Planner Help

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    Observing Planner

    In SkySafari Plus or Pro, you can search for objects based on properties other than their name(s) or catalog number(s). For example, you could search for all galaxies in Virgo brighter than magnitude 10, or all asteroids more than 45 degrees above the horizon. Please Note: this feature is not available in the basic version of SkySafari.

    To search for objects this way, select 'Planner' after tapping the Observe button in the toolbar. Then select the following:

    • Object Types: the kind(s) of objects you want to find - for example, Stars, Open Clusters, Bright Nebulae, Galaxies, Planets, or Comets. You can choose more than one object type.

    • Restrict to Ranges: the limits for properties of objects you want to find. Enter the minimum value in the left, and the maximum on the right. For example, to find objects with a magnitude between 4 and 5, enter "4" on the left and "5" on the right under Magnitude. If you leave any field blank, no limit will be applied to that value. For example, you can search for all objects closer than 10 light years by leaving the left side blank (no minimum distance), and entering 10 on the right side (maximum distance 10 light years) under Distance.

    • Restrict to Catalogs: limits the search for objects to specific catalogs. For example, to find objects in the Messier catalog only, enter "Messier" in the field. To limit the search to multiple catalogs, enter comma separated lists of catalog names (e.g. "Messier, NGC, Sharpless"). If you leave the field blank, all catalogs will be searched.

    • Restrict to Time Period: limits the search for objects to a specific time range when an Altitude or Azimuth range is specified in the Restrict To Ranges section. Toggle the "Specific Time Range" button and tap the highlighted date and time display to set the time range limits for your object search.

    • Constellation: the constellation where you want to find objects. For example, to find only objects in Orion, choose Orion from the constellation list. If you want to find objects in any constellation, turn the wheel to "All Constellations" (the default).

    Finally, tap Search at the bottom of the view. Your results will be displayed in an object list, just as if you'd searched for them by name. From this view you can select to make your search results into an observing list by tapping Make Into Observing List.

    To reset all of your advanced search parameters to their defaults, tap Reset All.

    Comments

    • Avatar
      Mike Prasse

      i cannot figure out how to specify a time range in the planner that spans 2 days (e.g., from 11pm on June 12 to 3am on June 13). when I set the date to June 12, and specify 11pm and 3am, the search results clearly are NOT june 12 at 11pm to June 13 at 3am, so I assume what is happening is SSpro is setting the time range to 3am on June 12 to 11pm on June 12.
      Is there a way to specify a time that spans 2 days in the Planner? Thanks!

    • Avatar
      Gsansoucie

      Came here looking for help on the Planner filter, specifically how the “Double star separation in arcsec” setting affects the overall filter. Not finding anything in help or the community.

      Looks like this becomes an “AND” clause under the hood when trying to filter.

      I’m looking for all objects (sans stars and asteroids) within Pegasus but I want to limit double stars to a separation of 20” or greater since my scope and the viewing conditions at my house are very limiting. When I apply this, I appear to only get double star results. Messier and NGC objects that meet my other criteria are filtered out. This limits the usefulness of this planner as I basically have to already know what other objects I want to view and add to the list.

      Is there some way to apply the double star separation criteria only to doublestar entries so I get all other objects plus double stars within my criteria range?