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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

Menu items are enabled/disabled according to the context. Many features and settings can only be accessed through the numerous contextual menus.

Mercury Venus Transit Maestro menu:

  • About Mercury Venus Transit Maestro - Display the application version and other information.
  • Make a Donation… - Allow you to make a PayPal donation for the use of the application and the hard work behing it.
  • Check for Updates… - Look on my Internet website for an updated version of the application.
  • Preferences… - Open the application preferences window.

File menu:

  • Configuration Wizard… - Set the transit, observer’s location and photography equipment to generate a basic camera script.
  • New Script (⌘N) - Create a new script.
  • Open Script… (⌘O) - Open a script file so you can modify it.
  • Load Script… (⌘L) - Load a script. When a script is loaded, menu items performing camera actions in the Camera menu are deactivated even if a camera is connected.
  • Reload Script (⌘R) - Rereads the script file. Use this after you’ve edited the script.
  • Unload Script (⌘U) - Stops execution of a script. Then use Load Script… to resume.
  • Close (⌘W) - Close the frontmost window.

Observer menu:

  • Location… (⌥⌘L) - View or modify latitude, longitude and altitude in the Photographer Location dialog.
  • Update Location from GPS (⌘6) - If a GPS is connected, update coordinates, then recalculate local circumstances and event times, then reload any running script to make the event time changes take effect. Enabled only when the GPS is connected and has a position fix.
  • Locations Timezone Update - Allows you to automatically update the timezone of every observer’s locations (requires an active Internet connection).
  • Current Time - The application clock matches the Mac’s clock (except for the optional clock error correction), this is "real time".
  • Simulated Time… (⌥⌘T) - Use this to test your transit scripts. It sets the software to an arbitrary date and time without messing up the Mac’s clock.
  • Simulated Exterior Ingress - Use this to test your transit scripts starting forty seconds before first contact. It sets the software to an arbitrary time without messing up the Mac’s clock.
  • Simulated Interior Ingress - Use this to test your transit scripts starting forty seconds before second contact. It sets the software to an arbitrary time without messing up the Mac’s clock.
  • Simulated Interior Egress - Use this to test your transit scripts starting forty seconds before third contact. It sets the software to an arbitrary time without messing up the Mac’s clock.
  • Simulated Exterior Egress - Use this to test your transit scripts starting forty seconds before fourth contact. It sets the software to an arbitrary time without messing up the Mac’s clock.
  • Adjust Event Times… (⌘7) - View/edit event times for moonrise, moonset, first through fourth umbral contacts, first and fourth penumbral contacts, and maximum transit in the Event Times Override dialog. When a script is already loaded, it is automatically reloaded to update the script actions. If you wish to automatically override computed times, write down the event times in the script, and then make sure to never select Observer’s Location… or to change Refraction Correction as touching any of these will wipe out your override (until you reload the script).
  • Local Circumstances Table… - Opens a window summarizing the local circumstances. Data can easily be copied to an external destination.

Display menu:

