TRACK HALLEY’S COMET ON YOUR PC C

Is it near Earth?

Online planetarium The Sky Live ( https:// theskylive.com) proved popular with readers when we covered it in our ‘Watch the World from your PC’ feature (Issue 504, page 60). Here are a few ways to get even more out of it.

Edit your view of the galaxy then share it

Navigating the planetarium view is fairly easy – zoom using the mouse wheel, and pan by dragging the mouse with the left button held down. In the 3D-simulator view you can also change the pivot point by using the right mouse button.

But there are other ways to control what you see. For example, in the planetarium view, click the settings (spanner) icon (see screenshot below left) to access visual effects (Ground, Milky Way, Constellations, etc). To the left of the settings icon, you’ll find other icons that let you set the date, time and your current location.

To share your view (including any settings you’ve applied), click the ‘Get Link to This View’ button at the bottom left. When the pop-up box opens, copy the link, then paste it into an email or social-media post.

Track Halley’s Comet in a 3D simulation

To watch the orbits of comets and minor bodies (in the past, present and future) click 3D Simulator at the top of the home page. Click Close on the pop-up to view a simulation of the Solar System.

To overlay an orbit, click Pick Object, then make your selection in the ‘Choose object’ dropdown menu at the bottom of the page (Halley’s Comet in our case, see screenshot above right). Click Set Time, then select a date at the bottom – anything up to the year 2100. Next, tick the Animate box and you’ll see the movement of the planets from the date you specified.

To increase the speed, click the Speed dropdown menu and select a faster interval (‘1 second = 6 months’, for example). To stop the simulation, untick the Animate box. For your information, the next time Halley’s Comet is observable from Earth is 28 July 2061.

Find out what you can see with the naked eye

To find out which heavenly bodies can be seen by the naked eye or binoculars, click Night Guide (along the top of the home page). Once the page refreshes, click ‘change’ (top left, to the right of Location), then select your location on the Google map (use your mouse’s scroll wheel to zoom in). Click your area, then click Confirm Selection. When the page refreshes, scroll down to the ‘Filter by visibility’ section, then untick Small Telescope, Large Telescope and Professional Telescope. Carry on scrolling down the page to see what will be visible in the night sky where you are.

Find out what other astronomers are watching

To see what other Sky Live users are tracking, go to the site’s home page, then scroll down to the ‘Popular objects this week’ section. Objects depicted in the largest fonts are the most popular right now. Click a word for more information.