Luminos

This update brings significant stability improvements. It addresses an issue where tapping on deep space images could sometimes lead to crashes. Additionally, the display of Hubble images in the sky view has been corrected. The update also fixes a crash when searching on devices running iOS 12.

This update fixes deep space image drawing, which was accidentally broken by the previous update

This update adds compatibility with the new Celestrak data URL format to ensure users have access to the most current and accurate satellite information. Additionally, two new categories have been added for satellite tracking, specifically the 'GEO Protected Zone' and 'GEO Protected Zone Plus.' Thank you for being a Luminos 9 customer, I hope these changes help keep the app useful and usable for many years to come! - John

This update fixes two bugs: visible flyovers of satellites were not always calculated corrected and this has been fixed, and distances to galaxies in the NGC/IC were sometimes wrong and these have been corrected as well.

This update fixes a bug which causes the app to crash when it's no longer available in the App Store

This release updates the SynScan library to version 0.8.1s, which fixes a crash which could occur when a Bluetooth telescope is present.

This update fixes a minor bug with telescope status messages not always updating, plus it updates the SynScan library to the latest version which fixes iOS 16 compatibility as well as correcting a coordinate mis-match between the SynScan app and Luminos.

This update fixes a few bugs:

• Astro-Physics mounts no longer start tracking upon connecting
• Compressed custom TLEs are decoded reliably
• Creating a new list in the list picker no longer crashes
• A rare crash which could occur while sorting items has been fixed
• A crash when accessing the keyboard in night vision mode has been fixed

This update adds numerous cross-references to the deep space database, improves Meade and Astro-Physics mount coordinate updates, adds 60 new surface features, and has updated predictions for Jupiter's Great Red Spot. This update also fixes a bug which often caused the LX200 protocol to refuse to perform gotos.

Here is the complete list of changes:

Feature - Added numerous deep space cross-references including ESO, LBN, LDN, Collinder, Melotte, Trumpler, King, Cederblad, Gum, PN, PK, Stock, vdBH, Markarian Galaxies, Markarian Clusters, UGC, MCG, and Harvard.
Feature - Meade and Astro-Physics mounts update their coordinates much faster by computing the non-native coordinates (ie, az and alt on an eq mount) instead of fetching them from the mount
Feature - Added 60 new surface feature names for features on The Moon, Mercury, Mars, Pluto, Europa, and Titan
Feature - Adjusted Jupiter Great Red Spot predictions based on current obervations
Feature - Added support for Apple Watch Ultra
Fixed - The LX200 Compatible telescope protocol slews reliably
Fixed - Astro-Physics mounts set the meridian offset to zero before parking

This update adds the first four images released by the James Webb Space Telescope to the Deep Space image gallery

This update adds Herschel 400 part 2, inline satellite descriptions (when available), support for PMC-Eight mounts. Here is the complete list of changes:

Feature - Updated surface features with the latest IAU names
Feature - Jim Kaler's STARS articles are translated into French and Spanish
Feature - Satellites show National Space Science Data Center descriptions when available
Feature - Added Herschel 400 Part II
Feature - Added support for PMC-Eight mounts
Fixed - The LX200 driver slews correctly and is generally more compatible with a variety of devices
Fixed - RCW and Sharpless objects are precessed accurately from their B1950 coordinates

This update fixes issues which prevented some people from being able to install the complete UCAC4 catalog.

This update fixes a few recently-introduced bugs: M40, M45, C41, and C99 can be searched for and are positioned correctly once again, custom lists appear in the Tonight panel again, and the watch app is no longer cropped on the new Series 7 Apple Watch.

Welcome to the Luminos 9.9.10 update!

The biggest change in this update is for French and Spanish users with many articles and descriptions newly translated.

This update also fixes several bugs and glitches which affected all users:

• Constellations are better centered
• Errors in the deep space cross-reference are fixed
• Landing while in orbit goes to the right location
• Satellites always show up correctly
• The telescope coordinate readout no longer jumps around as it changes
• Crashes found in customer crash logs are fixed (thanks for sharing those!)

This update softens the edges around deep space images in the sky view for better blending, plus it updates the SynScan library which fixes alignment problems on SynScan telescopes which use an auxiliary encoder.

A couple of minor bugs have also been fixed: calculated values on browser pages will update correctly after a location change, and the LX200 protocol is more robust when used with mounts that sometimes inject garbage into the data stream.

