Starry Night Times

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Target: Starry Night Pro Plus

Starry Night Pro Plus version 5 brings a slew of improvements, both subtle and substantial. Apart from the amazing AllSky Image (which we looked at last month) a number of elegant new functions will interest astrophotographers and those of you using Starry Night to control your telescopes.

For Windows users, you can create your own astrophotos with the new plug-in to MaxIm DL/CCD imaging software (sold separately). This innovative integration lets you find your target with Starry Night, capture the image with your telescope and camera, process the image with MaxIm DL, and then import the pictures back into Starry Night! Your image will automatically align and overlay onto the coordinates in the Starry Night display.

As shown below, you can see how version 5.0.5 brings improved MaxIm DL integration to create your own astrophotos.

Below, you can also now take advantage of the “FOV” pane to create customized field-of-view indicators for your dual-CCD chips.

These great new features are included in the FREE update to version 5.0.5. See below for complete details.

Sean O'Dwyer, Starry Night Times Editor

   

Constellation: Orion

Constellation Map: LeoThe first of Hercules' fabled twelve tasks was to bring King Eurystheus the skin of a terrible lion whose hide was known to be invulnerable to spears and arrows. Hercules didn't have much bother with the lion: he cornered the beast in its lair and strangled it to death by ramming his fist down its throat. When he returned with the lion's body, the King was so terrified he ran from the sight of it. Hercules wasn't fazed: he skinned the lion and took its hide as armor.

The Leo "Triplets" (M65, M66 and NGC 3628) are a nice grouping. The two Messier objects are brighter but the third triplet is visible too and, if you use averted vision, surprisingly large; it looks elongated and edge-on-ish. In the same field of view, the whole grouping looks like eyes and a mouth. M95, M96 and M105 are not so bright, but make an interesting group for comparison.

Regulus, the brightest star in Leo and the 21st brightest star in the sky, has a faint double sometimes visible in binoculars. Algieba is one of the best doubles in the sky, with two yellow components that orbit one another every 620 years. Denebola, a blue-orange pair, is an optical double: the stars are far apart in space, not connected in any way, but lie along the same line of sight.

Sean O'Dwyer


Special Announcement: MacWorld 2005 Giveaway Winners

Thank you to all those who stopped by the Starry Night booth at MacWorld and filled out a survey. Congratulations to the following contest giveaway winners: Flora Drennan, D. Garcia, Bryan Kilfoil and Karen Suhaka. Please contact lfung@imaginova.com to claim your FREE copy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 5.


Free Starry Night 5.0.5 Update

We’ve been listening; a FREE update to Starry Night version 5.0.5 with your most requested features is now available. The FREE update to Starry Night version 5.0.5 makes it even easier to use Starry Night for observation and astrophotography.

Starry Night Pro Plus 5 users will now have the ability to:

  • Adjust the brightness of the AllSky Image for even greater detail
  • “Nudge Telescope” incrementally by seconds, minutes or degrees
  • Choose FOV indicators from a database of over 200 Orion, Meade, Celestron and Vixen scopes, binoculars, and SBIG, Apogee, FLI and Starlight Express CCD chips
  • Add dual-chip CCDs and rotate the FOV
  • Include object name when acquiring an image through the MaxImDL plug-in (Win only)
  • And much more!

You must already have Starry Night Pro Plus version 5 to take advantage of this update. Simply run the “Pro Plus 5 Updater” located in your Starry Night application folder to download the new features and fixes.

If you don’t already have Pro Plus 5, upgrade NOW at special introductory upgrade prices! Offer expires May 15, 2005.

Click here for a complete listing of the added features and fixes.

Attention Backyard 3.1 Users!

FOV indicators are back in Enthusiast! An update to Starry Night Enthusiast 5.0.5 includes generic 5 degrees, 2 degrees, 1 degree and 30 arcminutes FOV indicators. You can also add your own circular, rectangular, Telrad or Rigel QuickFinder FOVs. Tag them to coordinates and have them "float" with your gaze. Upgrade now to Enthusiast 5.0 to take advantage of this free update to 5.0.5.

Other enhancements in the Enthusiast and Pro 5.0.5 update include: improvements to the orbital position and velocity calculations for satellites and bug fixes for SkyCalendar and SkyGuide.

The most notable enhancement for Pro 5.0.5 is the ability to easily add equipment and FOV indicators by choosing from a database of over 200 Orion, Meade, Celestron and Vixen scopes, binoculars, and SBIG, Apogee, FLI and Starlight Express CCD chips.

You must already have Starry Night Enthusiast or Pro version 5.0.1 to take advantage of this FREE update to version 5.0.5.

If you are already running Starry Night Enthusiast or Pro version 5.0.1, simply run the “Updater” located in your Starry Night application folder. The “Updater” will automatically download the added features and fixes.

If you have Starry Night version 5.0.0, click here to download the FREE 5.0.0 Updater Installer that will help you get the latest program updates.

   

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April 2005

Latest Updates

Starry Night 5.0.5 Update
An update is available for ALL version 5.0 users. Please click here for download instructions.

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Sky Events
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A special thanks to everyone who attended the workshops for the new Starry Night Education line and stopped by our booth at the NSTA conference in Dallas, TX. Starry Night Middle School and High School have been hailed as the best products to teach space science. They will be available mid-May. Visit our Education mini-site to learn more.

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Sky Events
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April 26
Mercury at greatest western elongation (27 degrees)

April 29
Venus coming into view on the Western horizon during sunset.

May 1
Last quarter moon 2:24 AM, EDT)

May 4
Peak of Eta Aquirid meteor shower

May 15
Uranus and Mars a little more than one degree apart

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Subscriptions
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Starry Night™ is the world's leading line of astronomy software and DVD’s. Visit starrynight.com to see all the great products we offer for everyone from novice to experienced astronomers.

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