How to find any naked-eye object (amateur astronomers wanted!)

[Tokyo!!]

Hi all,

We just started a free naked-eye astronomy search engine at http://ezipsky.com. The way it works is that you can enter your zip code and an object in the night sky (e.g. 'mars') to get instructions for where to look to find it in the night sky from your location (if the object is currently visible), calculated in real time.

The really cool thing is that you can also use it for free with cell phone text messaging, by texting 'ezipsky <your zip code> <object>' to 368266 (DOTCOM). The SkyEngine supports pretty much everything we can think of: the planets, constellations, the brightest 150 stars, the brightest 120 satellites, the International Space Station, the hubble, and other stuff.

The sky engine is in beta right now, so any feedback from astronomers or amateur astronomers would be greatly appreciated (especially for objects we're missing!)

Thanks!

[popeye18]

Im a very amateur atronomer just starting out, trying to learn my way around the night sky. Im working with binoculours and a decent refractor right now, looking to get an 8 inch reflector soon(any advice?).This sounds like a pretty cool idea. Are there any plans to include a skychart with the object highlighted?

[Tokyo!!]

[ QUOTE ]
Im a very amateur atronomer just starting out, trying to learn my way around the night sky. Im working with binoculours and a decent refractor right now, looking to get an 8 inch reflector soon(any advice?).This sounds like a pretty cool idea. Are there any plans to include a skychart with the object highlighted?

[/ QUOTE ]

There are not currently plans to include a skychart. Our main goal here is to provide a service which is easy to use, and portable (the cell phone functionality). Including skycharts might make this more complicated, and our goal is to have it be as simple as possible. When searching via text message, (when you're outside you're usually not by your phone) keeping the message short is a big priority. Adding an image would be contrary to this goal, so we will not be doing that anytime soon.

We do include compass directions (N, SW, etc) for the rise of objects which are not visible, as well as degrees above the horizon and a direction for currently visible objects. You can see this easily by trying the sun during the day.

Soon (probably by this evening), we will have the help page updated with a list of common keywords, which will help users find suitable objects.