MegaStar Software

[Fr Chas]

Does anyone have experience with this software and is it recommended? From the
Wilmann-Bell description, it sounds like the software of choice because of its
many abilities. How does it compare to The Sky and others?

Bascially, I want a software that will be useful for touring and be useful for
generating maps of deep sky that I can pass along to a group. I plan to use it
with a Nextar 11 for touring, etc.(using a laptop), and also to generate
observing maps for Dobs. Cartes Du Ciel does not run on my computer for some
reason and therefore is useless for me.

[Bill Ferris]

Fr Chas wrote:

MegaStar is an oustanding deep-sky charting program. It's the choice of many
serious obsevers.

use

MegaStar interfaces with most GoTo scopes, including the NexStar line.
Megastar's charting flexibility is one of its great features. In addition to
the standard naked eye charts, you can generate charts oriented to match the
views in inverting and mirror-reversing telescopes. The field sizes are
scalable. You can print charts with overlays representing eyepiece and finder
scope fields of view. They're almost infinitely customizeable.

But the centerpiece of this program is the database of 200,000 deep-sky objects
in more than 150 catalogs. You can activate one, all or any combination of
these for display. Addtionally, you can filter objects by magnitude and type.
For example, I'll never see a 17th magnitude galaxy in my 10-inch, so I set the
faint limit at 16.0.

One of my favorite features is the ability to orient the screen display with
the north-south axis rotated to any angle. This is great for comparing charts
against images or drawings. And speaking of images, MegaStar comes with more
than 78,000 thumbnails which can be set to automatically display when you seek
an object. If the database doesn't include a thumbnail for the object you seek,
you're a single mouse click away from downloading a DSS image which will be
properly scaled and aligned to match the display.

These features just touch the surface of everything MegaStar offers. If you're
seriously into deep-sky observing, this is the program you want.

Regards,

Bill Ferris
"Cosmic Voyage: The Online Resource for Amateur Astronomers"
URL: http://www.cosmic-voyage.net
=============
Email: Remove "ic" from .comic above to respond

[Jan van Gastel]

I have used it for some years and it is a very good program. But since I
purchased Skytools about a year ago, I almost never use Megastar any more.
For skycharting I never use it any more.

--
Jan
http://home.wanadoo.nl/jhm.vangastel/


"Fr Chas" <frchas@aol.com> schreef in bericht
news:20031020202413.07323.00000351@mb-m21.aol.com...
From the
its
for
use it
some

[Rod Mollise]

>Does anyone have experience with this software and is it recommended? From

Hi:

Yes. I've been using Megastar since its first CD release (94 or 95) and have
been very pleased with it. Lots of objects, excellent printing, and user
friednly scope control. It's the program of choice for many of the folks in
this part of the country (the South), for sure.

If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto <http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html>

[Rod Mollise]

>But since I

Hi:

Skytools is great, but there are times when I want a great chart in a hurry. I
think Megastar is a better choice in that regard.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto <http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html>

[Roger Persson]

Hi,
Actually I find it easier to make printed charts with SkyTools. For
example you can print star hopping charts for all the objects in an
observing list with a few mouse clicks. Naked eye, finder and
telescope view on one paper.
I have MegaStar 5 and SkyTools 2. I like MegaStar 5 for the thumbnail
pictures and NGC-Max support. But SkyTools is my first choice.
Sincerely,
Roger Persson

rmollise@aol.com (Rod Mollise) wrote in message news:<20031021064451.19515.00000481@mb-m07.aol.com>...

[Len Philpot]

In article <20031021064337.19515.00000480@mb-m07.aol.com>,
rmollise@aol.com said...

I think I started with 1.3 or so - Emil was demoing it at the TSP with an
old single speed CD... that kind of dates it there! I remember when he
made his 'public' announcement and demo a couple of TSPs prior with the
original DOS version, all 54 diskettes (or whatever it was). It was
impressive and the meeting hall was packed.

I tend to need charts more than planning, so it fits my needs nicely. One
of the beneficial (IMO) things of its original DOS legacy is the presence
of many one-key shortcuts... Locate an object? Press L... Zoom in? Press
Z. Zoom out? Press M (for Mooz, the opposite of Zoom :-) and so on. It's
convenient at my desk, and a real finger saver in the field when it's
cold. Although it's highly subjective, I happen to like Megastar's chart
visual defaults better than many of the other packages, although in
fairness, most of them can be configured to appear like one of the others
if desired. It's also a pretty fast program given what it does. Also,
being able to move DSO labels around is pretty nifty.

--

-- Len Philpot -> len@philpot.org <--
------ ><> -----> http://philpot.org/ <--

[Rod Mollise]

>

Hi Len:

I admired Megastar when it was in DOS form, but 54 floppies seemed just a
little _wacky_ to me. I still like Megastar very much and use it with my
students. Frankly, though, I use Skytools more these days, I guess, because of
the "everything else" it offers.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto <http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html>

[Fr Chas]

With your endorsement of Skytools, where does one find information about it?
Who makes it?...what does it retail for?...Also, you said you like MegaStar for
its chart making abilities...is Skytools lacking in this aspect?

Thank you for your response (in advance!)

[Jan van Gastel]

You can find information about Skytools here.
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
--
Jan
http://home.wanadoo.nl/jhm.vangastel/



"Fr Chas" <frchas@aol.com> schreef in bericht
news:20031022231558.16676.00001114@mb-m07.aol.com...
it?
MegaStar for