of each pixel in the bitmap to the median color of pixels in its
neighborhood. This is similar to the Average method, but it is used for
noise reduction, rather than a blur effect.
Sharpen
Increases or
decreases the sharpness of the image in the bitmap. Negative values decrease the sharpness of the image. Specify -1000
for minimum sharpness. Positive values
increase the sharpness. Specify +1000 for maximum sharpness.
Despeckle
Remove
noise from the bitmap.
Add Noise
Adds random pixels to the
bitmap, letting you specify the percentage of coverage and the color plane.
Emboss
Applies an emboss effect
to the bitmap, letting you specify the depth and direction of the effect. This gives the image a 3D appearance.
Underlay
Combines two bitmaps so
that one appears to be an underlying texture for the other. This is most effective when the underlying
image is a filtered one, such as an embossed image. This method changes the colors of the underlay to grayscale as it
combines the images. It updates the
current bitmap, leaving the second bitmap (hBitmap) unchanged. The underlying image can either be stretched
or tiled to fill the target image.
Spatial Filters
Several spatial filters
are also provided.
Halftone
Converts a 1-, 4-, 8-,
16-, 24-, or 32-bit bitmap to a half-toned bitmap. A half-toned bitmap is a 1-bit bitmap that has been dithered for
black and white printing or display. If
the bitmap is originally 1-bit but is not black and white, this method changes
it to black and white.
Grayscale
Converts the
image to 256 level grayscale
Resolution
Changes the resolution of
the image from 1 bit up to 32 bits.
Invert
Changes the image causing
it to appear like a photographic negative.
Brightness
Changes the
brightness of the image
Contrast
Increases or decreases
the contrast of the bitmap.
Histogram Contrast
Increases or decreases
the contrast of the image in a bitmap, using a histogram to determine the
median brightness. This method finds
the median brightness of the image; then brightens the pixels with values above
the median and darkens the pixels with values below the median. This is more sophisticated (but slower) than
the Contrast method, which uses the middle possible value (128) rather than
finding the actual median.
Hue
Changes the hue of colors
in the bitmap by rotating the color wheel.
Saturation
Increases or
decreases the saturation of colors in the bitmap. Negative values decrease the saturation of colors. Specify -1000
to change the colors to grayscale.
Positive values increase the saturation. Specify +1000 to make
the colors as bold as they can be. Use
this to enhance the color of the image you are processing.
View Histogram
Updates the array that
charts how many times each intensity level occurs in the bitmap. This method can chart red, green, and blue
separately or together.
Histogram Equalize
Linearizes the number of
pixels per gray level in the bitmap.
This can be used to bring out the detail in dark areas of an image.
Stretch Intensity
Increases the
contrast in a bitmap by centering, maximizing, and proportioning the range of
intensity values. Unlike the Contrast method, this method always
retains the original number of different intensity values. (Ordinary contrast adjustments can lose
values at the high and low ends of the scale.)
Gamma Correct
Adjusts the intensity of
colors in the bitmap by changing the gamma constant that is used to map the
intensity values. Intensity values
ideally follow a logarithmic progression, because the eye perceives changes in
intensity as being equal when the ratio of change is equal. For example, we would see a change from 0.1
to 0.2 as being equal to a change from 0.2 to 0.4. Gamma is a standard constant that is used to calculate the
progression. For most CRTs the gamma
constant is in the range of 2.2 to 2.5.
Intensity Control
Filters the bitmap to
detect colors in a specified intensity range.
Intensity levels range from 0 to 255 for each color plane (red, green,
and blue). This method processes each
plane separately. If a value falls
within the range, it is raised to 255, and if it falls outside the range, it is
lowered to 0.
Separate Colors
Separates the
bitmap by color plane to produce one grayscale bitmap per plane. The supported color-space models are RGB,
CMYK, CMY, HSV, and HLS
Dithering
Specifies the type of
dithering to use when painting an image on a device with 256 colors or
less. Ordered dithering is faster than
error diffusion, but the quality of the image is not as good.
Star charting has been a welcome
addition to the features provided in DEEPSKY 2000. Dean William’s is responsible for the star charts in DEEPSKY
2000. I’d like to thank Dean for his continued hard work.
IMPORTANT
The charts won’t contain all
the Deepsky objects in the DEEPSKY 2000 database. Instead, they contain only
the objects you have shown on the spreadsheet.
This allows you to concentrate on what you want to observe eliminating
all the other objects. It also speeds
up processing.
Below is a brief description of
each selection on the Charts menu.
Deepsky 2000 Charting Options
Star Charts
Use this option
to create a star chart showing only those Deepsky objects that are on the
currently selected spreadsheet.
