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-   -   Software for astronomy and global positioning (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=750989)

  • May 28, 2013, 03:34 AM
    smkanand
    Software for astronomy and global positioning
    Is there any such app or software available and accessible which can tell us the position of stars on specific date and days from specific place on Earth. For example what was the position of stars from pyramid of Giza before 200 years back? What stars we would have been seen from Giza at that time? I heard about such software but I don't know if it's available. Is there any such website?
  • May 28, 2013, 04:44 AM
    ebaines
    Sky and Telescope has a site that lets you choose your time and place and see what stars and planets are visible - see: Sky Chart - SkyandTelescope.com

    This site works for dates from 1600 to 2400 AD. It should be good for seeing star positions 200 years ago. If you want to see star positions further back than that (for example perhaps you're wondering what stars the pyramids may have been aligned with when they were built), it takes more sophisticated analysis given that the precession of the earth's orbit ("wobble" of its axis) causes the stars to shift by about 1 degree in 72 years, so over long periods of times the shift can be quite dramatic.
  • May 29, 2013, 10:40 AM
    smkanand
    Thanks. I also came across few such sites. But again there is possibility of error. Tecepe.com.br is one such. What do you think about it. Is it better or same as SkyandTelescope.com ? A rough picture will also help if not accurate. I need at least 2000 BC.
    How to find coordinates latitude and longitude of some place if they are not on map?
  • May 29, 2013, 10:51 AM
    ebaines
    I can't get access to tecepe.com.br, so I can't provide any feedback. Again, the S&T site is not good at all for star positions as they were back in 2000BC. As for finding coordinates of places "not on map," I'm not sure what you mean. Are you trying to find latitude and longitude of a specific place? Have you tried maps.google.com?
  • May 29, 2013, 10:58 AM
    smkanand
    Yes I'm trying to find but the place is not on Google. I guess locale maps might help.
    Navigator Star Finder you might check this link.
  • May 29, 2013, 11:09 AM
    ebaines
    What is "the place" that you can't find on Google maps?

    That star finder is fine, but is limited to just 56 stars and four planets.
  • May 29, 2013, 11:11 AM
    joypulv
    The Message of the Sphinx by Hancock and Bauval discusses this but doesn't refer to software, just the Yale Bright Star Catalog and calculations for precession, etc.
    (They believe that the Sphinx is much older than the pyramids, but the book is about the whole complex.)

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