Hello everyone! Thanks so much for your continued support and feedback on the project – it really helps me keep things moving. I’m happy to announce that Nova DSO Tracker v4.8.0 is now available.
Here are the biggest changes we’ve been working on:
New Features
- Dashboard Simulation Mode: You can now plan imaging sessions for future dates directly from the main dashboard. Instead of just showing the sky “now,” toggling this mode lets you select a specific date to calculate object positions and darkness times for that night. When active, the status bar turns red to remind you that the data isn’t real-time.
- Interactive Framing Assistant: The Framing Assistant is now more interactive. You can click on objects directly within the framing view (Aladin Lite) to open the Inspiration Modal, making it easier to explore targets visually.
- Session Exposure Calculator: We’ve added a helpful tool to the session planning section. It automatically calculates how many sub-exposures fit into your observing window, displaying both a theoretical maximum and a “Real” count that accounts for efficiency losses like dithering.
Under the Hood
- General Improvements: There are various backend improvements to keep things running smoothly, including updates to how we handle weather data fetching and database migrations.
Thanks again for all your patience and feedback, it really keeps this project going. Clear skies!
