Download program and data
| Do you need a tool to plan your observations?
Try AstroPlanner. With this great program you can compile lists of objects that you want to observe. The best thing: These lists can be transferred to Planetarium. |
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| Benötigen Sie etwas, um Ihre Beobachtungen zu planen?
Dann könnte Eye & Telescope genau das Richtige für Sie sein. Mit diesem grossartigen Programm können Sie bequem Ihre Listen zusammenstellen und diese ins Planetarium transferieren. |
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Windows Mobile Users: Please visit
Planetarium for Windows Mobile
Planetarium 2.4 runs also with the
StyleTap Emulator on your Windows Mobile handheld: StyleTap
 |
Airline Pilots: You might be interested
in this companion program: SunFly
(calculates sun rise and set on the plane) |
DSO for Palm: DSO is a freeware astronomical program that should help to plan observations of deep sky objects. The program allows to search for objects in the NGC/IC database by the object. Exports search results directly to Planetarium.
http://dsoastro.narod.ru/
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Program files
Data files |
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Planetarium Application
Interested in Beta-Versions?
Current version: 2.4.0 (What's
new in this version)
*** Requires PalmOS 3.5
File
Size
Description
planet24.zip
1.0M
This file contains
the Planetarium program and some data. This file is for both, the demo
and the registered version. Please read the install
instructions.
planet24ger.zip
1.0M
The German version
of the program. Bitte lesen Sie die Installations-Anweisungen in der Datei
Liesmich.txt.
planet24fre.zip
731K
The French version
of the program. Please read the install instructions in the manual.
Previous version: 2.3.1
| File | Size | Description |
| planet20.zip | 559K | This file contains the Planetarium program and some data. |
| planet20ger.zip | 581K | The German version of the program. |
| planet20fre.zip | 548K | The French version of the program. |
Tungsten T3 users: If you cannot use the full 320x480 screen on the Tungsten T3 because you cannot collapse the graffiti area, then you need to download and install two system update files from palmOne: T3_DIA_Compatibility_prcs.zip
Star data bases
(For version 2.4) Planetarium has a built-in star data base with about 9000 stars (the
Yale Bright Star Catalogue). You can install one of these data bases
with additional stars. There are several variants of star data bases
differing in the limiting magnitude. Which one you want to install
depends on your amount of free memory. The data bases were compiled with
data from the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 catalogues.
| File | Limiting magnitude | Nr of stars | Download size | Size on PDA |
| plnstars7.zip | m7 | 6'740 | 92 KB | 97 KB |
| plnstars8.zip | m8 | 37'044 | 480 KB | 508 KB |
| plnstars9.zip | m9 | 125'031 | 1.5 MB | 1.5 MB |
| plnstars10.zip | m10 | 348'012 | 3.7 MB | 3.9 MB |
| plnstars11.zip | m11 | 937'755 | 9.4 MB | 9.8 MB |
| plnStars16.zip | Full Tycho-2/Hipparcos catalogue (90% complete to m11.5) | 2'542'491 | 25 MB | 26 MB |
Installation
First select one of the star data base files. Note: You need only one of these files. For example, if you want stars down to m9, you download and install the file for m9 (and not m7 + m8 + m9). After unzipping you have a file called PlanetariumStars.pdb
This file can either be installed in RAM or on a memory card.
- To install the file in RAM install it like any other file via Hotsync. This is a good option for the smaller files if your PDA does not have a card slot.
-
To install it on the memory card, you could also install it via Hotsync by
selecting the card as destination, but I do not recommend this, as this process
is VERY SLOW! For the largest files, it can take up to several hours, depending
on the device and card you have. It is feasible for the smaller files, but for the
large files there are alternatives:
- Use a memory card reader. This is a device that can read and write the memory card that you connect via USB with your PC.
- Use the "Card Export" software from Softick (http://www.softick.com). This is a cool program that lets your PDA run as a memory card reader when it is placed into the docking station.
Both ways, you get an additional disk drive on your PC to view the memory card. To install the file copy it into a specific folder onto the card. The Planetarium star data base file needs to be at:
\PALM\Launcher\PlanetariumStars.pdb
To change the star data base file later, just repeat this procedure with another file.
You can also install a large star data base file on the card and a small one into RAM. Then the program will automatically select the file on the card if the card is present, and if no card is present, it will use the file in RAM.
To check what star data base file you have installed currently, go to the About screen (menu item Info/About). At the bottom there is a line describing the star data base that was found.
GPS plug in
The GPS plug in enables Planetarium
to read the location from a GPS device via the serial port. More information
about this here.
| File | Size | Description |
| gpsnmea.zip | 2.9K | GPS connection via serial port. |
| gpsbt.zip | 2.8K | GPS connection via Bluetooth (NMEA) |
| gpsnavman.zip | 2.8K | Navman GPS 500 |
| gpsique.zip | 1.7K | Garmin iQue 3600 |
Telescope plug-ins
Telescope plug-ins enable Planetarium
to communicate with telescopes via the serial port or via Bluetooth.
