Browser Astronomy is Software Bisque's patent-pending, Internet browser-based observatory control software. Using Browser Astronomy, anyone with access to the Internet can log on to remote observatories to control a telescope and acquire actual images of deep-space objects. This is not a script-based, or "time-delayed" control. Once logged on, you are in complete command of the powerful telescope and highly sensitive charge-coupled detector, or CCD camera.

Using Browser Astronomy Star Chart

When you log on to the Browser Astronomy site, you'll be presented with the star chart below (powered by TheSky Astronomy Software.)

The stars and other objects displayed here are the same as they appear from the remote observatory you are controlling.

 This chart is a fully functional planetarium display, and can show any portion of the night sky, at any field of view! Click on any portion of the screen to get help.

 

Look Buttons

Click these buttons to look North, South, East, West or at the Zenith (this is a view of the sky looking "straight up" from your location).

Move Buttons

Click these buttons to adjust the display left, right, up or down. Clicking the Left or Right button scrolls the display in the opposite direction, just as if you are moving your head in this direction.

Zoom Buttons

Click these buttons to change your current field of view. The In button magnifies the current view (as if you look at the sky through a pair of binoculars or a telescope. The Out button increases the field of view.

Slew Telescope

Click this button slew the telescope to the object entered into the Object Name text box.

Center Telescope Cross Hair

Click this button center the telescope cross hair. This can be useful if you've adjusted the current field and want to see where the telescope is currently pointing.

Simulated Sky Display

The interactive, simulated sky display shows you what the actual sky looks like from the remote observatory. The starting view is looking toward the South. The constellation lines, the Milky Way outline and names of common objects are also shown to help orient yourself with the actual sky.

Click the Look, Move, and Zoom buttons to adjust the current field to view different portions of the sky.

Status Bar

This area of the screen shows data related to the current field of view.

 

·         Date - Local date at the remote observatory.

·         Time - Local time at the remote observatory.

·         Lat - Latitude of the remote observatory.

·         Long - Longitude of the remote observatory.

·         Time Zone - Time zone of the remote observatory (hours from Greenwich Mean Time).

·         Center RA - Displays the right ascension (in hours, minutes, and seconds) of the center of the star chart.

·         Center Dec - Displays the declination (in degrees, minutes, and seconds) of the center of the star chart.

·         Center Az - Displays the azimuth (in degrees, minutes, and seconds) of the center of the star chart.

·         Center Alt - Displays the altitude (in degrees, minutes, and seconds) of the center of the star chart.

·         Rotation Angle - Displays the rotation angle (in degrees measured from the Celestial Pole) of the center of the star chart.

Object Name Entry

Enter the name, catalog number, or celestial coordinates of the object that you wish to image here.

This simple-looking entry is actually very powerful. You can enter the name of any of literally millions of different objects found in TheSky's databases. For example, you can enter "M42" or "Great Nebula in Orion" or NGC1942. Or, you can enter the names of minor planets, comets, satellites, planets, and more.

The tables below outline many of the valid "object name" entries.

To Image an Object Using its Common Name

Enter the name of the object and then click Take Image. The common name can be most any name for a celestial object, such as "Horsehead Nebula," "Andromeda Galaxy," "Crab Nebula" and so on.

To Image an Object by Catalog Number

Most objects in the night sky are cataloged in databases by catalog number. If you know the database of the object that you wish to image, and the catalog number of the particular object, then you can enter this information in here.

 

Catalog Name	Example
Messier Catalog	Mnnn, nnn is the Messier number of the object (1-110) M31
New General Catalog (NGC)	NGCnnnn, where nnnn is the NGC catalog number (1-7840). NGC224
Index Catalog	ICnnnn, where nnnn is the IC catalog number. IC434
Hipparcos stellar catalog	HIP nnnnn, where nnnnn is the Hipparcos number of the star. HIP 40990
Tycho stellar catalog	Use the corresponding GSC number. GSC 6001:510
PPM	PPM nnnnnn, when nnnnnn is the PPM number of the star. PPM 220006
Hubble Guide Star Catalog (GSC)	GSC bbbb.oooo, where bbbb is the guide star block number (1-9537) and oooo is the offset of the object in the block. GSC 6001:510
SAO	SAO nnnn, where nnnn is the SAO catalog number (1-258997) SAO 154159
PGC	PGCnnnn, where nnnn is the PGC catalog number. PGC02557
Planetary Nebulae (PLN)	PLN plus the desired number.  PLN 118 +2
Variable Stars	The star designator, followed by the constellation abbreviation.  Enter GCVS RR AND to locate GCVS RR Andromeda,
Flamsteed/Bayer Stars	Use the constellation abbreviation.   Examples: ·         1 ALPHA UMI (Alpha Ursae Minoris) ·         25 PSI 1 ORI 25 Psi 1 Orionis
Double Stars	Objects from the Washington Catalog of Double Stars (WDS) cannot be queried using the Find command.  If the star is cross-referenced in the Hipparcos or GSC catalog, search by that number instead.

More Object Name Examples

Locating Stars	Example
Enter the common name of the star	Polaris, Rigel, Sirius, etc.
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory	SAO 308
Guide Star Catalog number	GSC 4628:237
Hipparcos ID	HIP 11767
Positions and Proper Motions (PPM) number	PPM 431
Henry Draper number	HD 8890
Bonner Durchmusterung	B+88 8
Cordoba Durchmusterung	C-34 12784
Cape Durchmusterung	P-42 7856

Locating Non-stellar objects	Example
Enter the common name of the object	Great Nebula in Andromeda
Messier number	M31
New General Catalog	NGC 224
Index Catalog	IC 434
Principal Galaxies Catalog	PGC 18508
General Catalog of Variable Stars	GCVS GK ORI
New Suspected Variable Catalog	NSV
Planetary Nebulas	PLN 194+2.1
Solar System Objects	Saturn, Jupiter, etc.
Comets	"Wild 4", "Iyaka-Zheng"
Minor Planets	·         Ceres Finds Minor Planet named "1 Ceres" ·         MPL 835 OLIVIA "MPL" prefix finds Extended Minor Planet named "835 Olivia"
Satellites	SAT COSMOS 100 Searches for the satellite named "Cosmos 100"
Locate to 90 degrees altitude	ZENITH
Sets field width to AAVSO	AAVSO A  type A (accepts a-g)
Any right ascension/declination coordinate	Examples:   ·         "12.3,13.4" will slew the telescope to right ascension 12.3 and declination 13.4 when the Slew To button is clicked. ·         "5h26m32s,10d26m25s" will slew the telescope to right ascension 5 hours 26 minutes 32 seconds and declination 10 degrees 26 minutes 25 seconds.   Note: Enter coordinates as shown above. Do not add spaces between coordinates.

Take Image Button

Enter the length of the exposure, in seconds, and then click this button to begin acquiring an image of the object entered in the Object Name text box.