New and Improved Features in TheSkyX Serious Astronomer Edition

If you're familiar with TheSky6 Serious Astronomer Edition, we've made every effort to include every feature that is available in TheSky6 in TheSkyX.  With improvements.

Here's what's new with TheSkyX Serious Astronomer Edition as compared to TheSky6 Serious Astronomer Edition...

General Features

• TheSkyX runs natively under either Macintosh OS X (Universal) or Microsoft Windows (XP/Vista) operating systems.

• Graphics are rendered using OpenGL graphics acceleration to produce stunning displays with smooth animations.

• Redesigned user interface including stacking windows, customizable and user-definable toolbars.

• The size of all dialogs can be changed to accommodate your preferences.

• What's Up? command to quickly locate and highlight interesting objects for naked eye, binocular, small telescope, or the ten most interesting objects that are visible when you will observe.

• All photographs can be viewed from the Photo window, as thumbnails, or a separate Photo Viewer.

• View H/R Diagrams for all Hipparcos stars, or just the Hipparcos stars on the Sky Chart.  The HR Diagram shows the position of the selected star on the diagram.

• An optional laser pointer can be shown to aid locating objects on the Sky Chart (such as fast moving, faint satellites).

• Commonly used features (Tours, Find, Date and Time, Photos, Labels, Chart Elements, Chart Status windows) can appear as "stacked" windows, or floating windows, or docked individually on the left or right side of TheSkyX's main window.

• Print/generate high-resolution charts, in portable document Format (PDF), postscript (PS) or Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format.

• Improved, easier to select date and time input via the Date and Time toolbar and the Date and Time window.

• New time calendar allows you to quickly view the phases of the moon for the current (or any) month.

• Real-time computation (up to 60 frames per second and higher with “decent” video hardware) and display of all objects.

• On Windows, the only dependencies on any shared files (libraries/DLLs) is OpenGL and Windows OS-specific files. This reduces installation issues and conflicts with anti-virus software.

• View the phases of the moon for the entire year.

• New high-accuracy solar eclipse calculations for archeo-astronomy.

• Graphically show details about solar eclipses “above Earth”, including the moon’s shadow, lines for the central eclipse, regions of partial eclipses and local circumstances.

• Application-specific settings (main window’s and all dialog window’s, and toolbar window’s size, position and visibility) are saved and restored automatically.  (Including window positions, date, time, chart position.)

• Accurately predict and graphically simulate Iridium flares.

• View local stars in a three-dimensional perspective.

• Show individual constellations in a three-dimensional perspective.

• Highlight individual constellations on the main chart.

• The constellation in which a particular object resides appears in the Object Information report.

• Show galaxies as filled ellipses or as symbols.

• Startup location is determined automatically from your computer’s IP address.  (Using a database of over 25 million addresses that is updated monthly.)

• Planets are rendered more realistically (OpenGL mode only).

• Right-click (or CONTROL+left-click) the mouse on the Object Information Report to show a menu with the following features:

• • Copy the attributes beneath the mouse cursor to the Clipboard (Copy <Attribute Name> where <Attribute Name> is one of the object's attributes, ra, dec, name, etc.).  For example, right click over the RA (current) attribute and click the Copy RA (current) command to copy the current right ascension to the Clipboard.

  • Copy the current or Epoch 2000 coordinates to the Clipboard.

  • Copy Equatorial Coordinates (Now) and Copy Equatorial Equatorial Coordinates (2000.0) commands.

  • Copy the contents of the Object Information report (all attributes) as text to the Clipboard.  Copy as Text command.

  • Toggle the numerical format of coordinates between "degrees/minutes/seconds" (sexagesimal) format and HH.MMMMM (decimal) format.

• Use the left mouse button to drag the Sky Chart; SHIFT+drag to create a zoom box.

• Pressing Left/Right/Up/Down toolbar buttons continuously and smoothly pan the Sky Chart.

• Click and hold down the Zoom In, Zoom Out, Move Up/Down/Left/Right buttons now continuously adjusts the Sky Chart's position.

• File > Print Chart command, added the ability to Zoom In/Out, set Portrait/Landscape orientation, Fit to Width/Fit in View scaling and a Refresh button to the Star Chart Preview window.

• In the Display > Date and Time window, set a specific time to Now, Sunrise, Noon, Sunset, Midnight, Morning, Evening, New Moon, First Quarter, Last Quarter, Full Moon, Moonrise, Moonset, Vernal Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumnal Equinox, Winter Solstice, or any Julian date.