Plot Planets, Sun, and Moon
Use this option
to create a star chart showing only solar system objects.
Plot Entered Coordinates
This option allows you to key in a series of right
ascension and declination values, save them, then plot them onto a star
chart. To use this option, simply fill
in the coordinates in either of the input formats and click the Add Coordinates To List button. Also, be sure to key in a short name for the
object and the type of object it is.
The appropriate symbol you select will be plotted onto the chart.
Before plotting the coordinate, save the information into a
file so that you can retrieve the information at a later time.
This feature allows you to plot comets, asteroids, or any
other object right onto DEEPSKY 2000’s star charts.
Plot Scope Location
When telescope
control is activated, this option will create a star chart with the field
centered on the telescope position.
Go To Constellation
Creates a simple
star chart centered on the selected constellation.
Show Charts With Stars Only
Creates a simple
star chart with no Deepsky objects.
Cartes du Ciel Charting
Options
Star Charts
Use this option to
create a star chart showing only those Deepsky objects that are on the
currently selected spreadsheet.
Plot Entered Coordinates
This option let
you enter a series of coordinates and then have a chart created with those coordinates
plotted.
Go To Constellation
Creates a simple
star chart centered on the selected constellation.
Cartes
du Ciel
Launches Cartes du Ciel astronomy software.
The interactive atlas is a
full-featured star charting tool comparable to the leading PC planetarium
packages. These charts coupled with the
main DEEPSKY 2000 database program provide a uniquely powerful and flexible
application for a multitude of astronomical pursuits.
The list of features found in the atlas includes:
·
Your choice of star databases from either the SAO
catalog (limiting magnitude of approximately 9), the Super Tycho Star Catalog
(limiting magnitude of about 12), or the Hubble Guide Star Catalog (CD-ROM
version) with nearly 18 million stars to a magnitude limit near 15.5.
·
Any list of deep sky objects selected in DEEPSKY 2000
can be plotted on the charts.
·
Click on objects for access to detailed technical specifications
and observing notes from a number of skilled amateurs.
·
The sun, moon, planets, asteroids, and comets can all
be plotted.
·
Built-in support for the LX200, Autostar, Nexstar, and
Ultima telescopes.
·
Complete control over various chart elements; the user
can specify any combination of lines, labels, colors, etc.
·
Easy chart navigation allows fast relocation to
specified sky positions, centering on specified objects and custom zooming to
any field width.
·
Charts can be mirror-imaged to match telescope views or
inverted for Southern Hemisphere users.
·
Highly detailed printed charts from any printer
including the ability to create multiple charts with one command (make your own
printed atlas).
·
Much more.
The atlas charts are controlled
with the floating toolbar pictured here.
The function of each toolbar button is described below as well as
several useful keyboard shortcuts. Note
that by “parking” the mouse pointer on top of a toolbar button, a brief
descriptive message will be displayed.
These 4 arrow buttons are used to
scroll the chart in the indicated direction.
The four keyboard arrow keys may also be used. The actual distance moved is automatically optimized based on the
current field of view.
The zoom buttons include the two
magnifying glass icons together with the 6 number buttons labeled from 1 to
75. You can zoom in or out a single
step with the magnifiers, or jump to a specified field width with the numbered
buttons. The plus and minus keyboard
keys will also zoom as indicated.
The buttons in the central
section of the toolbar are employed to specify which chart elements should be
displayed. The first button (a
double-wide one using both a starry icon and a label) is used to switch between
the SAO star catalog (for speed) and the Hubble Guide Star Catalog (for more
faint stars). The next 3 buttons toggle
constellation boundaries, constellation figure lines and the coordinate grid
overlay. The icon with the curved blue
line turns the ecliptic line off and on.
The moon icon toggles the display of deep sky and solar system objects,
and the next button controls the display of the milky way boundaries. The dipper button redraws the chart in black
and white, which is useful for insuring the best possible output on some color
printers. The next button causes only
stars and deep sky / solar system objects to be displayed, suppressing all
other lines, labels etc. The Obj, Con, Star and Grk buttons toggle the labels for
certain chart elements (deep sky and solar system object IDs, constellation
names, bright star names and Greek letter labels).
The
globe icon opens the Chart Navigation dialog. Right-clicking on an empty area of a chart
will also open this dialog.
The
slider controls on this dialog are used to specify a new chart center, field of
view size or star magnitude limit.
After adjusting these controls you can click on OK to redraw the chart using the new values, or Cancel to ignore the changes. The Auto
Mag checkbox indicates whether the magnitude limit is automatically
calculated based on the field size, or if it is user-adjustable. By unchecking this box you will be able to
force any desired star magnitude limit.
