![]() ![]() This panel contains various status information.
Note: When the laptop screen is with 4:3 aspect ratio (not "wide-screen") the Status panel is placed between the "LiveView / Image Preview" and "Log" panels.
The position of the Status Panel could be manually controlled via Status Panel Position in Main Settings tab
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![]() In this panel you can see the image that comes from LiveView, the last taken image or a loaded image using the Image Browser.
In the top left corner there is a small rectangle which is visible for every even image displayed and is hidden for the odd images. This makes easier to see when the picture on the screen is changed when you are using LiveView or you are loading similar images when small differences like such taken without dithering.
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![]() Makes active the Camera tab. There are two layouts of the Camera tab depending on the selected mode - DSLR mode or CCD/CMOS mode. This tab gives access to the camera control and image acquisition features. See Camera Tab (DSLR mode) or Camera Tab (CCD/CMOS mode) sections for details.
When there is asterisk symbol (*) that means that there is active connection to a camera.
When multiple cameras are used at the same time the tab name changes to "Camera [n]" where "n" is the APT instance number. See Multi-Camera Operation section for more information.
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![]() Makes active the Gear tab. It gives access to features for Telescope, Focuser, Filter Wheel and Rotator control as well as to PointCraft. See Gear tab section for details.
When there is asterisk symbol (*) that means that there is active connection to one or more devices like Telescope, Focuser, Filter Wheel and Rotator.
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![]() Shows the current Profile name and the Location name ( if the the Show Location is enabled in Location tab)
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![]() Available only in DSLR mode. Increase the LiveView zoom level to 5x (or 10x of it is clicked two times). For most EOS cameras Zoom x5 is very close to the representation "1:1" - "one pixel from the image, represents one sensor pixel". It is a valuable feature when planetary astro-photography.
The CCD/CMOS cameras have no hardware supported Zoom. In order to make a software zoom you can use Tools->Magnifier feature.
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![]() It is a tri-modes button. The modes toggle in the flow OFF -> Crosshair mode -> Object Scale mode -> OFF. These modes use the preview area and work without camera connection, during LiveView or over a previously taken image. Crosshair mode is designed to help in alignment tasks like: Drift Alignment, GoTo Alignment, Precise mode checks for Meade mounts and everything else that you can think of.
Crosshair Mode:
![]() Hold the Shift + Left Mouse Button and move mouse to change the place of the cross center.
Hold the Control + Left Mouse Button and move the mouse horizontally to rotate the cross.
Shift or Control + Double Click with the left mouse button will restore the initial centered cross position.
See the Crosshair section for more screenshots.
“Object scale mode” will show oval-shaped outline of defined object in exact scale for your camera and telescope/lens. See Object Calculator section.
Object scale mode:
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![]() Takes one image using the exposure parameters set in Camera tab. If Image destination is set to PC, the stored file will have prefix "Single_". It is useful to take test images when you are framing an object or determining the optimal exposure.
For actual imaging use the Plan Editor to create an imaging plan.
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![]() Minimize the main APT windows and if it is configured shows Minimized mode.
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![]() Show the laptop battery percent and the remaining time to batter depletion (when not charging). It can be configured to flash when critical level is reached. See Advanced Settings.
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In DSLR mode shows the remaining camera battery power. It can be configured to flash when critical level is reached. See Advanced Settings.
![]() In the CCD/CMOS mode shows the cooling power load.
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In DSLR mode shows the remaining free space on the camera storage card. It can be configured to flash when critical level is reached. See Advanced Settings.
![]() In CCD/CMOS mode shows the current temperature of the camera sensor.
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![]() Shows the status of the guider. See Dithering and Guiding.
NC – No connection to guiding program or device.
C – Connected and distance to the star is 0.
0.00 - distance to the guiding star.
You can use Graphs to see the changes in the distance to the guiding star during the imaging sessions.
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![]() Shows the current Air Mass value. This is the thickness of the atmosphere between the object and the scope. The value in Zenith is 1.00 - one atmosphere. At altitude 30 degrees above the horizon the air thickness is the equivalent of two atmospheres. Near the horizon there are 35 atmospheres between the object and the scope... The value is stored in the FITS header when CCD/CMOS camera is used.
This feature needs an active connection to telescope - See Gear Tab.
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![]() Shows the current sky quality value. Sky quality can be tracked by devices like SQM (Sky Quality Meters) or evaluated by the imager and manually entered. In order to see this section you have to enable it from Temperature & Sky settings tab.
Double click on this section or use the Alt+Q shortcut to open the Sky Quality calculator where you can convert value between MPSAS (magnitude per square arc-second) and NELM (naked eye limiting magnitude). Also if you have selected manual entry in the settings you can enter the measured sky quality value here.
![]() Sky Quality value can be used as part of the image file names and to be stored in the FITS keys when CCD/CMOS camera is used. See Main Settings Tab.
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![]() The Darkness Clock shows various information in a compact form - Sun set/rise, Moon set/rise and Civil, Nautical, Astronomical twilights and the full darkness. See Darkness Clock
Double click on this section will open the Deep Sky Darkness calculator where can see data for various events, to see how much imaging time you have for a given night or to search for night with needed dark hours. See Deep Sky Darkness calculator.
In order for Darkness Clock and Deep Sky Darkness calculator to make accurate calculations you have to enter your site geographic location in the Location settings tab.
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![]() The Meridian Flip Clock show information related to Meridian. How much time there is till flip, or passed after the flip and the exact flip time. See Meridian Flip Clock.
This feature needs an active connection to telescope - See Gear Tab. It can be hidden from Main Settings Tab.
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![]() Opens the USB Monitor Aid to show the connected USB devices and the logged events of connection/disconnection.
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