• Preferences command to configure infrequently modified settings.

• Added a context menu to the Display > Find window's Object Information Report.  Right-click (or CONTROL+left-click) the mouse on the Object Information Report to show a menu with the following features:

• • Copy the attributes beneath the mouse cursor to the Clipboard (Copy <Attribute Name> where <Attribute Name> is one of the object's attributes, ra, dec, name, etc.).  For example, right click over the RA (current) attribute and click the Copy RA (current) command to copy the current right ascension to the Clipboard.

  • Copy the current or Epoch 2000 coordinates to the Clipboard. Copy Equatorial Coordinates (Now) and Copy Equatorial Equatorial Coordinates (2000.0) commands.

  • Copy the contents of the Object Information report (all attributes) as text to the Clipboard.  Copy as Text command.

  • Toggle the numerical format of coordinates between "degrees/minutes/seconds" (sexagesimal) format and HH.MMMMM (decimal) format.

• The Object Information Report's time-related attributes (such as altitude, azimuth coordinates, hour angle, LST, Julian Date) are updated continuously.

• Show all or individually show magnitude, symbol and chart status legends on printed star charts.

• When typing an object name in the Find text box, an "auto-completer" shows all the objects that match the current text.

• Improved support for running TheSkyX on multiple monitors.

• Laser pointer appears to show the position of objects in the observing list.

• Print Charts as scalable vector graphics or Portable Document Format.

• Added anAngular Separation and Position Angle tool that can be used to measure the angular distance and position angle between any two positions (or objects) on the Sky Chart.

• Digital Settings Circles window lets you show information including the telescope's ra/dec, az/alt, HA and more.

Tool Tip Options

• Customize tool tip content to show as little, or as much information as you want.  

• Red colored tool tip background is less invasive and preserves night adaptation (Windows).

Constellations & Asterism Options

• New Constellations & Asterisms dialog organizes all the constellation and asterism options in a single window.

• Select one of six different constellation figures to suite your preferences, or to compare different sources:

• • Astronomy Magazine

  • H.A. Rey

  • Patrick Moore

  • Sky & Telescope Magazine

  • TheSky Constellation Lines

  • Will Tirion

• Label the 88 constellations on the Sky Chart by:

• • Abbreviation

  • Astronomical Name

  • Astronomical Name with pronunciation

  • Common Name

  • Genitive form

  • Genitive form and pronunciation

• Highlight the constellation boundary of the central constellation.

• Show detailed constellation drawings and set the transparency and color.

• Show individual constellation drawings, or any combination.

• Show only the constellations in the Zodiac.

• Show only constellation drawings near the center of the screen.

• Center selected constellations on the Sky Chart.

• Show up to 75 common asterisms, or any combination of individual asterism figures.

• Label common asterisms by name.

• Center asterisms on the Sky Chart.

Labeling Objects

• Turn on/off all labels from a single window (Display > Labels window).

• Show or hide object labels for all object types and all labels types (labels for common names and detailed, customizable labels from the Labels tab on the Command Center.

• Show fewer or more labels on the Sky Chart using the label density slider.

• Show labels using a normal font, or a smoothed (“anti-aliased”) OpenGL font that moves smoothly during animations.

Magnitude and Size Limiting Options

• Easily set the upper and lower magnitude limits and angular size limits (where applicable) for any object classification, group of objects, or all objects.

Sky Chart Status Information

• The customizable status information report window can show as much or as little status information as you want about the current chart.

Preferences

• New toolbars and button graphics.

• The look of the toobar buttons can be customized by size and show/hide the command's text description below or to the right of the button's graphic.

• Create user-defined toolbars or add commands to existing toolbars.

Field of View Indicators (FOVIs)

• Completely redesigned user interface makes adding and managing your FOVIs a snap.

• Updated equipment database includes hundreds of cameras, eyepieces and telescopes.

• Quick Add feature to easily create a custom field of view indicator.

Horizon & Atmosphere Options

• Improved photographic horizon display is faster, and shows the horizon at all orientations and fields of view.

• Show simulated clouds.

• Show simulated meteors.

• Show meteor showers and shower radiants; labeled by date.

• Show customizable sky gradients (background).

Optional TPoint Add On

• The optional TPoint Telescope Pointing Analysis Software Add On has been integrated as part of TheSkyX's telescope control.  It's now easier than ever to collect mapping points, refine your mount's polar alignment, improve pointing using the world's most powerful telescope analysis software.