Software Bisque History, Innovations, and Milestones
The table below shows a timeline of Software Bisque benchmarks since 1983.
Year | Event |
2021 | TheSky Professional for Windows OS 64-bit released Paramount Taurus 700 equatorial fork mount Paramount Apollo 800 altazimuth mount |
2019 | TheSky Imaging edition TheSky Fusion Paramount Taurus 500/600 equatorial fork mount Paramount Apollo 500/600 altazimuth mount |
2017 | Acquired TPoint Software |
2016 | TheSkyX Professional Edition for Linux and TheSky Professional Edition for Raspberry Pi released (December). Paramount Taurus Model 400 Equatorial Mount introduced at the Society for Astronomical Sciences Symposium and the Southern California Astronomy Exposition (June). |
2015 | Paramount Taurus Equatorial Fork Mount Models 500 and 600 introduced at the AMOS Conference (September). Software Bisque telescope mirror covers demonstrated at the AMOS Conference (September). Paramount MYT reviewed in the November, 2015 issue of Sky & Telescope Magazine. |
2014 | -Paramount MYT begins shipping (November). -Paramount MX+ begins shipping (June). -Software Bisque introduces and demonstrates TheSky Pro for embedded Linux at RTMC. |
2013 | Paramount ME II begins shipping (March). TheSky HD for iPad is released (October). |
2012 | TheSky Professional with autoguiding released at AIC (November). |
2011 | Paramount MX begins shipping. The TPoint module to TheSky released. The Dome module to TheSky Pro released. |
2010 | -TheSky Professional Edition for Mac and Windows released. (May) -TheSky’s Database module introduced. (June) |
2009 | TheSky Serious Astronomer for Mac released at Macworld (January) |
2008 | TheSky Student Edition for Mac released at Macworld (January) |
2007 | – Seeker 3D solar system simulation software released (January 08 at MacWorld). – Software Bisque issued patent US7313763 B1: “A system for operating an astronomical observatory in real time using http.” – The Software Bisque technologies and team members featured in Timothy Ferris’ Seeing in the Dark documentary. |
2004 | TheSky Version 6 released (April 16). |
2002 | Paramount ME begins shipping (April 9). |
2001 | – CCDSoft Version 5 released (May 25). – Dr. Charles Jules names the first of his 475 minor planet discoveries after the Bisque brothers. The official IAU designation for this object 12934 Bisque (1999 TH16). – The Minor Planet Bulletin, Volume 28, Number 4, A.D. 2001 October-December issue, publishes Software Bisque’s “Automated Minor Planet Light Curve Generation” article which satisfied both aspects of the Richard P. Binzel Challenge proposed in 1992. Editor’s note: As of March 2022, Software Bisque has yet to take possession of the offered prize. |
2000 | – Paramount GT-1100S begins shipping – TheSky Pocket Edition for Windows CE devices released. |
1998 | TheSky Version 5 for Mac and Windows released (December). |
1997 | – TPoint version 1 for Windows released. – AutomDome dome control software for Windows released. |
1996 | – The Paramount GT-1100 is introduced at AIC. (July 11, 1996 was the first Advanced Imaging Conference in Santa Barbara, CA). – TheSky Version 4 released. – Orchestrate Automation and Scripting Software released. |
1995 | CCDSoft Version 4 released. Software Bisque publishes the Focus, Optics, Seeing, Tracking, Experience, and Review (FOSTER) CCD Imaging book. |
1994 | TheSky Version 2 released. |
1993 | – CCDSoft Version 1 released. – Software Bisque remotely controls the Mt. Wilson Observatory 24-inch telescope and camera via modem from Golden, Colorado. |
1992 | TheSky for Windows ad appears in Sky & Telescope Magazine. |
1990 | TheSky version 1 for Windows 3.0 released. |
1989 | – Computer-Assist Services incorporates as Software Bisque, Inc. – Steve Bisque invents the push to or software-guided telescope (SGT) by mounting optical encoders to both axes of a telescope. A serial decoder (Software Bisque’s BBox) fed the encoder’s positions to TheSky. |
1983 | Steve Bisque releases The_Sky version 1.0 for MS-DOS. |
1981 | Steve Bisque founds Computer-Assist Services that focuses on developing custom financial software. |