  • Transit Diagram
    • Show Ecliptic - Display or hide the ecliptic as a dotted yellow line.
    • Show Celestial North - Display or hide the celestial north as a red tick mark.
    • Show Solar Equator - Display or hide the solar equator as two white tick marks.
    • Show Solar North - Display or hide the solar north as an orange tick mark.
    • Show Solar Limb Darkening - Display or hide the solar limb darkening.
    • Show Sun-Planet Outlines - Display or hide the Sun and Mercury or Venus outlines.
    • Show Mercury Reticle - Display or hide the reticle for Mercury.
    • View in Horizontal Coordinates - Switch between horizontal and equatorial coordinates.
    • Show Sunrise/Sunset Times - Display or hide the times of sunrise and sunset at the lower left corner.
    • Show Parallactic Angle - Display or hide the parallactic angle value at the upper right corner when in horizontal mode.
  • Transit Map
    • Show Transit Type Info - Display or hide the transit type info.
    • Sun-Planet Diagram at Maximum Transit - Display or hide the maximum transit diagram at the mouse-over location.
    • Cursor Tracking - Display or hide the geographic cursor coordinates on the transit map.
    • Mapping Settings
      • Show Continents Contours - Display or hide the contours of the continents.
      • Show Continents and Countries - Display or hide the contours of the continents and the borders of the countries.
      • Show NASA Blue Marble Earth - Display or hide the NASA Blue Marble image of the Earth’s surface.
      • Show Greatest Transit Point - Display or hide the greatest transit point.
      • Show Map Scale - Display or hide the scale on the transit map.
    • Animated Solar Terminator - Display or hide the solar terminator animation.
    • Update Frequency - How often is the solar terminator animation updated from every 1 second to 10 minutes.
    • Zoom In (⌘+) - Zoom in by a factor of 2.
    • Zoom Out (⌘-) - Zoom out by a factor of 2.
    • Zoom Default (⌘=) - Reset zoom level to the default value.
    • Save Observer Orthographic PDF Map… - Lets you create a color high-resolution PDF file containing containing the transit diagram and an equirectangular projection map of the transit visibility areas from the observer’s location.
    • Save General Orthographic PDF Map… - Lets you create a color high-resolution PDF file containing containing the transit diagram and an equirectangular projection map of the transit visibility areas.
  • Display Major Timers… (⌘⇪T) - Display the major timers in a floating window.
  • Local Time Mode - Used to display the local time using the observer’s location timezone setting.
  • Night Vision Mode (⌘⇪N) - Used to preserve your dark adaptation.
  • Sky Chart… - Open a window displaying the sky chart of the transit. No Internet connection required.
  • Solar Observatory… - Open a window displaying the Sun viewed from either the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) or the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Internet connection required.
  • Solar, Planet and Lunar Elevations Graph… - Open a window displaying the solar, lunar and Mercury or Venus elevations over the course of 24 hours.
  • Meteorology… - Open a window displaying meteorological data with the areas of visibility overlaid. 3-day local weather predictions are also available.
  • GFS Weather Predictions… - Open a window displaying world and regional weather predictions up to 96 hours. Internet connection required.
  • Transit Visibility List from a Location… - Open a window displaying a list of transits visible from a given location.
  • Google Earth File Generator… - Create a kmz Google Earth file of the transit visibility areas and geometry.
  • Gridded Set of Points File Generator… - Create a text file containing a gridded set of points with the local circumstances.
  • Google Map of the Transit… - Open an interactive Google Map window of the transit. Internet connection required.
  • Transit in Google Earth… - Open an interactive Google Earth window of the transit. Internet connection required. Not available after 2017 January 11th because Google has shut down the Google Earth API/plugin.

Camera menu:

  • Press Shutter Release (⌘1-⌘4) - Take a photo on the selected camera with the current exposure settings. When a script is loaded, this menu item is deactivated even if a camera is connected.
  • Single Exposure with Settings… (⌥⌘1-⌥⌘4) - Take a photo on the selected camera while letting you choose the exposure settings. When a script is loaded, this menu item is deactivated even if a camera is connected.
  • Live View… (⌘⇪1-⌘⇪4) - Display the live view on the selected camera. When a script is loaded and the general preference setting to allow Live View manual triggering is off, this menu item is deactivated even if a camera is connected.
  • Available Properties… (⌥1-⌥4) - Display the available properties for each connected camera. When a script is loaded, this menu item is deactivated even if a camera is connected.
  • Battery Levels… - Display the battery level of each connected camera.
  • Check Settings… - Display a window into which the settings of each connected camera can be checked.
  • Properties Analysis… (⌥⇪1-⌥⇪4) - Display a detailed report of the camera properties for each connected camera. When a script is loaded, this menu item is deactivated even if a camera is connected.
  • Property events Analysis… (⌥⌘⇪1-⌥⌘⇪4) - Display a detailed report of the camera property events for each connected camera. When a script is loaded, this menu item is deactivated even if a camera is connected.
  • Benchmarks… - Display a window into which the potential of each connected camera can be asserted.
  • Exposure Calculator… - Display in a new window an exposure calculator for transit events.
  • Field of View Calculator… - Display in a new window a field of view calculator to visualize the transit image scale and maximum exposure without tracking.
  • Sensor Sampling Calculator… - Display in a new window a sensor sampling calculator to visualize the sensor sampling of the camera body and its attached lens.
  • Exposure Sequence Analyzer… - Display in a new window the list of all the exposures with their consecutive time difference.

