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4-22-05 Dr. Neale Monks
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Planetarium programs are at the heart of any amateur astronomers software toolbox, but over the years they have steadily become more and more complicated. In part, this is because amateurs expect more from their software, for example the otherwise intermediate level program MPj Equinox now includes features like webcam and CCD control for astronomical imaging. But there is also an element of upgrading features simply to tempt users into forking out cash for a newer, better version of a program they’ve been using for years.
People who only have a casual interest in astronomy, or want to share their interest with children, or simply want a simple, intuitive way to identify planets, constellations and a few bright stars, can easily find themselves overwhelmed by the high-end applications like Starry Night Pro or TheSky. Even the supposedly entry-level versions of these programs have pretty steep price tags attached (Starry Night Backyard retails for $80, for example). For someone who just wants to dip their toes in the celestial ocean, the best choice in terms of getting the right balance between features and cost comes from the shareware end of the market. MacAstronomica is one such
Installation
Installing MacAstronomica is simple: download a small (around 1 MB) disk image file from the Artistic Techworks web site and copy across the MacAstronomica application from the disk image into your Applications folder. There are no accessory files, data files, plug-ins, or anything else; everything you need is built into the application bundle. Although MacAstronomica will run in any one of three languages, English, French, and Spanish, you cannot change this setting on the fly. Instead, it reads the language your system software is running, and uses that.
MacAstronomica has pretty light system requirements, and most Macs running OS X 10.2 or later will do. Artistic Techworks recommend running MacAstronomica on computers with at least a 24-bit (“millions of colours”) 800 x 600 pixel screen. However, it seems to look and run fine in thousands of colours at this screen resolution, which is good news for owners of older iMacs and iBooks. A larger screen does help, though, as MacAstronomica is fairly demanding of screen space, and on a computer with only 800 x 600 pixels of screen to work with, things can look a little cramped.
User Interface
MacAstronomica has a very clean, very easy to learn interface that will appeal immediately to those who have never tried out a planetarium program. The main window is a planisphere-like map of the sky; similar to those published in astronomy magazines. There are only two accessory panels that work with the main windows, one that offers basic controls (such as time and location) and a second that lists the objects currently visible. When the time is changed using the control panel, objects are added or removed from the list of visible objects.
There is minimal documentation supplied with the program, and for the most part that isn’t too much of a problem. Built into the program is an online help system, which gives the user enough information to allow them to use most of the features, at least on a superficial level. But there are some topics that aren’t covered in this, such as how to use the find feature to locate specific objects.
There are a couple of odd aspects to the user interface, though not really bugs, can be awkward. The first comes from accidentally closing the main sky map window. There is no way to bring it back, short of quitting the application are then launching it again.
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If you close the main window, you have to relaunch the application to bring it back, because there’s no “New Window” command! |
The second issue that some users will struggle with is the find feature. As with most Mac programs, you can use Command-F to bring up a search box, into which you enter the name of the object you are interested in. For things like the names of planets or bright stars, this works fine. Type in the name, hit the Find button, and any objects with the search term in their name will light up on the sky map window, and if the object is below the horizon, MacAstronomica will tell you so. So far, so good; but the thing that takes getting used to is that you need to use the search terms as they are written in the Objects Visible window; for example, M31 will work but M 31 or Andromeda Galaxy will not. Because the catalogues are hidden away inside the application bundle, it isn’t easy to see what is and isn’t included and how it is named, so users will probably want to look over the Objects Visible panel carefully before using the find feature.
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A simple find feature allows users to locate objects, provided they use names MacAstronomica recognises. |
The MacAstronomica Sky Map
Unlike the sky views shown in traditional planetarium programs like Starry Night, the user cannot zoom into the view or move it around; in other words, it isn’t a simulation of the sky. Rather, the window is a map, to be printed and used in the field. Assuming you have a colour printer, you can print off the map, hold it over your head, and see in the map a view that corresponds closely to what you see in the actual sky.
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MacAstronomica comes with a clean, simple interface that essentially mimics a naked-eye view of the night sky. Constellation diagrams and labels can be added, but the main source of additional information comes tooltips that appear over selected items. |
The sky map window has some good aspects and some bad ones, and the degree to which these are an issue will depend upon your usage. On the one hand it is clean and easy to understand, but it also has some idiosyncrasies that limit its usefulness. As mentioned above, you cannot change the magnification of the map, but neither can you toggle the number of stars shown by magnitude. About the only thing you can change is whether or not the constellation stick figures are shown. Though annoying to experienced astronomers, if one thinks about this program as the equivalent of a planisphere, this isn’t such a big deal and probably does make some sense if the thing is to be accessible to newcomers to the hobby.
