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Features

Main Screen Layout

Menus

Initial Setup

Transit Preparation

Script File Format

Camera Configuration

Notes

Troubleshooting

Shortcuts and Tips

Credits & Acknowledgments

Main Scren Window
The window can be resized for smaller screens.

First line (date & time):

  • Date
  • Time
  • Julian Date
  • GPS Pulse-Per-Second status
  • Clock error
  • Standard deviation of GPS time measurements in seconds (less than 0.1 second is good)

Second line (debugging information) :

  • Script name

Third line (position information):

  • Latitude being used for displays and local circumstances calculations
  • Longitude being used for displays and local circumstances calculations
  • Altitude being used for displays and local circumstances calculations
  • Name of the observer’s location

Fourth line (GPS information):

  • GPS status (not connected, not available, Valid Norm Fix 2D, Valid Norm Fix 3D, Valid Diff Fix 2D or Valid Diff Fix 3D)
  • Satellites in use / viewable satellites
  • Estimate position error (2σ)
  • Timezone entered at the observer’s location.

Fifth line (transit information):

  • Transit type at this location (Central, Partial, None)
  • General duration at this location
  • Central duration at this location

Event information:

  • Event name
  • Countdown to the event
  • UTC date of the event or local date when local time mode is selected
  • UTC time of the event or local time when local time mode is selected (a star on the right will indicate that the value is read from the current script)
  • True altitude of center of Sun at that event (not refracted apparent altitude)
  • Azimuth of Sun at that event (east of true North)
  • Contact North angle (P) or Zenith angle (Z or V) at that event, depending on the contextual menu setting
  • Apparent separation between the centers of the Sun and planet at that event
  • Extinction factor at that event (1 = no extinction, 2 = you should double your exposure times, etc)

Current local circumstances:

  • Transit type now
  • True altitude of center of Sun now
  • Azimuth of Sun now
  • Apparent separation between the centers of the Sun and planet now
  • Extinction factor now

Next script action:

  • Camera that will be used
  • Action
  • Exposure time
  • Aperture (focal ratio)
  • ISO
  • File size/quality
  • Global exposure compensation
There is also an indication of which corrections are made: R+H+ means that atmospheric refraction (R) and apparent horizon (H) are accounted for. When the plus sign (+) is replaced by a minus sign (-), then the corresponding correction is off. If a star (*) is shown it means that the correction is activated but not significant in the context.

Upcoming script items (columns can be reordered):

  • Countdown until the item executes
  • UTC HH:MM:SS.S when it executes
  • Camera that will be used
  • Action
  • Exposure time
  • Aperture (focal ratio)
  • ISO
  • Q or EV (Exposure Value), depending on the data browser contextual menu setting
  • Mirror lock up wait time
  • Image size/quality
  • Incremental
  • Comment
 

Exposure compensation contextual menu
Automatic Exposure Compensation Contextual Menu
This contextual menu allows for automatic exposure
compensation on all the exposures loaded
from the current script.

Upper right countdown display:

  • Displays countdown until next event in large letters

Sun Image:

  • Choice of zenith up (view matches what you see through binoculars) or celestial north up
  • The red tick mark denotes celestial north direction, which equatorially mounted telescopes will track. The dotted yellow line shows the ecliptic. Two light tick marks show the solar equator, along which SOHO spacecraft images are aligned. Note that the solar equator can be as much as 7.25° from the ecliptic plane.
  • The display with the solar limb darkening is rather precise and to scale. However, the refraction isn’t taken into account.

Transit map:

  • This map can be used to determine where to best observe the transit and its type at that location.
  • Your current location is in the middle of the image at the white circled cross. The point of greatest transit is displayed as a yellow dot circled by an orange ring when in view.
  • North is up.
  • The map scale is shown above the map.
  • The mouse-over geographic coordinates and transit type info are shown in the upper-left side of the map. A contextual menu let you turn off/on this feature.
    A maximum transit diagram at the mouse-over location can also be displayed.
  • The solar terminator is animated. The frequency of the updates, or the deactivation of the animation, can be controlled by the contextual menu of the transit map (use a right click).
  • The limit curves are respectively in yellow for the external contacts with the solar limb, red for the internal contacts with the solar limb and green for the maximum at sunrise or sunset.
  • When the Earth’s NASA Blue Marble image surface isn’t displayed, the areas where the transit is visible, either in its entirety or partially, are shown in light blue becoming darker little by little.
  • Locations with no transit are shown in dark blue.
  • Zoom out far enough and locations not on Earth, i.e. space, are in black.
  • The map is fairly accurate, taking refraction into account when possible.


Transit Map Coordinates Type