The Const list control is
used to center the chart on a chosen constellation. Simply click on the desired constellation and then click the Go To button.
The button with the pointing
finger icon is used to open the Find
Object dialog, used to redraw the chart centered on the specified object.
This is the dialog presented when
the user clicks on the Find toolbar
button. The value to be entered should
exactly match the label value for a plotted object. This value is not case-sensitive. If found, the chart will be re-centered on the indicated object.
The next icon will open the Chart Configuration dialog which allows
you to make permanent changes to chart content options, line and label colors,
label fonts and other settings.
The controls on this dialog are
used to specify which chart elements will be displayed, and which colors and
fonts will be used. The Initial Field Size value will be used
when you center on a constellation (refer to the section on the Navigation Dialog). The check boxes in the left side of this
window indicate certain items that can be included on charts by checking. The Southern
View check box can be used to invert the charts to appear as seen from the
southern hemisphere. The large button
labeled Restore Option Dflts will
load “factory default” configuration values for the above settings.
On the right side of this window
there are buttons used to control the color of the indicated chart elements,
and for specifying font styles and colors for the indicated labels. The Restore
Color/Font Dflts button restores these settings to “factory defaults.”
The Cancel, Apply and OK buttons are used to close this
dialog. Apply will redraw the chart immediately with the new values whereas
OK simply saves the values for use
the next time a chart is redrawn.
The button showing a circular
arrow around an exclamation mark is used to redraw the chart using the initial
settings used when the DEEPSKY 2000 first created the chart. This is useful if, after moving, zooming or
changing chart content, you wish to return to your starting point.
The next two buttons, with the opposing
arrows will flip the chart horizontally or vertically, toggling between normal
and mirror images or inverting the chart.
Telescopes or finder scopes often show mirror imaged or inverted fields,
so this button can be helpful for matching chart content to what is seen
through the eyepiece. The vertical flip
is also helpful for southern hemisphere users.
Note that the chart configuration dialog provides a checkbox to make the
inverted view the default setting.
The button with the erasing hand
icon will erase all Telrad and telescope location markers from the chart.
The telescope button will center the
chart on the current telescope position (if a telescope is attached and
initialized).
The printer icon is used to print
the current chart. A printer setup
dialog will be opened, allowing you to specify which printer, and which printer
options to use. By changing between
portrait and landscape format output you can create two different styles of
charts. The portrait chart includes a
descriptive legend, which is omitted from the landscape version. After a chart is printed you will be asked
whether you want an object list report.
This is a simple report listing the deep sky objects plotted on the
accompanying chart.
The button represented with a
multiple page icon opens the Printed
Atlas dialog. This dialog is used
to print a range of charts covering a specified region of the sky.
Using this dialog you can print
multiple star charts covering the indicated area of the sky. The charts will all be printed in portrait
format at a field size of 30 degrees.
The Print Object Lists check
box will follow each chart with a simple report listing the objects plotted on
that chart.
The final group of toolbar
buttons provides access to the help system and a way to close the chart and
return to DEEPSKY 2000.
After clicking on a bright star, deep
sky or solar system object you will be presented with this dialog. Technical details will appear at the top of
the main text window followed by any available observers’ notes (if you have
specified that notes be sent from DEEPSKY 2000–see PreferencesàCharts).
The Center button centers the chart on the object without changing the
field size. A faster way to center the
chart on a deep sky or solar system object, or a bright, labeled star is to
simply right-click on any of these objects.
After a right-click the chart will re-center at that position with no
intervening dialog.
The Eyepiece button opens the Eyepiece dialog (see below).
The Cleanup button will erase any Telrad markers or eyepiece circles
currently on the chart.
The Image button, if enabled will display an image of the current
object.
The Zoom & Center control will center the chart on the object,
changing the field of view to whatever value you select from the drop-down
list.
The Navigation button opens the Navigation Dialog (see above).
The Telrad button will draw a Telrad pointing device marker centered on
the object.
The Go To button instructs an attached telescope to move to the
object.
The OK button closes the dialog.
The Eyepiece button allows the user to specify a particular
telescope/eyepiece combination and displays the power (magnification) and true
field size for the currently selected values.
If the OK button is clicked, a
circle drawn to the scale of the true field will be plotted on the selected
object. This is intended to portray the
area of sky which will be seen through a given instrument and eyepiece.
A dream I have had for a long
time was to have a computer automatically point a telescope to an object I was
interested in viewing. With the advent
of computer-controlled telescopes, this dream has become a reality.
