This plugin serves several purposes:
- the primary use is to see what the sky looks like through a particular combination of eyepiece and telescope. I wanted to be able to get an idea of what I should see when looking through a physical telescope, and understand why one eyepiece may be better suited to a particular target. This can also be very useful in deciding what telescope is best suited to a style of viewing. And with the support for binoculars, you now have the ability to understand just about any type of visual observing.
- to show what a particular camera would be able to photograph of the sky. Also to better plan what type of telescope (or camera lens) to pair with a particular camera to capture what you want.
- lastly, with the help of the Telrad sight, understand where object in the sky are in relation to each other. This can be very useful if you have a non-GOTO telescope, and to get an idea of how to star-hop from a known location to an area of interest.
None of these activities can take the plce of hands-on experience, but they are a good way to supplement your visual astronomy interests.
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