NINA Sky Atlas - Forums

Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Apr 20, 2024 · Edited: Apr 20, 2024

NINA is getting site location and time/date from Stellarium correctly.

When I go into NINA's Sky Atlas, the moonrise in NINA says 16:04 (4:04pm) and Stellarium says 17:05 (5:05pm), which is off by 1 hour and 1 minute.

I'm not sure where NINA is getting moon and sun rise/set times but moonrise time is definitely not agreeing with either Stellarium or timeanddate.com

I would think if daylight savings time is the culprit, all of the rise and set times would be off by 1 hour. But this is not the case,

Anyone know what's going on?

Thanks,
Jerry

Alex

Apr 20, 2024

what time zone you are in?
maybe NINA is displaying UTC (not sure where these setting is hidden)?

Jerry Gerber

Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Apr 20, 2024

Alex:
what time zone you are in?
maybe NINA is displaying UTC (not sure where these setting is hidden)?

I'm in Pacific Daylight Time. Nina should be getting that info (along with coordinates) from Stellarium. But I don't think NINA is getting moon/sun rise and set times from Stellarium.

When I compare RA and DEC positions of a DSO in both Stellarium and NINA, they match correctly.

andrea tasselli

Frequent contributor

Apr 20, 2024 · Edited: Apr 20, 2024

NINA works correctly for me in displaying - exact to the minute - moon rise and moon set times so there's something wrong in your settings. Head directly to NINA discord for more help.

Supportive

Patrick Prokop

Apr 20, 2024

I would think NINA is getting the time from the computer it is hosted on. The one-minute difference (from the extra hour) would be from the motion the moon made in one hour allowing for the extra minute. Needless to say, one of the programs is not correcting for Daylight Saving Time.

Frédéric Ruciak

Apr 20, 2024

Hi, what I have experienced on my own is a desynchronization between a mount (ZWO AM5) and NINA. It was coming from the time setting of the PC itself that was automatic with summer time and was not understood/interpreted the same way by the two software trying to synchronize, there was 1hour time difference like you. I solved it by tuning the astroPC time manually so that the two sofware were able to synchronize the same way based on this System time. I would check that stellarium and NINA are understanding the system time the same way (it seems not), if so, I would try to chase for the summertime effect (wintertime for south hemisphere I suppose).
Good luck.

Helpful

Michael Broyles

Apr 20, 2024

I’m not sure the NINA will get the location from the Stellarium. It will get object location info from Stellarium. NINA will get location info from the scope when it’s connected or from value specified in the Options menu. Make sure your location is correct in NINA.

Michael

Helpful Concise

Jerry Gerber

Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Apr 20, 2024

andrea tasselli:
NINA works correctly for me in displaying - exact to the minute - moon rise and moon set times so there's something wrong in your settings. Head directly to NINA discord for more help.

What is Nina discord?

andrea tasselli

Frequent contributor

Apr 20, 2024

It's the Discord channel for NINA. That is where you get help from.

Richard Bright

Apr 20, 2024

Jerry Gerber:
andrea tasselli:
NINA works correctly for me in displaying - exact to the minute - moon rise and moon set times so there's something wrong in your settings. Head directly to NINA discord for more help.

What is Nina discord?

Go to the NINA website and select "Discord" from the menu. That will take you to the "sign up" page of the Discord server.

Well Written Concise

Jim Thommes

Apr 23, 2024

I think that your site locations in NINA and Stellarium are mismatched. That's why you see

Jerry Gerber:
Alex:
what time zone you are in?
maybe NINA is displaying UTC (not sure where these setting is hidden)?

I'm in Pacific Daylight Time. Nina should be getting that info (along with coordinates) from Stellarium. But I don't think NINA is getting moon/sun rise and set times from Stellarium.

When I compare RA and DEC positions of a DSO in both Stellarium and NINA, they match correctly.

I think that your site locations in NINA and Stellarium are mismatched. That's why you see RA and Dec on a DSO matching but Moon rise and set times don't. Site location in Stellarium and NINA are separately set in NINA and Stellarium and are not transmitted to each other (I believe). NINA does sync site location with your mount if you approve a "sync mount and NINA" message. This may be what you are thinking of.

A good test is to go back to your DSO (which matches RA and DEC exactly) with NINA / Stellarium and check the DSO rise, transit, and set times between NINA and Stellarium and I bet they are not matching either.

Jim -

Helpful

Jerry Gerber

Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Apr 23, 2024

Jim Thommes:
I think that your site locations in NINA and Stellarium are mismatched. That's why you see
Jerry Gerber:
Alex:
what time zone you are in?
maybe NINA is displaying UTC (not sure where these setting is hidden)?

I'm in Pacific Daylight Time. Nina should be getting that info (along with coordinates) from Stellarium. But I don't think NINA is getting moon/sun rise and set times from Stellarium.

When I compare RA and DEC positions of a DSO in both Stellarium and NINA, they match correctly.

I think that your site locations in NINA and Stellarium are mismatched. That's why you see RA and Dec on a DSO matching but Moon rise and set times don't. Site location in Stellarium and NINA are separately set in NINA and Stellarium and are not transmitted to each other (I believe). NINA does sync site location with your mount if you approve a "sync mount and NINA" message. This may be what you are thinking of.

A good test is to go back to your DSO (which matches RA and DEC exactly) with NINA / Stellarium and check the DSO rise, transit, and set times between NINA and Stellarium and I bet they are not matching either.

