Pocket PC Astronomy Program- Pocket Stars PDA
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1. Introduction 5. Info Page |
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Pocket Stars PDA is a high accuracy star chart, ephemeris, and Celestial Navigation calculator for the Pocket PC. The ultimate portable astronomy tool. Check out a few of the cool features below! |
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Click here to view Pocket Stars PDA features! Functionality for various screens shown below. Also, see download table below. |
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When Pocket Stars starts up, it displays an overhead view of the sky.To select a single body or star simply click on the screen. A green square is drawn to highlight the selection, and live measurements of the calculated altitude (Hc) and azimuth (Az) are shown in the upper left corner along with the magnitude (M). To scroll the sky, just drag the selection. To zoom, use the plus and minus magnifiers. The home button repositions the viewing point to directly over the users position, removing all pan and scroll effects. |
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If you tap-and-hold on the
star chart, a menu is displayed showing frequently used options which affect the
chart presentation. Info... Show information about the selected object. Find... Search for a body, star, constellation or Messier/Caldwell object by name, and optionally move that object to the center of the chart. Full Screen - Remove the title bar at the top of the screen to increase the star chart real estate. Horizon - select a horizon to view or zenith. Horizon.Flip East-West is used to mirror the star chart vertically, switching the position of East and West. When viewing the screen overhead, in line with the stars, leave this unchecked. When viewing the chart with the screen on a tabletop, check this item. Center - center the selected object on the screen. |
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The LatLong Page establishes the central viewing point for the sky as well as the Assumed Position for sight reduction calculations using a sextant. There are three different ways to select your position. You can drag the cursor over the world map, select a country and then a city from the listboxes, or enter your position in degrees, minutes, and seconds. The first 5 entries in the city list are "Custom", user programmable locations which are retained across invocations of Pocket Stars. You can edit the text designation ("My Backyard") and set Lat/Long either via clicking on the map or manually entering the coordinates. The map also displays the position of the sun and portions of
the world in daylight and night. |
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The Info Page shows additional information about the selected body. Tap-n-hold on the main star chart to display the Info page. Press the "Planet", "Star", or "Messier" buttons to display objects of each type. Hint: Use the slider control in the upper right corner of the screen to scroll rapidly through all of the bodies. Or use the << and >> arrows in the upper right corner of the screen to decrement and increment by one. |
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The Rise Set Page show the rise, transit, and set times for all bodies. Select a date using the calendar at the top of the page, or use the << and >> arrows to move a single day forward or back. UTC switches the display between local time and UTC. The bottom line displays either "Standard Time" or "Daylight Saving Time" depending on the date selected. |
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The Lunar Phase Page shows an animation of the phase of the moon for a month long period. Select a month to view by using the calendar at the top of the page. The graphic at the top of the page shows an animation of the relative positions of the moon, earth, and sun (obviously not to scale). If you click anywhere on the calendar, the animation stops and the lunar position is shown for that particular day. If you click outside the calendar, the animated display resumes. Note that in this month, the display shows a blue moon. The blue moon definition employed here is the "second full moon in a calendar month" version invented in March 1946 and foisted on an unsuspecting world by Sky and Telescope. |
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Questions or comments? Please email me at: ray@shoregalaxy.com.