More serious is the bizarre labelling system. Apparently, the Sun, planets, and stars are labelled with numbers in order of brightness (so the Sun is 1, the Moon 2, Venus 3, and so on) depending on what is up at the time. The problem is that most astronomy books will put numbers alongside stars in reference to their Flamsteed Numbers, a formal numbering system used for hundreds of years to identify stars that didn’t have proper names. So introducing a completely arbitrary and totally variable system of numbers in this way only serves to confuse anyone using MacAstronomica alongside any other astronomy book or computer program.
Beyond telling you what’s visible, apparently ordered by brightness (rather than setting time, as with Starry Night), the Visible Objects in particular window has no real function. You cannot click on items on that panel and have them marked off for you on the screen, for example. You can export the list of objects to a plain text file, but since it lacks data such as the right ascension and declination coordinates, this isn’t particularly useful.
Field Astronomy Features
As well as being attractive in normal, onscreen viewing, MacAstronomica offers a couple of extra features that will be appreciated by amateur astronomers. The first of these is a night vision mode. This tints the sky map a dark red, so as to be visible in the dark without ruining night-adapted vision. This works well, although there is one serious limitation, and that is that it only works properly in full screen mode. The two accessory panels are not usable in this mode, and while the menu bar can be used, it is normally hidden in night vision mode and is shown normally and not in dark red. So while as a straightforward sky map, MacAstronomica in night vision mode has some use, as a full-blown planetarium program it is a bit limited. If you want to use MacAstronomica with its control panels and other features in the field, you will probably want to use one of the freeware night vision utilities (such as Dark Adapted X).
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Night vision mode dims the screen, making MacAstronomica easier to use in the dark. |
A second, more robust, feature is the ability to export PDF format sky charts. Generally, astronomy programs export their charts in some form of bitmapped graphic, which limits their resolution somewhat, and makes them less than ideal for inclusion in printed documents. MacAstronomica uses the underlying Mac PDF printing technology to good effect, producing nice charts that can be scaled up or down as required without losing any of their quality. However, the charts are exported in a “one size fits all” format, using different colours for marking off the various features and not allowing the user any control of things like fonts. Also, like the sky map itself, these charts cannot be magnified or cropped, and the levels of detail cannot be altered. Essentially, these are charts for naked eye and small telescope observations, rather than for users who want something for ‘star hopping’ between faint stars and deep sky objects.
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MacAstronomica can export PDF format sky map charts that can be printed and used in the field. |
The Orrery
The second mode of operation is the orrery. An orrery is a device that shows the relative positions of the planets from a top-down perspective, and MacAstronomica recreates with the Orrery View. Historically, astrologers were especially interested in when planets came closest or achieved particular angles of separation with one another, as these were purported to influence human affairs in some way. Astronomers retain a vague interest in these sorts of issues if only because they can be interesting to observe. For example, only when Mars reaches its closest approach with the Earth are observations with small telescopes worthwhile. Similarly, when several planets happen to lie within a few degrees of each other, as they do from time to time, this is just a neat naked eye observation but an event that gets into the TV news.
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In the orrery mode, close approaches (conjunctions) between the Earth and the other planets can be observed, such as here, with Mars in 2003. |
Another useful trick is to use the orrery to estimate the best times to see meteor showers. At certain times of the year, the Earth passes through clouds of debris, usually left behind by comets. As the debris gets drawn into the Earth’s gravity, it burns up in the atmosphere, becoming meteors, or shooting stars. A good meteor shower is one of the highlights of the astronomical calendar, and definitely something that naked eye astronomers do not want to miss. Meteor showers are marked on the background of the diagram, and as the user moves the date forward, the Earth passes by these showers, giving users a way to predict these events.
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The orrery doesn’t just show the positions of the planets, but also the times of the year when the major meteor showers occur. |
Conclusion
I liked MacAstronomica, even though I kept finding limitations and problems that seemed unnecessary, even for an entry-level application. Pitching this program against Stargazer’s Delight, which is probably the program with which it has the most in common, its main sky map view is far more limited, since the user cannot zoom in and magnify regions of interest. Where Stargazer’s Delight is a program that will work well both for naked eye observations and with a small telescope (something in the 76 to 114 mm rangem for example), MacAstronomica is very definitely something for naked eye observers only. The built-in help is adequate but has gaps, and things like the orrery need some more explaining that is presented there if newcomers to the subject are really going to understand what’s going on. This is no big deal; a decent Read Me file or HTML formal instruction manual could fit the bill nicely.
On the other hand, it is slightly less expensive than Stargazer’s Delight, is certainly prettier to look at, and is extremely simple to use. The ability to produce PDF charts is a very nice feature, and the night vision mode should make this program a popular choice for parents wanting to run this program on a PowerBook or iBook while sharing the night sky with their children. All in all, an interesting program well worth trying out, and within the confines of being a tool for naked eye astronomers, comfortably earns a three bounce rating.
- Dr.
Neale Monks
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