References for those who search

Affiliation

American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)

Wed, 03/30/2022 - 17:04

What search references are available online to check transients?

I use Sky Safari Pro and MegaStar 5, both of which are chart-based, but don’t easily render minor planets accurately, and neither show recent comets. Sky Safari has no feature for showing known variables in a field. I’m also unaware of good commercial software for this application.

What do you all use?

Thanks!

John Pickett

PKT

GKI

Affiliation

None

Fri, 04/01/2022 - 13:03

Hello John, I use SkySafari…

Hello John, I use SkySafari also, but have found the following handy on the web:

Minor planet Checker: MPChecker: Minor Planet Checker (minorplanetcenter.net) just enter RA and DEC coordinates

GCVS Query form: GCVS Query forms (msu.su) again, enter coordinates

VizieR for images: VizieR Associated Data (u-strasbg.fr)

Sloan Digital Sky Survey for images: SDSS SkyServer DR12

I hope we get to use these ;-)

Keith.

Deconinck Michel

Affiliation

American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)

Fri, 04/01/2022 - 14:25

My tools for occultations

I use mainly SkySafari pro too

For asteroids, comet and trans neptunian object conjunctions or eclipses, I use :

the PC software OccultWatcher : http://www.occultwatcher.net/
The Edwin Goffin list. to select current year events
And the Worldwide Asteroidal Occultation Observations and Resources here: https://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/

Hope this helps