Setup menu:

  • Hardware Configuration… - Use the Hardware Configuration dialog to tell the application what equipment you are using.
  • SBIG CCD Cameras Configuration… - Use the SBIG CCD Configuration dialog to manage the SBIG CCD cameras connected.
  • Camera References… - Manage the known cameras in the Camera References List dialog.
  • Clock Error Adjustment… - Apply a static correction to the Mac clock to easily cancel out any timing error.
  • Configure Serial GPS Unit… - To set up the parameters of a serial GPS receiver connected through either Bluetooth or a Serial to USB adapter.
  • Use GPS time - If a GPS is connected, constantly update the clock error adjustment based on time readings from the GPS.
  • Use GPS PPS Signal - If a GPS is connected, expect a Pulse-Per-Second signal, and use the rising edge of the pulse to determine the clock error adjustment.
  • GPS Satellite Window… - If a GPS is connected, you can display the satellites being used, their sky position and signal to noise ratio.
  • Atmospheric Refraction Correction - Correct or not transit event times for refraction.
  • Apparent Horizon Correction - Take into account or not the apparent horizon correction.
  • Show Events Under Horizon - Display or hide the data of the contact events that happen when the Moon is under the horizon.
  • Lower Refresh Rate for Countdowns - Reduce the CPU load when a script is running. Useful for slower computers or to increase the battery’s autonomy.
  • Show Zenith Angles - Toggle between contact North angle (P) and Zenith angle (Z or V).
  • Choose Mercury or Venus transit
    • Choose one Mercury or Venus transit from a set of up to 50. The transit elements are automatically loaded.
    • View or edit the transit elements of Mercury or Venus transits using a text editor.
  • Current Transit Elements… - View the transit elements of the current Mercury or Venus transit.

Window menu:

  • Mercury Venus Transit Maestro Log - Visualize the application’s log from the System Console.
  • User Additional Sounds Folder - Open the folder where the user additional sound files should be located.
  • Domain Additional Sounds Folder - Open the folder where the domain additional sound files should be located.

Help menu:

  • Mercury Venus Transit Maestro Help - Open the application help.

Sun-Planet diagram contextual menu:

Used on the Sun-Planet diagram.
  • Show Ecliptic - Enable/disable the display of the ecliptic as a dotted yellow line.
  • Show Celestial North - Enable/disable the display of the celestial north as a red tick mark.
  • Show Solar Equator - Enable/disable the display of the solar equator as two white tick marks.
  • Show Solar North - Enable/disable the display of the solar north as an orange.
  • Show Solar Limb Darkening - Enable/disable the display of the solar limb darkening.
  • Show Sun-Planet Outlines - Enable/disable the display of the Sun and Mercury or Venus outlines.
  • Show Mercury Reticle - Enable/disable the display of the reticle for Mercury.
  • View in Horizontal Coordinates - Switch between horizontal and equatorial coordinates.
  • Show Sunrise/Sunset Times - Enable/disable the display of the times of sunrise and sunset.

Transit map contextual menu:

Used on the transit map.
  • Transit Type Info - When activated the type of the transit is shown at the mouse-over location.
  • Sun-Planet Diagram at Maximum Transit - When activated the maximum transit diagram is shown at the mouse-over location.
  • Cursor Tracking - Display or hide the geographic cursor coordinates on the transit map.
  • Mapping Settings
    • Show Continents Contours - Display or hide the contours of the continents.
    • Show Continents and Countries - Display or hide the contours of the continents and the borders of the countries.
    • Show NASA Blue Marble Earth - Display or hide the NASA Blue Marble image of the Earth’s surface.
    • Show Greatest Transit Point - Display or hide the greatest transit point.
    • Show Map Scale - Display or hide the scale on the transit map.
  • Animated Solar Terminator - Display or hide the solar terminator animation.
  • Update Frequency - How often is the solar terminator animation updated from every 1 second to 10 minutes.
  • Zoom In - Zoom in on the transit map.
  • Zoom Out - Zoom out on the transit map.
  • Zoom Default - Default zoom on the transit map.
  • Save Observer Orthographic PDF Map… - Lets you create a color high-resolution PDF file containing an transit diagram and an equirectangular projection map of the transit visibility areas from the observer’s location.
  • Save General Orthographic PDF Map… - Lets you create a color high-resolution PDF file containing an transit diagram and an equirectangular projection map of the transit visibility areas.

