An astrophotographer called Anton has developed a tool called Nova for tracking deep sky objects (DSOs) in real time.
The software, which operates on a computer running Python, accesses data from the SIMBAD astronomical database.
Nova calculates the altitude and azimuth of DSOs and provides visibility information for each one.
The user can highlight specific objects of interest, making them visible through the telescope or camera for the duration of the session.
Such information is particularly useful for amateur astronomers, saving time that would otherwise be spent searching for objects in the sky.
Those using the software need only a computer capable of running Python and a display to obtain a quick view of the best objects to point a telescope at, without the need for guesswork.