DEEPSKY 2000 currently supports
the following GOTO telescopes:
Meade
LX-200 or compatible
Meade
Autostar (ie. etx90ec, etx125ec)
Celestron
Nexstar
Celestron Ultima
DEEPSKY 2000 has unique and
exciting features that allow you to directly control your telescope. Go To operations can be performed from the
spreadsheet screen by right clicking an object and selecting Locate Object in Telescope. In addition, Go To is enabled in the star
charts whenever you click on an object ID and in other screens as well.
Before using any telescope
control options in DEEPSKY 2000, you must enable the telescope. Select the Telescope pull-down menu.
If the first item in the pull-down menu indicates Scope Enabled, the telescope is already enabled and you may
continue. If it says Scope Disabled, click on this text to
enable the telescope.
Note: The
Scope Delay found in the SCOPE SETUP screen should only be
adjusted if you experience trouble when using the telescope features. The default setting is usually recommended.
However, if you notice the Go To feature isn’t working after it is selected or
that the chart crashes regularly, increase this value using the manual override
feature. Increasing this value increases
delay between times that DEEPSKY 2000 checks the scope position. Visually, you may notice fewer markers being
plotted on the chart as the scope moves.
Tip: To
disable markers from plotting, enter a 0 for the scope delay setting. This seems to make the software work more
reliably.
DEEPSKY 2000 provides Telescope
Go To capability in the following places in the software:
·
Right-Click Menu – A Go To option is on the right-click menu that appears when you
right-click on an object ID on the main spreadsheet. When selected, the telescope will slew to the object.
·
Moon, Planets – A Go
To option is located on the moon, and planetary data screens.
·
Star Charts – A Go
To option is located on the information window that is shown when you click
on an object in the star chart.
·
LX200 Control Panel (LX200 Only)
If you own a telescope, you
should specify the Scope Driver
(DEEPSKY 2000 or ACP). The ACP driver
provides more capabilities but requires the ACP software. ACP was written by Bob Denny and is available
from DC-3 Dreams Software at http://acp.dc3.com/. As of this writing, ACP doesn’t support the
Celestron Nexstar or the Ultima telescopes.
The DEEPSKY 2000 driver is
already installed when Deepsky is installed, and no additional software is
required.
DEEPSKY
2000’s unique and innovative Slide
Show feature will forever make your life easier while you are
observing. You can use this feature
whenever you want to observe many objects in a relatively short period of
time. Use it at star parties to show
guests the best objects you have selected from an observing plan. Just create an observing plan using DEEPSKY
2000. Then, when the star party starts,
start the Slide Show! Objects will
appear one at a time and you control when the next object is viewed. You can even go backwards or select an
object from anywhere in your plan! Your computer doesn’t even have to be next
to your telescope. It could be in a car
or inside a building.
Object information is shown on the upper portion of the screen. This information will change as you move to
the next object. If an image exists for
the object that is shown, it will be displayed on the screen so that you can
compare what you see at the telescope with the image in the database. You can click on the image to enlarge it
You might be wondering how this
is accomplished since the LX200 hand controller doesn’t provide any real way to
trigger events on a computer. Actually
it is very easy. I came up with an easy
way for the observer to tell the DEEPSKY 2000 software when it should slew to
the next object in the plan. The
observer just goes to the GMT Offset input
area in the controller and enters the following codes to control the telescope:
1 Slew the telescope to the next object in the
plan.
2 Slew the telescope to the previous object in
the plan.
3 Create a logbook entry for the object being
observed.
Now you may be wondering what
happens when the GMT Offset is
changed. Does this screw up your
telescope? No, because DEEPSKY 2000
changes the GMT offset only temporarily to
whatever code you enter to determine what is to be done. Then it changes it back to what it was
before you entered a value. Then DEEPSKY 2000 carries out the command.
If you live in an area where your
GMT offset actually is 1, 2, or 3 hours, you must enter a different command
instead of what was shown above. The
alternate commands are:
4 Slew the telescope to the next object in the
plan.
5 Slew the telescope to the previous object in
the plan.
6 Create a logbook entry for the object being
observed.
Believe it or not, this method of
communication between the LX200 and DEEPSKY 2000 actually works very well in
the field. I chose to trigger these
events using the GMT Offset value
because it is easy to get to using the hand controller. You only have to go through one or two
screens each time you want to issue a command.
This exciting new feature will let you use the
keypad controller at the telescope to move the telescope to the objects in your
observing plan. You can also instruct
DEEPSKY 2000 to create a logbook entry for you automatically right from the
telescope. If you have a computer
inside and want to run your LX200 telescope from the hand controller outside,
this option is for you.
