Let me know what *you* would like to see first! I just need to choose what’s most fun to add first. The structure of the app is already designed to support that feature. Ultimately, iObserve should include Night Logs that are written during the night, right in front of you, with all kind of statistics generated at the end of the night and run. Apart from the simulator, all these features are already partially implemented but need to be finished (and that’s where the evil resides). But the next big things I have already started (capitalizing on work already done) are Observing Runs, Event Streams ( ATels, GCN telegrams, etc) Converters (Times, Coordinates, Fluxes, Distances), Observation Simulator (fed by a community-driven platform to share Observatories/Telescopes/Instruments information), etc. So don’t hesitate to drop me a line or leave a comment below!Īs I write this post, I’ve already started to implement one of the top requested features: comets and asteroids. If possible, I try to include a feature request right away in the current cycle. One day I got a mail from a user who said “I am happy with the app, but with Finding Charts, it would be perfect!” I have a development cycle of about six weeks (a bit longer during summer vacations, and for major releases). On the other hand, iObserve development is really user-driven. However, as I only code during my evenings, I try to find a balance between the perfection of a polished app and the number of features. The number of things I dream to include is very large. (It will be an app for iOS 5 and up only, hopefully before the end of the year.) it will include iCloud sync with the Mac app. The desktop version iObserve is available on the MacAppStore, but an iPad/iPhone version is currently under development. There are many things to come in this app. But many amateurs would love to have a pro app to make BIG observations with their respectfully-sized telescopes! Hence iObserve is built really with both in mind. It was my first intention to target a pro audience with this app. And if you need an observatory that isn’t in the pre-defined list-whether it’s your astro club meeting place or your backyard-you can create your own! New in the latest 1.0.5 version are Finding Charts! You can now easily download charts from DSS, SDSS and 2MASS in various photometric bands, with plenty of options.Īlso new in this version: an “Observatories” section to easily access observatory information, websites, and map. iObserve also provides its famous Times Bar with times of UT, Local, (Modified) Julian Day and the Local Mean Sidereal Time of an observatory. The night itself can be scaled up and down, and shifted (if you need to observe during the day…). Of course, airmass curves can be compared and the date of the observing night can be slided up to easily match future observing runs. Once entered, its coordinates are automatically resolved and iObserve provides the trackable airmass curve, the closest (currently Landolt, UKIRT & UVESPOP) standard stars, aliases with ViziR links, the latest 100 ADS references, a way to easily change coordinates to celestial or galactic, for whatever epoch and units, and many other little niceties. IObserve ($12, Free Demo) is an app that I have developed to let you prepare your observations bringing a wealth of useful information by simply entering the name of an object. Having left research, I am now a professional Mac and iOS developer in a small start-up during the day, and an indie one during my evenings. Like many software, iObserve is the app I would have loved to have years ago, when I was a support astronomer in La Silla Observatory, in Chile. After more than a year of development, starting almost from scratch, iObserve is now a stable and complete app aimed at planning and performing professional astronomical observations. This is a guest post by Cédric Foellmi, the developer of a Mac App called iObserve.
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