NEO Planner V4.1 - Execute Search - Explanations
The new Execute Search feature was developed jointly by the NEO
Planner user team. Knowledge of spherical geometry was essential for displaying
the star map and calculating the mosaic positions.
Many thanks to P. Christoph Gerhard and Bernd Koch for their valuable tips and
formulas! The decoding of the UCAC-3 binaries and the programming work was
accomplished with the help of my talents.
Within the picture, click on the area that you want to be explained: (not in all browsers available)
The Execute Search function creates
two files in the planning folder of NEO Planner for loading into
N.I.N.A.
On the one hand an XML file for loading in the sequencer's
open target set, on the other hand a JSON file for loading in the advanced
sequencer.
The mosaic feature can be used for all observing purposes, including deep sky observing.
Active camera. Clicking takes you to the CCD parameters and you can select the active camera there.
Width and height of the camera field:
The size of the active camera's sensor.
Width and height of the mosiac:
Size of the entire recording area according to the mosaic size. (Mosaic selection area)
Mosaic selection:
Amount of the overlap of the individual mosaic fields in percent
in right ascension and declination.
The overlap is calculated correctly and the positions in the JSON and XML file
are correct. The display in the starmap is still being revised.
Specifies the size of the mosaic. A maximum of 10 rows and 10 columns is possible.
Central position of the mosaic. This also forms the center of
the mosaic in the star field.
Unfortunately, N.I.N.A. do not interpret declination between -1 and 0 degrees.
Therefore please do not select this area.
N.I.N.A. selection:
Execute start time in hours and minutes:
in local time.
Exposure time and number of images/one mosaic field:
When searching for Near Earth Objects, the key is to find
objects moving faster than Main Belt asteroids or comets.
We recommend an exposure time of approx. 10 seconds and at least 11 images per
series, which the Tycho Synthetic Tracker requires.
If you blink the picture series with your eye, about 30 pictures per mosaic
field are recommended.
Experience has shown that objects up to approx. 19 mag can be flashed visually under these conditions taken with high-intensity sensors.
Star map selection:
After performing the Execute Search, the star map is displayed with the central
search position in the middle of the mosaic.
The green field borders show the dimensions of the image and the arrangement of
the image series based on the sensor size.
The sequence of shots for N.I.N.A. follows this rule:
The telescope is positioned from lower R.A. to higher R.A. First, all columns
per lower R.A. positioned,
then jump to the nearest higher R.A. and processing of all columns and so on.
The star map shows all Yale bright stars, Tycho and Hipparchus stars and all
UCAC-3 stars up to about 17 mag.
Clicking on a star displays the names and magnitudes of the stars.
(see the red circle in the star field)
In the Star map section you can select the faintest brightness of the stars, display galaxies from the UCAC-3 catalog or switch cardinal directions.
The position map shows the R.A. and declination positions of the
mosaic and their values in milliseconds.
Milliseconds: from R.A. 00h00m00s and from Declination -90° on.
© Copyright: The data comes from official access to web services from MPC, whose origins are the tireless measurements of dozens of professional and amateur observatories around the world