There’s an App for That? Astronomy Software for the Amateur Astronomer

Is it going to be clear tonight? What’s the moon’s phase and what will I be able to see along the terminator? How bad is the smoke going to impact transparency for imaging tomorrow? Which moon of Jupiter just snuck out from behind the limb of the planet? How should I best orient my camera field of view to frame the DSO I want to shoot tonight? I haven’t seen the sky in months, what’s going to be up there this weekend when it is supposed to clear out?

Any of these questions sound familiar? If so, join Jeff as he shares his favorite “go-to” mobile, laptop, and browser-based applications and software for amateur astronomy. These range from free, on-line resources and “shareware,” to inexpensive but powerful mobile apps, to somewhat pricey desktop applications for image calibration, stacking, and processing. In his talk Jeff will cover software and apps to meet the wide-ranging needs of most amateur astronomers and astrophotographers including resources for weather forecasts and astronomical observing/imaging conditions, planetarium and simulation software for planning and learning, and much more!

Jeffrey Shokler is an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer with over three decades of experience in the hobby. He is a long-time member and past President, Vice-President, and Board Member of the Madison Astronomical Society. Jeff’s educational background is in anthropology, archaeology, and geoscience from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently works at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the Director for Technology and Assessment for the Office of Undergraduate Advising.

This meeting of the Madison Astronomical Society will be presented both live in-person at Space Place and online via Youtube.