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Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 6th 03, 05:21 PM
GO VOLS!
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night

Deep Sky 2003 has something called a deep sky database which consist of dark
nebula and open clusters outside the ngc/ic catalogs. Many, many , many ,
many of those objects can be seen in humble binoculars. Starry Night sadly
has the absolute worse deepsky database out of all commercial mainstream
astronomical software. Also DeepSky 2003 planner is much better and it has
logging.
Don't get me wrong I love Starry Night, but it is an educator tool and
cloudy night entertainment. It is not suitable for the amateur as compared
to other lower cost software.

See a review I have done for Starry Night
http://www.knoxvilleobservers.org/be...snpreview1.htm

You should also check out SkyTools. It cost twice as much as DeepSky 2003
but it is 3 times better. See a review of it here
http://www.knoxvilleobservers.org/be...oolsreview.htm

I plan on doing a review on DeepSky 2003 as I own that as well.



x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com
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x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD

  #2  
Old September 6th 03, 05:45 PM
Tdcarls
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night

Shawn,

What about Desktop Universe? Tried it yet?

Todd

http://www.backyardastronomy.com
http://www.skynewsmagazine.com
http://www.simpleastrophotography.com

  #3  
Old September 6th 03, 06:08 PM
GO VOLS!
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night

What about Desktop Universe? Tried it yet?

No I have not tried it. From what I see on its web site it is regular
ordinary hum drum charting software that adds ccd images of the whole sky.
CCD images of the whole sky is nice and took a lot of work but how do they
help the visual observer or ccd imager? For me I don't like to look at
pictures of objects I am going to observe or have observed because they have
much more detail that can lead to confusion. One thing Desktop universe does
I like is outlines for dark nebula.

With enough computing power I can get Guide or Skytools display all dss over
the whole sky for a third of the cost of Desktop Universe. In short I don't
want to pay $300 for a program that just has charting over a background of
ccd images as its main advantage. I still have to have either Guide or
Skytools to pick up the slack in features Desktop Universe doesn't have.



x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com
x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups
x-- Access to over 800 Gigs/Day - $8.95/Month
x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD

  #4  
Old September 6th 03, 09:48 PM
Rod Mollise
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night

Deep Sky 2003 has something called a deep sky database which consist of dark
nebula and open clusters outside the ngc/ic catalogs. Many, many , many ,
many of those objects can be seen in humble binoculars. Starry Night sadly
has the absolute worse deepsky database out of all commercial mainstream
astronomical software. Also DeepSky 2003 planner is much better and it has
logging.
Don't get me wrong I love Starry Night, but it is an educator tool and
cloudy night entertainment. It is not suitable for the amateur as compared
to other lower cost software.



Hi:

For ONCE you can take what Shawn is saying to the bank. He's 100% on target
about this.

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
  #5  
Old September 6th 03, 10:12 PM
GO VOLS!
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night


For ONCE you can take what Shawn is saying to the bank. He's 100% on

target
about this.


For once? Come on Rod you can always take what I say to the bank.



x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com
x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups
x-- Access to over 800 Gigs/Day - $8.95/Month
x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD

  #6  
Old September 7th 03, 01:18 AM
Rod Mollise
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night

For once? Come on Rod you can always take what I say to the bank.

HI Shawn:

Yeah, but the next thing you hear is, "ALRIGHT IN THERE...COME OUT WITH YOUR
HANDS UP!!" :-)

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
  #7  
Old September 7th 03, 01:18 PM
GO VOLS!
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night

What do you think about Deep Sky 2003 compared to Sky Tools 2 ??

Myself I am still debating which I like best. Deep Sky seems to have
better catalogs but for me is kind of hard to use. I am not too
famililar in using SQL Syntax. I find that Sky Tools 2 is more
straight forward and much easier to actually use.


Actually SkyTools has the better catalogs. They are more accurate and not
just thrown in. DeepSky is good for the money no question and it will do the
job. However I like everything about SkyTools better. Skytools has better
logging and log browsing and sorting, better charts of all forms, better
celestial events planning such as jupiter's moon events, meteor showers,
transits, conjunctions, occulatation and you name it. Skytools has Mars map
and photorealistic view of Jupiter. Also Skytools is faster. I own both and
in all ways SkyTools is better. Skytools is much more then planning and
logging. It is full 110% charting, solar system info and events planning. It
is the most complete program to the visual observer.



x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com
x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups
x-- Access to over 800 Gigs/Day - $8.95/Month
x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD

  #8  
Old September 7th 03, 02:09 PM
astro_nutter
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night

JD,

I have used (and paid for) Deepsky 2003 and found it useful. After paying
for it, and setting it up, I found AstroPlanner and LOVE it.

It is simple, can use standard astro databases, has GREAT support. (
http://www.ilangainc.com/astroplanner/ ) It has very nice, simple (which I
need) tools, instructions and other features.

I have no association with the people that make it (other then being a VERY
happy customer).

Give it a go, I am would be surprised if you where not very pleased with it.

I hope this helps.

Kevin Street

"JD" wrote in message
...
Anyone have an opinion- good or otherwise, about the Deepsky 2003
software package compared to any of the Starry Night programs?



  #9  
Old September 7th 03, 04:29 PM
Rod Mollise
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night

I have used (and paid for) Deepsky 2003 and found it useful. After paying
for it, and setting it up, I found AstroPlanner and LOVE it.


Hi:

One other thing to mention is that AstroPlanner is available in a MACINTOSH
version!'

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
  #10  
Old September 7th 03, 04:35 PM
Rod Mollise
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Default Deepsky 2003 Astronomy Software vs Starry Night


What do you think about Deep Sky 2003 compared to Sky Tools 2 ??


Hi:

I love and use them both. Really can't choose, so I work with both of them. ST2
has a superior user interface and charts, while DS2003 (DVD version) has that
incredibly useful DVD of images and charts that, while not fancy, are very easy
to use.

Tastes Great! Less Filling! No, I really can't choose. But I've got "designated
tasks" for each, so I intend to happily continue with both. And they are very
reasonably priced, so you could set your hard-drive up with ST2, DS, and Cartes
for about what you'd pay for The Sky.


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
 




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