To use this feature, enter the generic logbook
information once before you go to the telescope. Then when you are ready to start, just click the Controller On button and the telescope
will be positioned to the first object in your observing plan.
Since the LX200 hand controller can't directly
initiate DEEPSKY 2000 events, I have implemented a gimmick to accomplish this
trick. To move the LX200 to the next
object in your plan, go to the Local
Time and Date menu on the keypad controller and hold down the Enter key until you hear a beep. Press Enter
a second time to bypass the time settings.
When you see the GMT Offset
setting, enter +01 to move the
telescope to the next object, +02 to
move the telescope to the previous object, or +03 to create a logbook entry for the object the scope is
positioned to.
DEEPSKY 2000 temporarily uses the GMT Offset
settings to alert DEEPSKY 2000 to do one of these three functions. When DEEPSKY 2000 receives the GMT offset
that you entered from the hand controller, it resets the GMT offset back to the
correct setting, then executes the appropriate function.
This method works really well for everybody except for those who normally
specify a GMT offset of 1, 2, or 3. If
you are one of these people, you should make sure the Use the Alt GMT Offset (4,5,6) option is checked before you click
the controller on button. Instead of
using a +01 to move to the next object, +02 to move to the previous one or +03
to add a logbook entry, you should use +04, +05, or +06.
For
those of you who want to manually slew the scope, the Slide Show feature accommodates you as well. Using a computer somewhere in the vicinity
of your telescope, start the slide show.
When you want to move the scope to the next object, just click the Next button. You can also go backwards through the objects or pick one at
random from the list. Information about
the object the telescope is pointing to will be displayed on your screen. If an image is linked to the object in the
DEEPSKY 2000 database (all Messier objects are), a picture will be displayed so
that you can compare your view to the picture.
It helps at public star parties to let guests see what the object looks
like from a real photograph. In my
opinion, this just adds more meaning to the star party.
In the manual mode, you are required to use your
computer to move to the next object. This
is done by clicking the Next or Previous
command button. You can also go to
any object by selecting the object ID from the pull-down list that is located
above the command buttons.
If you are interested in logging your observations as you go, then fill
in the generic logbook fields then click the Add to Log field to add a entry to the logbook for the currently
selected object. The object ID and
date/time of the observation will be recorded in the log. If you like, you can go back later and add
observing notes or images to your observations.
This
option will display objects that are currently within a certain number of
degrees from your telescope. You can
use this feature to help identify objects nearby in order to help minimize
slewing of your telescope.
The LX200 control panel enables
you to control many settings on your LX200 telescope. You can change values like date, time, latitude, longitude, etc.,
and you can retrieve the coordinates that the telescope is pointing to. You can manually slew the telescope from the
control panel, and you can even tell DEEPSKY 2000 to move the telescope to a
specific Right Ascension or Declination.
ACP is a Windows NT/95/98
program, written by Bob Denny, that provides a fast and easy-to-use interface
to the Meade LX200 and Autostar series telescopes. Don't dismiss this as simply "digital setting circles"
or something like that. It does a lot more.
Here are some of its main
features:
·
Control all aspects of the LX200 telescope from your
computer.
·
Voice command
and control,
including voice “go to.” Built-in vocalizations
and voice commands can be augmented with scripts that can vocalize text and
respond to new voice commands.
·
Scripting
support with visual debugging using VBScript, JScript, Perl, or
Python. No need for a special
language.
·
Over 40 properties and methods exposed in an object
model available to scripts and external OLE-automation clients such as Excel
and Access.
·
Seamless integration with two really excellent planetarium and star-mapping
programs, Chris Marriott's SkyMap Pro
6 and Sienna Software's Starry
Night 2.1.2 (or later). These
two programs can work together with LX200 ACP while it is connected to the
LX200.
·
Integration with DEEPSKY
2000 by Steve Tuma.
·
Digital setting circles, celestial and alt/az, plus clock
and sidereal time, clock can display UTC, Local, or Julian.
·
Single-action motion controls (no need to click to stop
motion), and half-FOV stepping controls.
This permits you to step the scope position according to your field of
view, regardless of current RA.
·
Sync scope's clock from PC.
·
Observing site database, load scope's lat/long/timezone
from PC database.
·
Alignment wizards for polar and alt/az modes, automatic
selection and slew for alignment stars, with alternates.
·
Go-to panel: select from coordinates, M-objects, NGC,
IGC, UGC, "star#", SAO, GVCS, planets, alignment stars, and FOV
angular shift.
·
"What's Visible" button lights when scope
detects a known deep-sky object within its field ("field" operation),
click for description of object.
