A dream come true? New SkyScout Goto technology

jermng · Post by **jermng** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:11 am

I think it's audio stories for only 10 M objects ... otherwise, you can identify and find 6000 objects ....

ariefm71 · Post by **ariefm71** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:23 am

Maybe Andrew can buy at NEAF and do a review :-)

Post by **weixing** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 2:05 am

Hi,

I think it's audio stories for only 10 M objects ... otherwise, you can identify and find 6000 objects ....

I think it is really only 10 Messier object... Look at what it mention in the ad:
"The SkyScout is a revolutionary, one-of-a-kind, patented handheld device that instantly identifies and/or locates any celestial object visible to the naked eye, providing educational and entertaining information, both in text and audio."

The above key is "identifies and/or locates any celestial object visible to the naked eye". So it will be meaningless if it include objects that you can't see it using your nake eye.

Have a nice day.

jermng · Post by **jermng** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 2:17 am

Hee hee ... you're sharp ... I guess you're right ... hmm ....
But ... when I look at it again ... I think they're saying that they will identify anything that can be seen with the naked eye - but not ONLY those - they don't say that they will not identify positions of things that are not naked eye.
I mean, it's supposed to have 6000+ objects and stars and supposed to show you 10 of the coolest things to see every night. I'm not sure we have 6000 naked eye objects other than stars. And they include 10 planets too - not all are naked eye ... =)
I still think 10 M objects is only for the audio stories that they have.

Anyway, like what Arief says - the only way to know is for someone (like Andrew) to get it and give us a review. =)

blurblock · Post by **blurblock** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 8:48 am

jermng wrote:Hee hee ... you're sharp ... I guess you're right ... hmm ....
But ... when I look at it again ... I think they're saying that they will identify anything that can be seen with the naked eye - but not ONLY those - they don't say that they will not identify positions of things that are not naked eye.
I mean, it's supposed to have 6000+ objects and stars and supposed to show you 10 of the coolest things to see every night. I'm not sure we have 6000 naked eye objects other than stars. And they include 10 planets too - not all are naked eye ... =)
I still think 10 M objects is only for the audio stories that they have.

Anyway, like what Arief says - the only way to know is for someone (like Andrew) to get it and give us a review. =)

How can they include 10 planets when there are only 9 planets (including Earth) in our solar system?

blurblock · Post by **blurblock** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:00 am

weixing wrote:Hi,
I think it's audio stories for only 10 M objects ... otherwise, you can identify and find 6000 objects ....
I think it is really only 10 Messier object... Look at what it mention in the ad:
"The SkyScout is a revolutionary, one-of-a-kind, patented handheld device that instantly identifies and/or locates any celestial object visible to the naked eye, providing educational and entertaining information, both in text and audio."

The above key is "identifies and/or locates any celestial object visible to the naked eye". So it will be meaningless if it include objects that you can't see it using your nake eye.

Have a nice day.

Hi Weixing,

Please read carefully :

[snipped from website]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Features of the SkyScout...

* "Locate" Capability: Allows users to quickly find over 6,000 stars, planets, and other celestial objects

* "Identify" Capability: Allows users to quickly identify over 6,000 stars, planets, and other celestial objects

* Audio & Text Content

o Provides user with vast amounts of information using multimedia content

o Includes scientific information for over 6,000 objects and entertaining stories for the 200 most spectacular celestial objects

o Sample audio "The northern constellation Andromeda represents an ancient Greek lore of the beautiful daughter of Ethiopian Queen Cassiopeia, who was chained to a rock at sea as revenge for her mother's boastfulness. Though it is outlined by relatively faint stars, Andromeda is best known as the location of M31 - The Great Andromeda Galaxy - the most distant object visible to the unaided eye on a clear, dark night far from the light pollution of urban areas."

* "Sky Tour" Audio Presentation

o Gives you a tour of the best objects to look at for your time and location

o Automatically customized for the user's location

o SD slot gives the ability to add additional educational lessons and sky tours

* Compact, Durable, & Lightweight: Easily transported & stored. Weighs less than 16 ounces.

* Useable in Any Orientation: No need to hold level

* Tolerant of Unsteady Hands: Software adjusts to hand movements

--------------------------
[End of Snipped]

also part :

[snip]
Point the SkyScout at any bright star and it will instantly identify the object, or choose an object from the celestial database of over 6,000 objects and the SkyScout will guide you to it.
[end]

So it is not only 10M objects, but they can tell you the stories of the 10M objects when you point at them. It is build with internal GPS to guide the user to locate over 6000 objects. It cannot turn your mount for you, but it can guide you there, you just turn the mount ..... sounds like a expensive finderscope... on top of your finderscope.

ariefm71 · Post by **ariefm71** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:27 am

How can they include 10 planets when there are only 9 planets (including Earth) in our solar system?

Maybe if you point it to the ground it will say Earth

the other one maybe Sedna and 2003 UB313? :-)

jermng · Post by **jermng** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:11 am

Maybe they included some KBOs as "Planets"?

kochu · Post by **kochu** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:58 pm

Hi All ,
Saw a glimpse of Sky Scout in Channel 5 News yesterday. There is some coverage in CNN too. Link below

Kochu/7-1-05

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/01/0 ... index.html

Post by **weixing** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 3:30 pm

Hi,

* "Locate" Capability: Allows users to quickly find over 6,000 stars, planets, and other celestial objects

* "Identify" Capability: Allows users to quickly identify over 6,000 stars, planets, and other celestial objects

* Audio & Text Content

o Provides user with vast amounts of information using multimedia content

o Includes scientific information for over 6,000 objects and entertaining stories for the 200 most spectacular celestial objects

I think I had read it quite carefully and below is what I think this gadget can do:
Allows users to locate, identify and provide scientific information of over 6,000 stars, planets, and other celestial objects and include entertaining stories for the 200 most spectacular celestial objects.

Anyway, the number of stars can be seen by naked eye is range from 4,000 to 10,000 depend on where you are and how good your eye sight is.

By the way, this is just a US$399 gadget, so I don't think it can do more than this. May be next time they'll come out with an advance version that can be mounted on telescope and act as a DSC.

Have a nice day.