This sample shows a close-up view of a small part of the "Virgo cluster" - a dense group of galaxies in the constellation Virgo. The picture shows stars to magnitude 13, and galaxies as faint as magnitude 15, and illustrates how SkyMap Pro displays galaxies with the correct size, shape, and "orientation" in the sky.
Most telescopes don't show an image which is the "right way up", something which causes endless confusion to novices. SkyMap Pro can "reflect" a map either horizontally or vertically, and can also rotate a map by any desired angle to precisely match the field of view seen through the telescope or in a photograph or CCD image. The above map has been "reflected" vertically to match the view as seen, for example, through a Newtonian reflector. To make it easier to keep track of directions when the map has been reflected and/or rotated, a "compass rose" can be displayed on the map showing the four cardinal directions; this is visible to the upper left of the map shown above.
One very useful capability of SkyMap Pro is the fact that it allows you to add your own "annotation" to a map. On the above map, we can see:
 | A circle, representing the field of view through through a telescope eyepiece. |
| A set of circles and rectangles representing the field of view of a CCD camera. The larger rectangle shows the field of view of the main CCD detector of the camera, the smaller rectangle the field of view of this camera's separate guide chip. The concentric circles show the area of sky available to the guider by rotating the camera. Note that a CCD or camera frame annotation can be rotated to any desired angle. |
| Text labels, each of which can have individual font and colour settings. |
| Arrows, each of which can have an individual length, angle, line thickness, and colour. |
This ability to add your own map annotations is extremely useful, especially when creating maps on which you want to point out specific features.
Last Modified May 10, 2006