Gaze Knowingly at the Stars Above You!

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://kctofel.blogspot.com/2005/03/astronomy-for-free-on-your-ppc.html' target='_blank'>http://kctofel.blogspot.com/2005/03...n-your-ppc.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"If you're into astronomy and have a Windows Mobile or Pocket PC device, check out Orionic. This freeware is like a personalized star chart to help you find what you're looking for in the heavens. This is a great use of mobile technology as is provides all of the information you need to enjoy a night out stargazing."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/westfall-20050307-kct.gif" /><br /><br />A bit of freeware to brighten up your Monday (or Monday Evening)! This certainly beats the low-tech stargazing we've all tried. Until this software, I'd never even considered how perfect a Pocket PC would be for this activity, given that it is small and has its own back lit display with adjustable brightness. Any night sky watchers out there want to give this a try and report back to us?

[bmcbride_81]

This looks nice, however I really like "THE SKY" or "Pocket Stars" ---Both incredible Astronomy/Star Chart software for the pocket pc with alot of features.

--Brian

[PDANEWBIE]

Yeah I like the ones with the GPS functionality built in. *sniff sniff* before my GPS broke that is.

I still think GPS support is the best way to setup this type of program.

[archinemnon]

I think this is a really cool little program. I couldn't find anything on THE SKY but I know Pocket Sky is 20 bucks. I don't have GPS on my SX66 but I can easily get my Latitude and Longitude from any map service and plug in my coordinates. This works great for me, and you sure can't beat the price!

[webfeets]

This looks nice, however I really like "THE SKY" or "Pocket Stars" ---Both incredible Astronomy/Star Chart software for the pocket pc with alot of features.

--Brian

I've used "The Sky" for awhile and I agree with Brian. It's certainly the most feature packed version out there.

http://www.bisque.com/Products/TheSkyPE/TheSkyPE.asp

--Tom

[Don't Panic!]

50 bucks though? You realy shouldn't compare shareware to freeware, especially at that price. :roll:

[Raphael Salgado]

Forgive me for being prejudiced, but am I the only one who steers away from any program that has a screenshot of it being run on an older PocketPC?

Everytime I see the old Windows CE/Palm PC/Pocket PC taskbar at the top of a program's screenshot, I assume the program is years old, incompatible, or there's a much more full-featured, recent version or competitor out there.

Sorry to get off-subject, but what do you think?

[TheOrange]

It seems like a good little app for the price. I found that Planetarium had more features, but its not freeware and its for Palm OS. I'm going to have to see how The Sky stacks up. ...It would be best if the boys at Space.com would just make a PC version of StarryNight.

[jim s]

Forgive me for being prejudiced, but am I the only one who steers away from any program that has a screenshot of it being run on an older PocketPC?

Everytime I see the old Windows CE/Palm PC/Pocket PC taskbar at the top of a program's screenshot, I assume the program is years old, incompatible, or there's a much more full-featured, recent version or competitor out there.

Sorry to get off-subject, but what do you think?

Gee - I think just the opposite - that the program will probably run on my not-exactly-brand-new-but-still-perfectly-good e740!

[disconnected]

I think anyone selling an expensive app should keep up to date with the latest PPCs, but for a free app, I don't think it's reasonable to expect the author to rush out and buy every PPC that comes along, just for testing purposes.

[nwd]

this actually works in full VGA mode
ie using 640x480 res on WM2003 toshiba e800 !!

nice small footprint, could form base for a good fuller featured programme

[volwrath]

I actually tried this about 6-8 months ago, and although it was nice, the navigation was not as easy as I would like. This may have changed in the last version.

For serious amateur astronomy hmm I would suggest pocketstars at the least, which if the author added a few more features would be the absolute best.

[webfeets]

I think anyone selling an expensive app should keep up to date with the latest PPCs, but for a free app, I don't think it's reasonable to expect the author to rush out and buy every PPC that comes along, just for testing purposes.

I agree with you.

I guess the main reason I like The Sky is for the extensive database of objects. You can import the whole SAO catalog which is about 250,000 or so objects plus the complete NGC catalog.

That'll keep you busy for awhile. :D

[jpf]

Cassiopeia, Stars...

[ctmagnus]

I don't have GPS on my SX66 but I can easily get my Latitude and Longitude from any map service and plug in my coordinates.

Also, if you're in a region that still has above-ground utilities, there are little metal plates on telephone poles (at least the poles in this part of the world) that list the lat/long of that pole. It's not the best situation to try stargazing under a street light, but you can get a rough idea of your coordinates from a nearby telephone pole in a pinch.