The simulator is the heart of Astro PM: it takes every active project on a rig and builds tonight’s minute-by-minute plan – which target, which filter, which exposure, in what order, from dusk to dawn. What you see here is exactly what NINA will execute.
Step 1: Strategy & Settings #
The settings row at the top controls how the schedule is built:
- Strategy – Proportional Time or Manual Priority (see Scheduling Strategies).
- Playback – how NINA follows the plan after delays (see Playback Modes).
- Scheduling priority – the drag-to-reorder sort chain used to break ties.
- Bonus images – keep shooting a finished target if time remains.
- Prefer finishing mosaic panels.
- Dither every N subs.
- Filter switch every N subs, with a tolerance guard.
- Enable Flats Sequence – end-of-night automated flats in NINA.
All of it is stored per imaging system and pushed to the cloud, so NINA builds its schedule with the same knobs.
Running a Simulation #
Pick the imaging system and date, and run. The engine allocates the night across projects and produces three synchronized views: the graph, the schedule log, and per-target allocation cards.
Reading the Graph #
The graph shows each target’s altitude arc with the scheduled time painted on it, color-coded by target. Twilight and moon events are marked. Drag the scrubber to any time of night to see what the rig will be doing at that moment.
The Schedule Log #
The log is the canonical schedule – every slew, filter change, exposure, and dither with its timestamp. It is exactly what NINA consumes, so if you want to know precisely what happens at 2:14 AM, the log is the answer.