The following plain text commands are understood. These can be typed into the Text tab or spoken using the Talk tab (Android version only). See also these Notes.
HELLO
Responds with a greeting.
STATUS
Reports general observatory status.
WEATHER
Reports the current weather conditions at the observatory.
FORECAST
Reports the current weather forecast at the observatory.
IS it DARK
IS it BRIGHT
Where IS the SUN
Reports the day/night status.
Request an Image
- REQUEST - request an image of an object with the default observation settings (prompts for object name)
- REQUEST object name NOW - request an image of 'object name' in one step (with the default observation settings)
- REQUEST WITH EXPOSURE - request an image of an object and prompt for the exposure time (exposure time can be in seconds or minutes)
- REQUEST WITH FILTER - request an image of an object and prompt for the filter
- REQUEST WITH EXPOSURE AND FILTER - request an image of an object and prompt for the exposure time and filter used
- TAKE a PICTURE or TAKE an IMAGE can be used in place of REQUEST
Delete a Request
- DELETE - delete a request from the queue (prompts for ID)
- DELETE ID XXXX - delete request ID XXXX from the queue
- DELETE XXXX - delete request ID XXXX from the queue
- DELETE ID XXXX NOW - delete request ID XXXX from the queue without confirmation
- DELETE XXXX NOW - delete request ID XXXX from the queue without confirmation
Edit a Request
- EDIT - edit an observation (prompts for ID and parameters to edit)
- EDIT ID XXXX - edit observation ID XXXX (prompts for parameters to edit)
- EDIT XXXX - edit observation ID XXXX (prompts for parameters to edit)
- EDIT parameter_name - edit "parameter_name" of an observation (prompts for ID)
- EDIT parameter_name for ID XXXX - edit "parameter_name" of observation ID XXXX
- EDIT parameter_name1 and parameter_name2 for ID XXXX - edit two parameters of observation ID XXXX
Use HELP to get help at any point or CANCEL to cancel the edit.
LOOKUP
Look up an object and determine if it can be observed or not (prompts for object name).
- extra words are usually ok, preferred actually, as it helps Google understand the key words
- in the commands listed above, the upper case words are the keywords that are looked for
- common object names are handled smartly - eg. Messier converted to M, etc.
- in confirmations, the YES answer can be: YES, YEP, YUP, Y, YEAH, CONFIRM, or AFFIRMATIVE