Accessing SIMBAD...

 Some considerable time was spent attempting to get an output from SIMBAD which contained the required information for use by SkyViewNGC. After being unsuccessful via various pathways, the 'Criteria query' pathway was found to be the closest to the desired response. 

Almost certainly there is a better way to do this - but this is what worked here.

Previous to sending the query the 'Output Options' page was set up and saved...

Then the query was run in the 'Criteria query' page (with a search expression specifying declination below 55 degrees, NGC catalogue and major dimension > 5 arcmin)...

The output file from SIMBAD had this format...

The CSV format files produced are delimited by the ';' (semicolon) character. Note that the coordinates are combined into one column - as is the angular size. A console application was coded (C#) to parse this file and produce another CSV file delimited by a comma character. In addition the coordinates are parsed out and separated into two columns. For the angular size only the major dimension (arcmin) is parsed out and passed to the processed CSV file. The format in the final result file is as follows...

ID,TYPE,RA,DEC,MAGNITUDE,DMAJ

NGC 7209,OpC,331.2240,+46.5080,7.7,36.5

NGC 147,GiG,008.300500,+48.508739,9.5,12.59

NGC 185,Sy2,009.7414166775100,+48.3375099651800,9.2,11.48

Looking through the results reveals that there are actually 75 Messier objects listed - even though the SIMBAD filter specified 'NGC'. This - hopefully - means that all Messier objects with their major dimension > 5 arcmin have been included. There are no Caldwell objects listed - so a manual check of those against the list will be needed.

The list of NGC objects so obtained contains some 532 items theoretically visible from 34 degrees South latitude.  However, due to tree cover this is reduced to 344 objects below +10 degrees in declination visible at least for 30 minutes or so. Longer exposure times are achievable for the 283 objects below -10 degrees declination.

So - even with the restricted view due to tree cover at the home location - there are apparently more than enough objects of sufficient size to be interesting targets in the Seestar S50s through the trees.

Of course - there is the extra factor of brightness to be taken into account. Encouragingly 191 out the 263 objects with magnitudes given are brighter than magnitude 10. The remaining 20 objects with no magnitude given are HII regions and open clusters - which probably is why they don't have magnitudes given.

On the down side, about 140 objects are open clusters - which tend to be of less interest than other objects. This leaves about 50 objects which are bright, interesting objects of sufficient size suitable for the Seestar S50s. Given the dearth of clear nights lately those 50 objects are more than enough to begin with.

SkyViewNGC - Broad Outline...

 SkyViewNGC is a development from SkyViewAzEl. It seeks to provide planning Seestar S50 observations taking into account the FOV and resolution of the Seestar S50. The existing list searched by SkyViewAzEl is basically the Messier and Caldwell catalogues with a number of additions from the NGC catalogue.  While this was found extremely useful, it contained objects which were not suitable for the Seestar S50 FOV. In addition there are a significant number of suitable NGC objects not contained in the Messier or Caldwell catalogues. To this end the list of objects will be compiled from the NGC catalogue curated by eliminating objects with a major dimension less than 5 arcmin. If there are Messier or Caldwell objects which are not in the NGC catalogue and have a major dimension more than 5 arcmin they will be added.

Next - some means to collect the relevant data from the NGC catalogue needs to be found. Initially, methods of accessing data in SIMBAD will be investigated.

Software Projects...

 Several software projects are on the drawing board. The first is a modification to SkyViewAzEl functionality and the second is a 'data manager' type application.

