Scope Display

Use the scope display settings to customize the display of the telescope's field of view in the sky chart.

Fields of View

Here, you can choose the telescope, eyepiece, finder scope, and/or camera(s) that you're using. SkySafari will automatically compute the FOV of your equipment and display it in the sky chart when the telescope is connected. Any of these fields of view may be shown or hidden by touching its on/off switch.

You can enter your equipment into SkySafari using the Equipment settings. See the Equipment Help for more information.

To define a particular field of view, tap its row. An equipment picker slides in, letting you choose the exact combination of equipment - telescope (or binoculars/finder) plus eyepiece (or camera) for that particular FOV.

You can also enter a custom FOV (in degrees) if you don't want to choose any equipment from the list.

Please Note: if you choose binoculars or a finder scope, you cannot choose an eyepiece or camera. Binoculars and Finders have built-in eyepieces with fixed fields of view. You can use any eyepiece or any camera with any telescope, however.

Draw Labels: Shows names of the equipment combination that defines a particular field of view in the sky chart.

Crosshairs: Lets you turn crosshairs on or off, which precisely show the field of view center, and indicate the directions of movement of the telescope mount axes.

Telrad Circles: Shows the field-of-view indicators of a Telrad as red circles in the sky chart. These circles are 0.5°, 2°, and 4° across, always centered on the telescope's field of view.

Cardinal Directions: Shows cardinal direction (N/E/S/W) markers around the edges of the field of view indicator. These help you follow the cardinal celestial directions in a small telescopic field of view. As the Earth rotates from west to east, objects appear to travel through the eyepiece from east to west.

Field of View Display Options

Show Even if Not Connected to Telescope: Lets you display the field-of-view indicators even if SkySafari is not actually communicating with your telescope controller. In this case, the field of view indicators will always be displayed at the center of the sky chart. You may use this feature, for example, to "preview" how a star cluster may appear in a particular eyepiece or finder scope.

Field Rotation Angle: Lets you set the scope field-of-view rotation angle. When zero, "up" in the scope's field of view is north in the sky (for equatorial mounts) or "up" in the sky (for alt-azimuth mounts).

Scope Display Coordinates

This setting determines the coordinate system used to show the telescope's position in the Scope Control view.