More information about this here.
| File | Size | Description |
| LX200.zip | 3.6K | Meade LX200 and compatibles. (Also Meade ETX, see below) |
| NexStarM.zip | 3.3K | Celestron NexStar 5,8, 4/60/80/114GT, N8GPS, N11GPS and Ultima (Combined driver for several Celestron devices). This driver automatically detects the connected telescope and selects the protocol accordingly. |
| LosGem.zip | 2.7K | Losmandy Gemini |
| skycmd.zip | 4.3K | SkyCommander and ServoCAT |
| LX50Mag1.zip | 2.0K | Meade LX50, Magellan I |
| LX50Mag2.zip | 2.5K | Meade LX50, Magellan II |
| NexStar5.zip | 3.2K | Celestron NexStar 5 and 8 |
| NexStar114.zip | 2.4K | Celestron NexStar 4/60/80/114GT |
| Ultima2000.zip | 2.4K | Celestron Ultima 2000 |
I have got reports hat the LX200 plug-in also works for ETX telescopes. Please note: You need an AutoStar device. You must not connect the Telescope directly to the Palm without the AutoStar in between, this might damage your Palm or the telescope. To use Planetarium with a Meade ETX with AutoStar, you need to do the following first:
- Make sure the AutoStar is not on the RA/Dec screen.
- You must select an object and move to it using the AutoStar controller before you attempt to do something through Planetarium.
Cable info
- Information about the cables you
can find here.
- For Telescope-PC cables please contact
your telescope dealer.
Forums
If you have problems, you might get
some tips from other users who have the same telescope in one of these
forums.
The
Palm Astro Mailing list
Current Comet and Asteroids Data
This file contains Comets and Asteroid
orbital elements. Before installing this file, make sure you export your
Personal comets and asteroids data to a Memo beforehand so that you can
reimport them afterwards. More information about this here.
| File | Date | Size | Description |
| PlnCometsDB.zip | Aug 26, 2013 | 20K | Comets and asteroids orbital elements |
Deep Sky Objects Data
There are various sets of deep sky
objects data to load into Planetarium. Before installing one of these files,
make sure you export your Personal objects data to a Memo beforehand so
that you can reimport it afterwards. More information about this here.
I give my thanks go to Allan Gould who contributed these lists!
| File | Size | Description |
| UserObjsDB.zip | 17K | 110 Messier objects, 110 Caldwell objects, 284 Double stars (default) |
| UserObjsDBH400.zip | 31K | 110 Messier objects, 110 Caldwell objects, 284 Double stars, 400 Herschel objects |
| UserObjsDBBig.zip | 45K | 110 Messier objects, 110 Caldwell objects, 284 Double stars, over 1000 additional deep sky objects. |
Miscellaneous Data
| Link | Description |
| LX200 alignment stars | A list of the LX200 alignment stars. |
| LX50 sync stars | A list of the LX50 sync stars. |
| NexStar alignment stars | A list of the NexStar alignment stars. |
| AutoStar alignment stars | A list of the AutoStar alignment stars. |
| Celestron C8 alignment stars | A list of the Celestron C8 alignment stars. |
| A few Trans Neptunian Objects | A few TNOs, including Xena. |
Data files made by users
| Name | Description | Link |
| Tom Wideman | Astronomy League's Deep Sky Binocular observing list (60 objects) plus other lists | http://www.wideman.org/planetarium.html |
| Donald Winspear | A version of the list of LX200 alignment stars with full constellation name and magnitude and distance info. | LX200 alignment stars |
| Les Blalock | Sky Commander digital setting circles alignment stars | Sky Commander alignment stars |
| Thomas Chapman | A list of the NGCMAX alignment stars. | NGCMAX alignment stars |
| Rafael Barbera | The Spirit of 33 is an international network of double stars observers. | The Spirit of 33 Observing Projects |
| François Couturier | A list of 85 red carbon stars | Carbon stars |
| Les Blalock | The 22 reddest carbon stars | Carbon stars |
| Franck Bouquerel Planetis | Alignment Stars for the AutoStar | AutoStar Alignment Stars |
| Franck Bouquerel Planetis | Alignment Stars for the NexStar Advanced Series | NexStar Advanced Series Alignment Stars |
| Holger Voß | Alignment Stars for the ArgoNavis | ArgoNavis Alignment Stars |
| Don Gallian | JMI Non-Stellar/Deep Sky database | JMI Non-Stellar/Deep Sky database |
| Alasdair McAndrew | Astronomical League's Deep Sky Binocular observing list (73 objects) for the Southern Sky | Southern Sky Binocular Deep Sky Objects |
| Stephen Uitti | Orion Intelliscope Alignment Stars | Xt10i |
| Anand Rajiva | Huge data base with thousands of DSO and double stars. | http://astronomie.rajiva.de/astronomie/palm.html |
| Ken Young | Quasars data base | Quasars |
| Don Gallian | NexStar 50 Club | NexStar 50 Club |
| Don Gallian | Digital Don's 50 List | Digital Don's 50 List |