1. SkyViewNGC - Modification of the Functionality of 'SkyViewAzEl'
   The changes to SkyViewAzEl are sufficiently extensive such as to warrant using it as just a template for a differently named application - tentatively called 'SkyViewNGC'.  The change in functionality is driven by experience gained by using 'SkyViewAzEl' for planning observations.  One aspect that is thought to need improving is only presenting objects which would show sufficient detail in the FOV of the Seestar S50. It's of little use to try and image an object with an extent less than about 1 arcmin. Another useful functionality would be to be able to select the type of object (galaxy, nebula, cluster, etc). Also consideration will be given to the function of the two image panels. Perhaps the large image could be given over to actual observation image results, while the smaller thumbnail image could be given over to Stellarium screenshots. The original purpose of the large image panel was to indicate the size of the target image in the Seestar S50 FOV. By only including objects with a major dimension greater than 5 arcmin this functionality is no longer required (because all objects in the list of objects will look big enough in the Seestar S50 FOV). The thumbnail Stellarium screenshots can now just provide a general overview before an actual observation has been done.
2. Data Manager (HawkAstroDataManager)
   During the initial stages of Seestar S50 familiarisation, not much thought or attention was given to the organisation of the data produced. It has quickly become obvious that organisation of the data such that it can accessed efficiently is extremely important. Not only access, but curating what data files to retain and bundled into archive groups. At first the data was downloaded as is from the Seestar S50s, however given the same objects could be observed on many different nights, that structure rapidly became cumbersome. It was noted that file names contained the object name and what filters were used as well a time-stamp. For that reason an entirely flat structure could be used where a 'data manager' application could scan the files and select them based on some set criteria. On the other hand, it would be useful to have separate folders for each object name to allow viewing manually. A compromise solution is tentatively adopted where an object folder is created (e.g., 'M42'). Inside this folder are two sub-folders called 'FITS' and 'JPGs'. Inside 'FITS' are stored the Stacked FITS files. Also in the 'FITS' folder is a object-named sub-folder (e.g. 'M42-sub) where all the individual sub FITS files are stored. In the 'JPGs' sub-folder are stored the Stacked JPG result files (produced by the Seestar S50). The function of the data manager application will be to download data from the Seestar S50s as is onto a PC. Then it would scan this downloaded data and copy files into the working data structure as above.
   NOTE: an issue with using two Seestar S50s at the same time arises if they are both observing the same object. This is not an unusual scenario as using two Seestar S50s on the same object allows double the data for a night's observing on that object. The problem is that every now and then one Seestar S50s can produce a time stamp which is identical to the other. This causes a situation where one file will have to be overwritten (in a flat structure) unless it is renamed. Another issue is that when two Seestar S50s are observing the same object there might be a reason not to mix both sets of FITS files in the one stack. One way to avoid this is to add a Seestar S50 ID (e.g., 'S50A') to the filenames. This is best done by clicking a selection in the data manager as when connected to the PC via a USB cable they both appear as a drive named 'Seestar'. It is probably possible to rename the SD card drive inside the S50s as 'Seestar S50 A' or 'Seestar S50 B' and so on - but that is not a comfortable option due to the concern such a renaming might corrupt the internal SD card and make it unusable. While unlikely it's not worth the risk. While downloading, the Seestar S50s will be sitting within a 1m and so noting and setting the ID manually within the application is not an issue.

Work on the above projects will progress over time.

Rare Clear Nights...

 Last night and yesterday night saw two rare clear nights. The opportunity was taken to set up a single Seestar S50 on the first night, while two Seestar S50s were set up on the second night.

Observations were done from about 11 pm through to about 3 am.

Now more data is available to process.

Good use of SkyViewAzEl was made to plan which objects were visible through the trees at the home location.

On both occasions use was made of the 5V/3A USB outlets of a portable 505Wh Power Station to keep the Seestar S50s powered over the two nights. With both Seestar S50s fully charged before starting observations the drain on the power station is < 10 W. The capacity of the power station is enough for several nights observations 'out in the bush' as well as keeping other devices charged.

Transient Plotter...

 Astronomical transients have always been of special interest - the radio astronomy Vela pulsar observations searching for 'glitches' were motivated by this. Now activities have migrated over to optical astronomy and that interest in transients remain.

A subscription (free) to email alerts from the Transient Name Server (TNS) was made and alerts come in this format in an email...