·
Optics database: select your scope and eyepiece or
camera, displays field radius and magnification (or field dimensions for
cameras), and loads the field radius into the scope for "field"
operations and half-FOV step movements.
·
"Smart Search" panel: Checkboxes select
object type filters. Sliders select
elevation, magnitude, size and quality limits.
Click to do scope "find" operation and browse the results with
plain language decoded descriptions.
May be tied to optics calculations to limit objects to those that will
fit in the eyepiece or camera.
·
Reticle brightness and blink mode controls.
·
Focus controls including speed.
·
Tracking speed panel, high-precision mode
selector.
·
Scope database selectors for deep-sky and star catalogs
used.
·
All settings are restored from the previous session
when the program is started.
·
Win95/98/NT-compliant installer with uninstall
support.
DEEPSKY 2000 supports calling ACP
from the Telescope pull-down menu. It
provides an excellent voice driven interface for LX200 series telescopes.
·
DEEPSKY 2000 can automatically create Script files of
an observing plan so that you can just run the script in ACP and you will be
able to use it as though it’s a voice activated slide show. (Presently, this feature in DEEPSKY 2000
requires Internet Explorer or any other VBScript engine).
·
DEEPSKY 2000 provides an ACP driver, which can be used in
place of the one that comes with DEEPSKY 2000 to drive the LX200 or Autostar
based telescopes. The ACP driver
requires Bob Denny’s ACP software. If
you have ACP installed on your system, you can select to use the ACP driver in
DEEPSKY 2000 by going to the Scope Setup
option on the Telescope pull-down
menu and selecting ACP in the driver selection box. Whenever you enable the scope under the TELESCOPE menu, ACP will
be loaded onto your task bar. Then
whenever you tell DEEPSKY 2000 to Go To
an object, ACP will automatically position the telescope right on the
object.
Note: ACP is not
distributed with DEEPSKY 2000. It is a
separate program, and is available from http://acp.dc3.com.
Deepsky can turn your computer screen into a
deep red hue preserving your night vision while you use the software during
observing. The feature acts as a toggle
switch enabling you to turn nightvision on and off. When you exit Deepsky, nightvision will also be turned off
automatically.
Deepsky can connect to a timeserver on the
World Wide Web and update your PC’s clock with the accurate time. Several time servers are available and
Deepsky 2000 remembers the last one used.
With the advent of the World Wide Web, there
are many good resources available for the amateur or professional
astronomer. AstroBookmarks contains a
categorized list of astronomy related websites along with a short description
of each. After finding a site that is
interesting to you, you can jump right to that site in your web browser.
The ADC/CDS Database Import Wizard is used to import
astronomical catalogs into the DEEPSKY 2000 database (DeepPro13000.mdb or DeepPro413000.MDB). This feature will enable
you to import any fixed-length ASCII file into DEEPSKY 2000.
The Astronomical Data Center (ADC) and Strasbourg
Astronomical Data Center (CDS) maintain hundreds of astronomical catalogs from
stars to deep sky objects. Most of
these catalogs are in fixed-length ASCII format and thus can be imported easily
into DEEPSKY 2000.
The import wizard is recommended for intermediate
to advanced users. Most amateurs will
not need to import additional catalogs into DEEPSKY 2000 since the large
database contains over 426,000 objects.
Do not use this feature until you feel comfortable with DEEPSKY 2000 and
are familiar with the existing astronomical catalogs.
This software directly changes the main DEEPSKY
2000 database. It is important to
follow all instructions carefully so that you do not import bad data into the
database. Failure to understand the
import process in detail can cause problems running DEEPSKY 2000. However, this software program will allow
you to back out any changes made by deleting the catalogs you imported
incorrectly.
This software will only work if the DeepPro13000.MDB or DeepPro413000.MDB
file resides in the Deepsky directory on your hard disk. Importing
is not allowed if you are running from the CD-ROM.
Please make a backup copy of the main database
file DeepPro13000.MDB or
DeepPro413000.MDB as well as your current logbook file (Logbook2000-?.mdb). When mapping fields from the ASCII file
to the DEEPSKY 2000 database, make sure you specify the Object ID as a unique
number. DEEPSKY 2000’s primary key is Catalog, ObjectID. Some catalogs do not include an Object ID
field. As a result you must map other
characters in the import data to the Object ID field in DEEPSKY 2000. One possibility is to use the RA and Dec as
the Object ID. In most cases this
combination will be unique. Some
catalogs contain a sequential number.
You can specify this number as the Object ID.