Local circumstances contextual menu:

  • Show Events Under Horizon - Display or hide the data of the contact events that happen when the Sun is under the horizon.
  • Lower Refresh Rate for Countdowns - Reduce the CPU load when a script is running. Useful for slower computers or to increase the battery’s autonomy.
  • Show Zenith Angles - Toggle between contact North angle (P) and Zenith angle (Z or V).

Script actions browser contextual menu:

Used to automatically alter all the exposures from the script actions list in the main window.
  • Display in EV Units - Show the exposures in either EV (Exposure Value) or Q (ISO 1 based) units.
  • Automatic +5EV - Add 5 stops to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +4EV - Add 4 stops to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +3EV - Add 3 stops to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +2⅔EV - Add 2.7 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +2½EV - Add 2.5 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +2⅓EV - Add 2.3 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +2EV - Add 2 stops to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +1⅔EV - Add 1.7 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +1½EV - Add 1.5 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +1⅓EV - Add 1.3 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +1EV - Add 1 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +⅔EV - Add 0.7 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +½EV - Add 0.5 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic +⅓EV - Add 0.3 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • No Exposure Compensation - Reset all the exposure settings to the values in the current script.
  • Automatic -⅓EV - Subtract 0.3 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -½EV - Subtract 0.5 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -⅔EV - Subtract 0.7 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -1EV - Subtract 1 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -1⅓EV - Subtract 1.3 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -1½EV - Subtract 1.5 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -1⅔EV - Subtract 1.7 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -2EV - Subtract 2 stops to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -2⅓EV - Subtract 2.3 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -2½EV - Subtract 2.5 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -2⅔EV - Subtract 2.7 stop to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -3EV - Subtract 3 stops to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -4EV - Subtract 4 stops to all the current exposure settings.
  • Automatic -5EV - Subtract 5 stops to all the current exposure settings.

Sky chart contextual menu:

Used on the sky chart.
  • Show Azimuthal Grid - Show or hide the azimuthal grid in white with a selectable spacing. Off by default.
  • Show Equatorial Grid - Show or hide the equatorial grid in gray with a selectable spacing set by default on Fine (every hour). On by default.
  • Show Ecliptic - Show or hide the ecliptic in yellow. Enabled by default.
  • Show Planets Names - Show or hide the names of the planets in yellow. Enabled by default.
  • Show First-Magnitude Stars - Show or hide the first-magnitude stars in white. Enabled by default.
  • Show Stars Names - Show or hide the name of the first-magnitude stars in white. On by default.
  • Show Second-Magnitude Stars Names - Show or hide the name of the second-magnitude stars in white. Disabled by default.
  • Save PDF File… - Lets you create a color high-resolution PDF file containing the sky chart during the transit.

Google Maps interactive window contextual menu:

Used on the Google Maps interactive window.
  • Go to Observer Location - Center the view over the current observer’s location.

Google Earth interactive window contextual menu:

Used on the Google Earth interactive window.
  • Show Local Circumstances Tool - Show or hide the local circumstances tool. On by default.
  • Fly to Observer Location - Fly to 10 kilometers over the current observer’s location.
  • Show Grid - Show or hide the grid. Disabled by default.
  • Show Navigation Controls - Show or hide the navigation controls. Enabled by default.
  • Show Scale Legend - Show or hide the scale legend. Enabled by default.
  • Show Status Bar - Show or hide the status bar. Enabled by default.
  • Show Overview Map - Show or hide the overview map. Disabled by default.
  • Show Atmosphere - Show or hide the blue atmosphere that appears around the perimeter of the Earth. On by default.
  • Show Sunlight - Show or hide the sunlight that appears around the perimeter of the Earth. On by default.
  • Show Countries Borders Layer - Show or hide the countries borders. On by default.
  • Show Road Networks Layer - Show or hide the road networks. On by default.