StarParty Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
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What is StarParty? |
StarParty is a Palm OS based application that is designed to aid observational astronomers at the telescope. It provides an informational database of deep sky objects as well as stars, most of which are visible in a small to medium sized telescopes. |
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What does StarParty offer? |
StarParty is an object and star catalog application. It allows the user to select a specific catalog or observing list or it can select specific objects/stars from the entire list of objects/stars. It then displays textual information about those objects. It also calculates the altitude and azimuth as well as the rise and set times of each object or star. |
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Why should I purchase StarParty? |
Although StarParty can be downloaded and used without purchasing it, not all the features of the software are enabled. Also, in the future, as additional features are added, they will be offered free to registered users. You may purchase StarParty by clicking on one of the following icons:
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Will I have to purchase StarParty each time a new release is available? |
No. In the future, more object and star catalogs will be available at no additional cost. |
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Which deep sky objects does Star Party reference? |
StarParty contains over 700 of the deep sky objects found in the Messier, Caldwell and the Herschel 400 catalogs. In addition it contains the objects found in many of the popular observing lists. |
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Which stars does StarParty reference? |
StarParty contains all the double stars in the Astronomical League double star certification list as well as other selected double stars. There are currently over 400 double stars. It has information on over 300 of the brightest named stars. It will soon contain information about selected variable stars and carbon stars as well as a catalog of interesting objects not listed in the other catalogs. |
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What specific information about objects does StarParty provide? |
StarParty maintains a good deal of information about each deep sky object. For each object it stores its right ascension, declination, magnitude, constellation, angular size, object type, and catalog name. Additional information is provided for some objects. This might include its common name, its estimated diameter in light years, its actual distance in light years, the estimated number of stars, its viewing threshold, and the optimum magnification in which to view the object. |
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What about stars? Is there additional information available for those as well? |
The double star catalog in StarParty contains the right ascension, declination, magnitude of both the primary and secondary stars, the constellation the star is located in, the separation of the stars and the position angle. In addition, if known, the distance of the star, its common name, the discoverers name and catalog number, and the SAO catalog number. |
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What kind of PDA will StarParty run on? |
StarParty is designed to run on a Palm or Palm compatible PDA device. It has successfully been tested on the Palm Vx, VII, Palm IIIc devices, Handspring Prism and Platinum, to name a few. It requires Palm OS3.1 or above but does not currently support Palm OS v5. |
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What about a PC, will it run on a PC? |
Although there is not a native PC desktop version of StarParty, it will run on the Palm emulator software (POSE) available at the Palm OS web site. |
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All those objects must take up a lot of space. How much of my Palm memory will StarParty use? |
StarParty stores its catalog information as compactly as possible. Including the program file and all the catalogs, StarParty only requires approximately 298K bytes of memory. |
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Can StarParty display maps of the sky? |
No. StarParty is not designed to be a “planetarium” or star map type program. There are other fine products available that can fill that function. |
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Can StarParty show me where the planets are? |
No, StarParty currently does not maintain information about the locations of solar system objects. |
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How can I get a copy of StarParty?
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StarParty can be downloaded and used without purchasing it, though not all the features of the software will be enabled. StarParty can be purchased directly by clicking on one of the following icons:
If the direct link does not work, browse to the main web site http://www.handango.com and search for "starparty". |
| Is there a place where I can share information with other StarParty users? |
PFD Systems supports a Yahoo Group forum available to all StarParty users. It can be found at the site listed below. The forum is to allow users to comment, exchange ideas and to post questions. The latest version of StarParty can always be found in the Files sections. The forum is free to everybody. Browse to the link listed below and sign up! StarParty User Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/starpartypalm |
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Can I control my telescope with StarParty?
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The current version of StarParty has the ability to control a Celestron Nexstar telescopes from a PDA. This will allow users of StarParty to slew their telescopes to any object or star in the StarParty catalog. To accomplish this, a cable is needed. The cable attaches between the PDA and the Nexstar hand controller. This capability is not unique to StarParty as there are other astronomy programs that provided the same capabilities. The same cable will work for all software products. PFD Systems does not provide the interface cable, but one can be obtained from one of the cable providers below. Syncable Solutions If the cable you require is not listed on their web page, please feel free to contact them by Email, as they will make custom cables upon request. If you are interested in purchasing an interface cable for your PDA, email Syncable Solutions at info@syncablesolutions.com or visit their website at www.syncablesolutions.com . AstroGadgets They have a number of cable solutions for various brands of telescopes and computers. Visit them at http://www.astrogadgets.com . |
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I have a Mac, can I use StarParty? |
Yes, but you must download the StarPartyRaw.zip file. There is not a self-installer for the Mac. The StarPartyRaw.zip file contains all the individual components that must be installed manually. This is accomplished by unzipping the contents of the file and adding each of the .prc and .pdb files to your Palm installer. |
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Last revised |
2/14/04 |