Since DEEPSKY 2000 uses a non-normalized
relational database design, the size of the database will grow as you add more
records to the database. Remember to
monitor disk space as you are importing catalogs. You are limited only by the amount of hard disk space you have.
Remember to always verify the DEEPSKY 2000
database after an import is complete to ensure that the data was imported
correctly. Make sure you examine the
right ascension and declination fields and match them up to the source import
file. DEEPSKY 2000 stores right
ascension and declination in the following format: hh mm.t and dd mm.t. Any right ascension or declination values
you import which include seconds will be converted to this format.
Download the Catalog
If you do not already have the catalog you wish
to import on your system or a CD-ROM, the first thing you will have to do is to
download the catalog from the Internet.
Two good sources of astronomical catalogs are NASA’s Astronomical Data
Center (ADC) and the Strasbourg Astronomic Center (CDS). The ADC can be found on the Internet at http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/adc/adc_holdings1.html. You can find the CDS at http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cats/cats.html. If you live in North America, the ADC should
provide the fastest link. European users should download from the CDS in
France.
Once the appropriate website is displayed, you
can retrieve the desired catalog by browsing the list of catalogs. For deep sky objects, you might select the Nonstellar and Extended Objects link
(ADC). Once the link is selected, you
will see a list of catalogs that can be downloaded. Find the catalog you want and click the link. The next screen that appears often describes
the file and shows you what positions the fields are in (file layout). Make sure you save this screen as a text
file so that you can use it when you map the fields to the DEEPSKY 2000
database. Some catalogs don't show the
file layouts on the HTML page and you have to download it separately from the
FTP site. When you are ready, find the
FTP site link for the catalog and go there.
When the directory of files is shown, you should download the
appropriate file corresponding to the catalog.
Now this might get a little tricky.
In some cases, you can spot the catalog file because it's the largest
file shown. However, this may not be
the case. Furthermore, the name of the
catalog will often be inconsistent with other catalogs you may come across. What you should look for is a name like: ZWICKY.DAT.GZ or CATALOG.DAT.GZ. The
catalogs will most often end in a .GZ
extension. This indicates the file is
stored in a compressed format. You can use WinZip or a similar utility to
uncompress these files after you have downloaded them. If you did not see a file layout on the HTML
page for the catalog, look for it in the list of files in the FTP directory you
downloaded the catalog from. This file
will be called README or something similar, and will be a small file.
To download the most recent version of WinZip,
visit Niko Mak Computing, Inc.’s web set at http://www.winzip.com/.
Import the Catalog
Once you have the catalog on your local PC and
have unzipped it if it was compressed, you are ready to Specify Import
Options.
When the import options screen appears, take a
minute to examine the different things on the screen. A list of current catalogs will be shown in the top right. Please note the mappings spreadsheet, which
is identified as Step 1. This is where
you enter the From and To positions corresponding to the file
layout you downloaded with the data.
The red cells (except ObjectID) indicate that the
field is required. The import program
does not require that you always map an ObjectID. However, RA Hours, RA Minutes, Dec Degrees, and Dec Minutes must
be entered. If you do not specify an
object ID, DEEPSKY 2000 will automatically create a unique record ID for each
object. The white cells are optional.
If you want this data to appear in DEEPSKY 2000 and it is available in
the catalog, then specify its starting and ending positions. The black cells are off limits. Do not enter anything in these.
The From
and To columns represent the column
number positions in the import file that contain the data you want mapped to
DEEPSKY 2000’s fields. This information
can either be found in the file layout file downloaded with the catalog, or you
can use Microsoft Wordpad to load the ASCII import file and count the positions
from the leftmost character on the screen.
The Tenths column is optional, but may be required if the tenths portion
of either R.A. or Dec is not next to the rest of the R.A. and Dec in the file.
All the fields in the mapping process are easy to
understand with the exception of R.A.
and Dec and the Extended
Description.
R.A. and Dec Mappings
Right Ascension and Declination formats can be
different depending on the catalog you are importing. Some catalogs will specify RA in the format hh mm.t (e.g. 00457 for 0h 45.7m) while others use the format hh mm ss (e.g. 004540 for 0h 45m 40s),
while still others use hh mm ss.t
(e.g. 0045403 for 0h 45m 40.3s). It is
important to note which characters map to which fields for the R.A. and
Dec. For example, if the R.A. looks
like 00457 and the file layout says that hours are positions 1 and 2, and
minutes are 3 - 5, then you would put a 1
in the From and a 2 in the To columns for the mapping.
