Planner Help

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.

Object Visibility: limits the search for objects to a specific location or time range.

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.

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").

Restrict to Constellation: the constellation where you want to find objects. For example, to find only objects in Orion, choose Orion from the constellation list.

Finally, tap Search at the bottom of the view. Your results will be displayed in an object list. 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.