AstroWorkBench

This free software has been designed to be used by observers for enjoying their observational sessions. Its main focus is to quickly show exactly what objects are observable for any date, time and location and to deliver this as a free integrated observational astronomy tool.

AstroWorkBench has the following features. Please also see the Screen Dumps as a picture is worth a thousand words.

All screens are configurable for any date, time and location so that displayed data and positional graphs are calculated and drawn for your location and specified date and time.

  • View detailed planetary data and graphical positional information;
  • Graphically view all planetary positions at once and in an instant know what is visible;
  • View data, orbital maps and animation of Jupiter's main satellites;
  • View all Messier data and graphical positional information;
  • View all Caldwell data and graphical positional information;
  • View all NGC data and graphical positional information;
  • View all lunar positional and apparition data you need;
  • View Sun rise and set data;
  • A quick sky view so that you can instantly see what is visible tonight;
  • A classic sky map view of the sky;
  • A single map view of the sky;
  • A detailed view of a specified constellation;
  • Setup preferences including geographical and time parameters;
  • Create your own document repository for notes, documents, diagrams etc;
  • Show the visibility of any object or co-ordinate;
  • Build your own database of objects;
  • Build a list of objects you wish to view in your next session;
  • Show all astronomically significant time formats;
  • A timer for your exposures;
  • Loads of reference data for perusal;

See here for detailed download and installation instructions.