Likewise, the minutes of RA would equal 45.7 and would be entered like
this in the mapping: From = 3, To
= 5. If the format for RA or DEC is hh mm ss or dd mm ss,
then you would map the positions indicated in the file layout to the hours,
minutes, seconds (R.A.) or degrees, minutes, seconds (DEC). Since this can be a little confusing, you
should always check the RA and DEC columns in the database after the
import process is done. If you make a
mistake, you can easily delete the catalog and start over.
Extended Description Mappings
You will find that almost every catalog that you
want to map to contains fields that the DEEPSKY 2000 database does not
include. You can still import this
information into DEEPSKY 2000’s Description
Memo field by following this process.
Keep in mind that the fields in the description field will not be
sortable by the DEEPSKY 2000 software.
This information will be presented to you in a text editor like window
for easy viewing. In DEEPSKY 2000, this
information is viewed by right-clicking on an object in the spreadsheet and
selecting the Description Details option.
Please note that the extended description field
is the last one shown on the mapping screen.
To map other fields of information from the import file to DEEPSKY
2000’s description memo field, just do the following:
In the first column labeled Field on the row following the Extended
Description heading, type in a short caption for the information that will
be imported. For example, if you wanted
to include the age of a star cluster in the database you might enter something
like "Star Cluster Age" in
the field column. Make sure you enter
this caption carefully because it will show up in DEEPSKY 2000 exactly as it is
entered. Next, enter the From and To positions for the field, like you did for all the rest. If you want to add another Extended Description field, simply go
to the next row and repeat the process.
You can enter about 200 extended description fields, which will be
stored in DEEPSKY 2000’s Description
Memo field. When DEEPSKY 2000 displays the description information, each
field will be on a separate line for easy reading.
Review the Catalog
After you import a catalog into the DEEPSKY 2000
database you should review the catalog by selecting the Review the Database
option on the first screen. When you
select this option, a screen will appear showing you a blank spreadsheet. Next, just click Select a Catalog to View option, then select the catalog you
imported. Within a few seconds, the catalog
will appear on your screen. Finally,
review the fields that you imported to determine if the import is correct. Pay special attention to the Right Ascension
and Declination columns making sure they match the source import file. Keep in mind that DEEPSKY 2000 formats these
values as hh mm.t and dd mm.t. This may or may not be the format that was in the original source
import file.
Other Steps
Once the mapping process is complete, you should
save the mapping by clicking the Save
Mappings button. Mappings are a
little confusing to some people, so once you get it right you don't want to
have to re-map the file. So save the
mapping! If you ever want to retrieve a
mapping, just click on Open Mapping
and the mapping will be retrieved.
Now you can complete the rest of the steps. They are the easiest.
In Step 2, you specify the import file you
downloaded from the ADC or CDS.
Remember to unzip them first before you open them here otherwise things
won't work quite right.
In Step 3, refer to the file layout document you
downloaded with the catalog and enter the record length for the file. This is easily determined by looking at the
last field's To position in the file
layout.
Next, in step 4 you should give a name to the catalog
you are importing. This name will be
used to reference the catalog in DEEPSKY 2000 or if you want to delete it in
the event the import failed. Below the
name, specify a description for the catalog so that you can easily find it
later.
Then, in step 5, specify the epoch for which the
coordinates are given. This will most
likely be 1950 or 2000.
Finally, in step 6, select the object type that
is in the catalog. If more than one
type exists in the catalog, then you should map its positions on the mapping
spreadsheet (most cases you wont have to do this). If an object type doesn't appear in the list, then you will have
to create a database entry record in DEEPSKY 2000 specifying the new object
type. Then redo the import.
Once all six steps are complete, click the IMPORT button. While the import is running, a status gauge
will show you what percent of the process is complete. Since this import routine reads
byte-by-byte, you can see how many bytes out of the total have been processed
by placing your mouse pointer on top of the status gauge. A small pop-up will appear showing you the
information.
If you want to stop the import before it is done
hit the STOP button. A message will be displayed indicating that
the import did not complete, and that you should delete the catalog since it is
incomplete.
Delete the Catalog
If after reviewing a completed import you
determine that the data doesn't look quite right, you can undo the import by
simply clicking on the catalog that appears in the Import Options list box.
You should make sure the Compact
check box is checked when you delete your last import so that the deleted
records will be removed permanently from the database. This will ensure that the database is as
small and efficient as possible.
For questions or comments on DEEPSKY 2000, please contact me
by one of these methods:
1425 Greenwich Lane
Janesville, WI 53545
today! This is a LOW VOLUME list so you wont get
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Questions relating to DEEPSKY 2000's star charts can be addressed to Dean
Williams at deanw@cei.net.
The DEEPSKY 2000 program is
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