Clear skies,
- John

Welcome to Luminos 9.9.7! This update is just bug fixes, specifically it fixes a rare crash which could occur while tapping on satellites while satellite data is downloading, and it fixes lists so that new lists can be created once again. Thank you for sharing your crash reports! Clear skies, - John

Welcome to Luminos 9.9.6! This update adds a 100 megapixel surface map to Mars, changes the field of view button to stay on until turned off, and fixes several smaller bugs and issues. Clear skies, - John

Welcome to Luminos 9.9.5! I was reviewing the crash logs and noticed several people experiencing crashes in the equipment calculator, and they were happening frequently enough that I thought I should fix it right away. The logs also revealed a couple of other bugs regarding upgrading databases and those are fixed now too. Thanks for sharing your crash logs! Clear skies, - John

Welcome to Luminos 9.9.4!

This update adds several new features, including that you can hide the motion-tracking identification circle I added a couple of updates ago. I've also changed deep-space object labels to always label Messier objects. Also this update also adds support for iPad trackpads, which can now be used to pan the sky view and spin the time and fov wheels. For telescope users this update uses the latest SynScanLink library and adds satellite tracking to those SynScan mounts which support it, plus Astro-Physics Mach2GTO mounts now have a Home position for the Park command to place those mounts in their absolute home position.

Several bugs are also fixed, including that the date picker can be set to 1 BC without problems, plus moon orbits are now shaded like the planets and those orbits intersect the moons reliably. There are other bug fixes too, but they're somewhat esoteric so I won't detail them all here – look for the Release Notes in Luminos' Support section for a complete list of the bugs fixed in this update.

Clear skies,
John

Welcome to Luminos 9.9! This update adds iCloud Drive support, giving you direct access to your observation and equipment lists, plus the interface has been freshened with new icons and a new settings interface. Also, many lists now support sorting by name, size, and magnitude, and motion tracking now has an identification reticle, plus custom location names are used for location announcements in the sky view, satellites show altitude and orbital period, and much more. The three updates since the initial 9.9 release fix several bugs and usability issues, check the release notes for the complete list of features as well as fixes in the updates! Clear skies, - John

Welcome to Luminos 9.9! This update adds iCloud Drive support, giving you direct access to your observation and equipment lists, plus the interface has been freshened with new icons and a new settings interface. Also, many lists now support sorting by name, size, and magnitude, and motion tracking now has an identification reticle, plus custom location names are used for location announcements in the sky view, satellites show altitude and orbital period, and much more. The two updates since the initial 9.9 release fix several bugs and usability issues, check the release notes for the complete list of features as well as fixes in the updates! Clear skies, - John

Welcome to Luminos 9.9! This update adds iCloud Drive support, giving you direct access to your observation and equipment lists, plus the interface has been freshened with new icons and a new settings interface. Also, many lists now support sorting by name, size, and magnitude, and motion tracking now has an identification reticle, plus custom location names are used for location announcements in the sky view, satellites show altitude and orbital period, and much more. The 9.9.1 update fixes several bugs and usability issues, check the release notes for the complete list of features as well as fixes in this update! Clear skies, - John

Welcome to Luminos 9.9! This update adds iCloud Drive support, giving you direct access to your observation and equipment lists, plus the interface has been freshened with new icons and a new settings interface. Also, many lists now support sorting by name, size, and magnitude, and motion tracking now has an identification reticle, plus custom location names are used for location announcements in the sky view, satellites show altitude and orbital period, and much more. Check the release notes for the complete list of features as well as fixes in this update! Clear skies, - John

Welcome to Luminos 9.8.5! This maintenance update fixes several cosmetic issues such as showing orbit lines for comets while on Earth, always turning moon orbits off when they're de-selected, and smoothly updating satellite positions in the sky view. A crash with the Goto button on the selection action bar is also fixed, plus a couple of rare crashes have been found and fixed using your shared crash reports, thank you for sharing them! Please see the release notes for a detailed list of fixes. Clear skies, - John

Welcome to Luminos 9.8.3! This update adds dwarf planet orbits to the orrery view, adds the time zone of your location setting to the time picker, and includes a setting for which direction you want the sky view facing when Luminos starts up. Numerous bugs are also fixed, please see the release notes for the complete list. 9.8.4 update: comets, asteroids, and satellites are shown correctly in the sky view again. Clear skies, - John