#BEST PLATE SOLVING SOFTWARE PROFESSIONAL#

Other astronomy apps do not use plate solving. The app provides a typical pointing accuracy of about 0.25 В°. The StarSense Explorer app is the first app ever developed that uses plate solving to determine the smartphoneвЂ™s current pointing position.

#BEST PLATE SOLVING SOFTWARE PROFESSIONAL#

The process of extracting star pattern data in images to determine a telescopeвЂ™s current pointing position is called вЂњplate solving.вЂќ It is the same method used by professional observatories and even orbiting satellites. The app captures an image of the night sky and then matches the star patterns within the image to its internal database in a process similar to fingerprint matching or facial recognition.Д®ssentially, StarSense Explorer uses the smartphoneвЂ™s camera as its вЂњeyeвЂќ and the smartphoneвЂ™s processing power as its вЂњbrain.вЂќ The camera looks out at the night sky, and then the processor figures out where the telescope is pointing based upon the calculated center coordinates of the captured image. StarSense Explorer uses image data captured by the smartphoneвЂ™s camera to determine its pointing position. You can trust the StarSense Explorer app to provide the most accurate models of the night sky, with thousands of celestial objects in the database.

There are even observing tips to help get the best view possible though the telescope for the selected object.Д¬elestron developed the StarSense Explorer app in collaboration with our friends at Simulation Curriculum, the makers of the industry-leading planetarium app, Sky Safari. You can observe the object while listening to an audio presentation or you can peruse other object information and data within the app. When the bullseye changes its color to green, the object is visible in the telescopeвЂ™s lower powered eyepiece. Move the telescope as directed until the bullseye appears centered on the selected object onscreen. These indicate the direction in which you should move the telescope to find the object. Once you select an object, the app displays pointing arrows onscreen. You may see planets like Jupiter or Saturn, nebulae like Orion, the Andromeda Galaxy, or other object types. YouвЂ™ll see a variety of objects, which will vary from night to night. Objects that are highlighted in the planetarium view or listed as TonightвЂ™s Best list are our recommended targets-all currently visible above the horizon from your observing site. From here, you can select an object to view, either by tapping it in the planetarium view or selecting it from the TonightвЂ™s Best observing list. Next, the app displays a view of the night sky and shows a bullseye on the screen to represent the telescopeвЂ™s current pointing position. When you launch the app, it guides you through a simple two-step procedure to align the smartphoneвЂ™s camera with the telescopeвЂ™s field of view. The StarSense Explorer app runs on a user-supplied smartphone attached to the StarSense Explorer telescope via the StarSense dock. The dock also features a built-in shade around the mirror to prevent stray light from entering the smartphone cameraвЂ™s field of view. ItвЂ™s equipped with X-Y adjustment knobs to help you position the camera over the mirror. The dock holds most smartphones with their cases attached. The mirror is tilted slightly relative to the telescope to provide better performance when locating objects low in the sky. The star patterns overhead reflect off the mirror and into the smartphoneвЂ™s camera. The StarSense dock-a special bracket that couples the smartphone to the StarSense Explorer telescope-holds the smartphone in place over an integrated mirror.

Best plate solving software