The following new transient/s were reported on during the last day:

2024aazu RA=18:55:37.530, DEC=+01:30:48.46, Discovery date=2024-11-05 01:22:04.800, Discovery mag=14.42 ABMag, Filter: G - Gaia, Reporter: S.T. Hodgkin, E. Breedt, A. Delgado, D.L. Harrison, M. van Leeuwen, G. Rixon, T. Wevers, A. Yoldas ..., Reporting group: GaiaAlerts, Data source group: GaiaAlerts

2024aazw RA=20:15:22.890, DEC=+36:30:45.47, Discovery date=2024-11-04 09:51:50.400, Discovery mag=14.44 ABMag, Filter: G - Gaia, Reporter: S.T. Hodgkin, E. Breedt, A. Delgado, D.L. Harrison, M. van Leeuwen, G. Rixon, T. Wevers, A. Yoldas ..., Reporting group: GaiaAlerts, Data source group: GaiaAlerts

2024aazx RA=07:03:57.730, DEC=-02:12:37.22, Discovery date=2024-11-04 10:29:16.800, Discovery mag=13.3 ABMag, Filter: G - Gaia, Reporter: S.T. Hodgkin, E. Breedt, A. Delgado, D.L. Harrison, M. van Leeuwen, G. Rixon, T. Wevers, A. Yoldas ..., Reporting group: GaiaAlerts, Data source group: GaiaAlerts

The alert comes with the transient's ID, RA/DEC coordinates, discovery time, discovery magnitude, followed by other information.

Curiosity about the distribution of transients provided the motivation to code a rough plotting application (C# Windows GUI) which would accept a cut-and-paste of the transient/s information lines and parse them into names and RA/DEC coordinates.  The application then plots them on a RA/DEC graph which has a Hydrogen Line image as the background (which provides a guide to the position of the Milky Way).

As new transient alerts arrive they can be added to the list and the plot updated to show the new entries.

An example result is shown below...

Typical Plot (~100 transients) with Names Shown

As can be seen as the number of transients increase there is confusion due to the names overlapping. An option to only plot the points is provided as shown below...

Typical Plot Without Names

As would be expected the highest density is near the Galactic Centre, but interestingly this density is - so far - not overwhelming higher than elsewhere.

It will be interesting to see how the plotting progresses over time as new transients are added.

Some extra functions may be added at a later date. For example - display only the newest object or objects for the purpose of seeing whether they can be seen in the Seestar S50.

NOTE: The TNS alerts come from telescopes which monitor a very large area of the sky. The likelihood of an amateur telescope with limited FOV discovering a transient are vanishingly small. Of course it is possible - but the likelihood of beating the professional observations is not great.

Observation Aid: SkyViewAltAz - Update #3

 When planning observation runs there is - unfortunately - a further factor that needs to be taken into account besides the visibility of targets through the various partial sky views available on the home block. That further factor is - of course - a clear sky.

While the application works well at its purpose of showing possible targets for the night, the presence of a clear sky was not included - which required looking up various websites.

The online website 'Clear Outside' provides a graphic which gives a forecast for the next couple of days in terms of skies suitable for observations. This graphic has been added to the 'SkyViewAltAz' application. Some re-arrangement of the GUI was also done to fit the graphic in.

Conveniently the 'Clear Outside' graphic is updated every hour and provides a prediction of cloud cover in general area of the home observatory.

Observation Aid: SkyViewAltAz - Update #2

Some added functionality and a bug fix. The added functionality extends the search function to actually select the object - if found - and display its data. Checkboxes are provided for a full data search (on by default) and also to 'lock' the found object - to allow changing the date and time without updating the drop-down object list. Some re-arranging and resizing of the search function text boxes has also been done.

The position of the Sun and Moon are now calculated and representative filled circles (yellow for the Sun - white for the Moon) are plotted on the display. The current elevation of both of these objects is displayed (in green if below the horizon - red if above the horizon).

The bug fix prevents off-screen plotting (outside the PictureBox component) drawing spurious lines (see previous post image).  Instead of plotting the whole range at once, the plot points are tested to see if they are outside the PictureBox client rectangle and - if so - the segment up until that point is plotted.  Points are then continued to be scanned until a point is found inside the client rectangle and then the process repeats until all 'on-screen' points have been plotted. The granularity of the plotting points means that sometimes the plotted lines end before they have reached the edge of the PictureBox client rectangle - but this is considered the lesser of the two evils.

Another change is to the large image which is displayed on the right (nominally a screenshot from Stellarium) to indicate the size of the object w.r.t. the Seestar's FOV. As actual observations of an object are done, the object Stellarium screenshot will be replaced with an actual suitable Seestar observation image.

Apologies for the programming-oriented details. When the clouds stop coming over at night it will be back to pretty pictures...