Jim -

Everything is matching now. RA, DEC, rise, set and transit times of DSOs and even the sun and moon. I am not sure why it's working now, because I cannot find a setting in NINA to choose location and time zone. Is there one, or does NINA get it's info from Windows? That's what it seems like.

Jim Thommes

Apr 23, 2024

Jerry Gerber:

Everything is matching now. RA, DEC, rise, set and transit times of DSOs and even the sun and moon. I am not sure why it's working now, because I cannot find a setting in NINA to choose location and time zone. Is there one, or does NINA get it's info from Windows? That's what it seems like.

Under Options>General>Astrometry (down at the bottom of the NINA screen), You can set site latitude and site longitude manually. Or you can manually import the site latitude / longitude data from Planetarium (if Stellarium is set up properly under Options>Equipment>Planetarium). Keep in mind, site location (lat/ long) is not time zone.

I am not 100% sure, but I believe that NINA gets UTC, not local, time from computer time (unless it is synchronized from your mount). Time zone does not matter, UTC does - as does site location (lat/long). However, if your computer time zone or Daylight savings setting is not correct, the local time readout in NINA will be off.

Jim -

Helpful

Jerry Gerber

Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Apr 23, 2024

Jim Thommes:
Jerry Gerber:

Everything is matching now. RA, DEC, rise, set and transit times of DSOs and even the sun and moon. I am not sure why it's working now, because I cannot find a setting in NINA to choose location and time zone. Is there one, or does NINA get it's info from Windows? That's what it seems like.

Under Options>General>Astrometry (down at the bottom of the NINA screen), You can set site latitude and site longitude manually. Or you can manually import the site latitude / longitude data from Planetarium (if Stellarium is set up properly under Options>Equipment>Planetarium). Keep in mind, site location (lat/ long) is not time zone.

I am not 100% sure, but I believe that NINA gets UTC, not local, time from computer time (unless it is synchronized from your mount). Time zone does not matter, UTC does - as does site location (lat/long). However, if your computer time zone or Daylight savings setting is not correct, the local time readout in NINA will be off.

Jim -

NINA is off again, the DSO transit, set and rise times are correct, but the moon and sun times are off. Here's what I am doing:

1. I am in San Francisco, local time and date are correct on Windows, which automatically adjusts for DST.
2. I have Stellarium's latitude and longitude set to the dark sky place in New Mexico where my imaging scope will be.
3. NINA has successfully imported Stellarium's latitude and longitude coordinates.

What I don't see in NINA is a way to tell it what time it is in New Mexico. I don't want to set Windows to New Mexico time, but I did set Stellarium to New Mexico time. But the rise and set times of sun and moon are still wrong.

I'm working "theoretically" as I don't yet have my mount and scope set up yet. I am practicing and learning but I stll can't see a setting in Nina to change the date/time. I can change geographic coordinates, but not date/time. Hmm...

Rui Horta Lourenço

Apr 26, 2024

Hi Jerry.
The best way to help you is to tel us why you need Stellarium to work with NINA?

Jim Thommes

Apr 27, 2024

Jerry Gerber:

NINA is off again, the DSO transit, set and rise times are correct, but the moon and sun times are off. Here's what I am doing:

1. I am in San Francisco, local time and date are correct on Windows, which automatically adjusts for DST.
2. I have Stellarium's latitude and longitude set to the dark sky place in New Mexico where my imaging scope will be.
3. NINA has successfully imported Stellarium's latitude and longitude coordinates.

What I don't see in NINA is a way to tell it what time it is in New Mexico. I don't want to set Windows to New Mexico time, but I did set Stellarium to New Mexico time. But the rise and set times of sun and moon are still wrong.

I'm working "theoretically" as I don't yet have my mount and scope set up yet. I am practicing and learning but I stll can't see a setting in Nina to change the date/time. I can change geographic coordinates, but not date/time. Hmm...

Jerry,
I can't duplicate results what you describe above (1, 2, 3). My results are that DSO's are one hour earlier on NINA; Moon rise/set are about 1hr 4 min earlier

You cannot set time in NINA!! NINA time comes from your PC.

If I set NINA and Stellarium to my local location and time, everything works OK. I have also noticed that for Stellarium if you set a location and close, then reopen, the location returns to the default location - you have to watch for this. As far as I can tell, NINA and Stellarium need to be in sync for location; Stellarium and the PC need to be in sync for time to function properly.

I believe if you set Stellarium to New Mexico time and Lat/Long, Stellarium will give you local time in New Mexico for DSI and moon rise / set. NINA will give you local time in San Fran time (even though you set NINA Lat/Long to the same as that of Stellarium - New Mexico Location). That means that in NINA you will get moon rise and set for that New Mexico location IN SAN FRAN LOCAL TIME.

To prove this theory, leave NINA and Stellarium at the New Mexico location; Stellarium at New Mexico Time; and set your PC at New Mexico time. Right click your 'time' in the task bar, select 'Adjust time and date' , turn off 'set time automatically', then set your time manually. Then see if moon rise/set mostly agree (allowing for slight differences due to you manually setting time in the PC

To restore your PC time, reverse the process and perform a 'sync now' (this is how it works for Windows 11.)

Anyway, I guess I don't see how you are getting the results you are getting. But if you set PC, Stellarium, and NINA consistently you should get some consistency.

Jim -