This is a nifty new software program by Bill Tschumy of ThinkAstronomy.com, cost $19, that shows the location of 784 deep sky objects in our galaxy and outside it, by means of a top and side view, so together they approximate a three dimension view. The Messiers, Caldwells, and a variety of NGCs and Ics and Crs are among those shown.
I have tried hard for a long time to find good representation of where DSOs are in our galaxy, including resort to Henbest and Cooper’s The Guide to the Galaxy, and consulting a lovely map of the galaxy published a few years ago by National Geographic, in which they had the help of some very good people in specifying object locations.
But I like Where is M13 very much better than those. I think it would be a wonderful tool for teaching people about the sky, combined with looking through a scope at public gatherings. This indeed is Bill Tschumy’s interest.
To get an idea of what the program can do to help visualization, enter for example M2 and M3 and M75, or M1 and M20, or NGC 659.
Clear skies,
Bill Meyers
