Group items tagged

innovative app for iPads and iPhones

available for free

brought together faculty and students in astrophysics, art, and technology for a summer institute last year

team quickly settled on the idea to create an app, and also developed it into an exhibit that provides additional information and shows the app's output on a large screen

scheduled for long-term installation in the Lick Observatory visitors gallery later this month

Kepler Explorer starts with drop-down menus listing all the Kepler-discovered planetary systems, plus our own solar system

selected system is displayed in a view that shows the planet or planets in their orbits around the host star

Shown in real time the planets look motionless, but moving a slider increases the speed until the planets zip around their star

lets users zoom in and move around the system, and tapping on an individual planet brings it up for further exploration. Another view shows the relative sizes of the individual planets compared to their host star

when viewing individual planets

The user can manipulate the composition of the planet and its atmosphere and see which mixtures of components (iron, rock, water, and hydrogen) are consistent with Kepler's observations

represents graphically the type of in-depth analysis that Fortney does for the Kepler Mission

the app allows anyone to explore the properties of many different planets very quickly

only measures the radius of a planet, or how big it is. In most cases, the mass of the planet is unknown

there may be different combinations of components that result in a planet of a given size

's interactive graphics show how this works

sliders for different components and how they are partitioned in the core and the atmosphere, and as you move the sliders the image of the planet grows and shrinks, based on hundreds of calculations

the app tells you when the size of your planet matches the observations

calculations involved took hours of computer time, but the results are stored in tables so the app can use them on the fly.

This data can be used to map the distribution and changes in sky brightness, and will eventually allow scientists to investigate correlations with health, biodiversity, energy waste and other factors

The app works by interactively asking users to say whether individual stars are visible. By determining what the faintest visible star is, the researchers learn how many stars are visible at that location, and by extension how bright the sky is

With this app, people from around the world can collect data on skyglow without needing expensive equipment

some of the testers found that without intending too they learned the names of several stars and constellations

is based on the widely used Google Sky Map application

development of the app was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education,

satellites that observe Earth at night measure the light that is radiating into the sky, not the brightness that is experienced by people and other organisms on the ground

menus can be easily traversed by simply running the fingers across them, a voice calls out their function

Georgie can be purchased as a set of apps for those that already have a phone, or as a complete system, i.e. phones with preinstalled apps

comes with a single basic app that allows for performing functions such as dialing and voice dictation and has useful features such as “Places” that announce direction and can be loaded with known hazards such as low hanging tree branches or potholes

three different apps packages to choose from

“Travelers” app that features “Near Me,” which calls out place names such as restaurants, bus stops, stores, etc. along with weather reports

“Lifestyle” offers an ability to listen to newspaper and magazine articles or even whole books

“Communicate” helps users connect socially by helping them record, translate to text and then send twitter or text messages

basic app costs $230 and each add-on adds an additional $39. Most would consider this quite cheap however, as other systems total in the thousands and aren’t nearly as mobile.

Predicted times of contact

The phone app has a tab which gives you the predicted times of contact for your location, as well as the times of sunset and sunrise.

Contacts that cannot be viewed from your location (because the sun is below the horizon) are indicated in grey.

Using the timer, just tap the phone’s screen at the moment of internal contact (when Venus appears within the sun, just touching the sun’s edge).

As you are looking through the eyepiece and not at the screen, the phone will vibrate when you log your times to let you know the time was successfully recorded

app will record the exact GPS time and your location, which then will be sent to the global database.

you are also asked to enter your email address. Although this is optional, you will be able to add more info to your entry later if you send your address along with the data.

Martian day

is about 24 hours, 39 minutes

Mars Clock, by SunlightAndTime, is a 99-cent app that displays Mars time and a host of other Mars time goodies

for your Apple device

Features include local mean solar time for the rover, coordinated Mars time, sunrise and sunset times for the Curiosity landing site (I think this might be the coolest feature), current season, a countdown to landing feature (which is counting up since MSL landed on Mars on August 5th), current Earth time, a distance calculator between the Earth and Mars and radio communications delay estimate.

monitor alpha (resting state) and beta (active state) brainwaves

converted to a signal that is broadcast, via Bluetooth technology, to the user's smartphone

claims that Muse can be used to learn new ways to relax, recognize lapses in concentration, build self-confidence, and gain more control of one's thoughts, overall

app includes a series of lessons and exercises designed to teach the user how to manipulate brain waves using visual feedback

prepared some tutorials to get you started with searching the archive

Hubble’s Hidden Treasures 2012: Find and tweak Hubble observations using a set of simple online tools. It’s easy and fun, and anyone can take part. Top prize: Apple iPod Touch and goodies

Hubble’s Hidden Treasures 2012 Image Processing: Find Hubble observations and then process them using professional astronomical imaging software. An extra challenge for amateur astronomers or people keen to learn about astronomical image processing. Top prize: Apple iPad and goodies

you’re playing with real data from the world’s most famous astronomical observatory