there are digital levels available. i see them here in the u.s.a at hardware and building supply stores. you might even find a protractor of some sort, where you could set a predetermined angle then look at the bubble level that is on it. dan cade
--- In [email protected], "music_ki" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Dan, > > you're close. Basically, my problem is that even if I know the > degrees in CDC, when I go outside, I find that the object is much > farther above the horizon than I expected. > > I actually want to fram objects while they are closer to the horizon > (primarily the moon, or maybe even exclusively) so that I don't only > get the detail of the moon, but the "cut out" of the foreground in > front, or in the case of daytime/twilight moons, some detail in the > foreground, rather than just the moon itself. > > While it would be nice to be able to get out every night, and have > perfect viewing conditions, that unfortunately isn't possible, > especially in Central Europe where I see a lot of clouds. So > usually I walk around, pick my spots and try to keep them as a > reference for the future when it is clear. My problem is even > though I know the rise/set positions, I can't accurately predict the > vertical position of the moon when I'm just walking around looking > for some good vantage points. I guess what I'm almost asking, is if > there is something like a compass, but for vertical degrees, that I > could use for this kind of stuff, in order to better plan in advance. > > thanks for the help so far! > > --- In [email protected], "dan" <hitthepin59@> > wrote: > > > > hi > > if i understand your question, you're wanting to know how many > > degrees and object is above the horizon so you can photograph it > > while it's up high as opposed to near the horizon in the "dirty > air"? > > i can offer you a couple ideas to help. > > > > 1, make sure your chart is showing azimuthal grids. these relate > to > > the horizon (altitude) and direction > (azimuth...north,east,south,west) > > the altitude grids start at 0.00 for the horizon and go up to 90 > > degrees for the zenith or straight up. the azimuth grids begin at > > 0 degrees for due north and work their way around to 90 for east, > > 180 for south, 270 for west and up to 360 for north (which is also > > zero). > > > > 2. if you use the equatorial grids, zero in declination is the > > celestial equator. negative degrees are below the equator closer > to > > the southern horizon. it goes up from zero to 90 at the celestial > > north pole. the north star is at 89 degrees. > > your right ascension grids are based on the 24 hour clock and are > > continually changing with the seasons. what you can do is select > > an object, right click it and select identification of nearest > object. > > when you read down the information, it will give rise and set > > times and culmination, which is when it reachs it's highest point. > > this is the best time to image if possible. > > > > also, if you need field of view information, check out > > ron wodaski's ccd calculator. there is a free version for > > download. you can enter info from your camera and lenses or > > telescope and it will give the field of view. you can then > > enter this into cdc on the eyepiece menu and show your field > > of view right on the chart to help choose focal length. > > > > hope this helps, > > dan cade > > > > > > --- In [email protected], "music_ki" <music_ki@> > > wrote: > > > > > > This may be a ridiculous questions, but I'm wondering about the > > > vertical positions of objects. In terms of position relative to > the > > > horizon it's easy enough to use a compass, but I find that I'm > always > > > off on the position vertically when I look at the CDC charts. I > > > always think that something is going to be lower to the horizon > than > > > it actually is. I'm asking this specifically for photographic > > > purposes, otherwise it wouldn't really matter I guess. > > > > > > Thanks for any help, I'm in love with this program! > > > > > >
