Using the interactive star chart

When you log on to the Browser Astronomy site, you'll be presented with the star chart below (powered by TheSky Astronomy Software.)

The stars and other objects displayed here are the same as they appear from the remote observatory you are controlling.

This chart is a fully functional planetarium display, and can show any portion of the night sky, at any field of view! Click on any portion of the screen to get help.

Look Buttons

Click these buttons to look North, South, East, West or at the Zenith (this is a view of the sky looking "straight up" from your location).

Move Buttons

Click these buttons to adjust the display left, right, up or down. Clicking the Left or Right button scrolls the display in the opposite direction, just as if you are moving your head in this direction.

Zoom Buttons

Click these buttons to change your current field of view. The In button magnifies the current view (as if you look at the sky through a pair of binoculars or a telescope. The Out button increases the field of view.

Slew Telescope

Click this button slew the telescope to the object entered into the Object Name text box.

Center Telescope Cross Hair

Click this button center the telescope cross hair. This can be useful if you've adjusted the current field and want to see where the telescope is currently pointing.

Simulated Sky Display

The interactive, simulated sky display shows you what the actual sky looks like from the remote observatory. The starting view is looking toward the South. The constellation lines, the Milky Way outline and names of common objects are also shown to help orient yourself with the actual sky.

Click the Look, Move, and Zoom buttons to adjust the current field to view different portions of the sky.

Status Bar

This area of the screen shows data related to the current field of view.

• Date - Local date at the remote observatory.

• Time - Local time at the remote observatory.

• Lat - Latitude of the remote observatory.

• Long - Longitude of the remote observatory.

• Time Zone - Time zone of the remote observatory (hours from Greenwich Mean Time).

• Center RA - Displays the right ascension (in hours, minutes, and seconds) of the center of the star chart.

• Center Dec - Displays the declination (in degrees, minutes, and seconds) of the center of the star chart.

• Center Az - Displays the azimuth (in degrees, minutes, and seconds) of the center of the star chart.

• Center Alt - Displays the altitude (in degrees, minutes, and seconds) of the center of the star chart.

• Rotation Angle - Displays the rotation angle (in degrees measured from the Celestial Pole) of the center of the star chart.

Object Name Entry

Enter the name, catalog number, or celestial coordinates of the object that you wish to image here.

This simple-looking entry is actually very powerful. You can enter the name of any of literally millions of different objects found in TheSky's databases. For example, you can enter "M42" or "Great Nebula in Orion" or NGC1942. Or, you can enter the names of minor planets, comets, satellites, planets, and more.

The tables below outline many of the valid "object name" entries.

To Image an Object Using its Common Name

Enter the name of the object and then click Take Image. The common name can be most any name for a celestial object, such as "Horsehead Nebula," "Andromeda Galaxy," "Crab Nebula" and so on.

To Image an Object by Catalog Number

Most objects in the night sky are cataloged in databases by catalog number. If you know the database of the object that you wish to image, and the catalog number of the particular object, then you can enter this information in here.

More Object Name Examples

Take Image Button

Enter the length of the exposure, in seconds, and then click this button to begin acquiring an image of the object entered in the Object Name text box.