I have always relied on sky charts to guide me through the heavens. Printed charts suck because they usually calibrate the sky for 40 degree North (or south). So I end up using KStars.
But recently, I had to climb up 30,000 feet above the planet and somewhere above the Irish sea, the night sky looked stunningly clear and exotic. And being the amateur that I am, my head pounded with mis-information. The entire gamut of night sky objects become bigger and brighter and a whole new bunch of stars seem to crop up to confuse your brain. The only positive identifications I could make were: The Taurean belt with Cappella and Mars very close to this constellation along the ecliptic.
Which brings me to the point. Why the $^%# don’t in-flight entertainment systems on planes have a channel where they show real-time data about the night sky, which is far more interesting compared to pathetic Walt-Disney bullshit like this ? Singapore Airlines offers Star Office on Linux in every seat on-board. All they have to do is, install Kstars and integrate it with the in-flight GPS system.
Or maybe if they offer better movies like this, I won’t be bitching.
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