Glossary
If you have difficulties with the terms used in the application, you should find their explanation in this glossary.
Age (Moon)
Section titled “Age (Moon)”The time that has elapsed since the last new moon.
Altitude
Section titled “Altitude”The height of an object (or a location on the Earth’s surface) above sea level. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Aperture
Section titled “Aperture”The adjustable aperture in a camera controls the amount of light that will reach the film or digital sensor. The size of such an opening is called the f-stop, it is written f/5.6. The smaller the aperture, the larger the diaphragm. Learn more about Wikipedia.
Aperture (critical for depth of field)
Section titled “Aperture (critical for depth of field)”It gives the best basis for the image with optimal diffraction, but the sharpness range will be the smallest.
Aperture (optimal for depth of field)
Section titled “Aperture (optimal for depth of field)”It gives an image with the greatest range of sharpness.
Aperture (beneficial for depth of field)
Section titled “Aperture (beneficial for depth of field)”It gives an image with just a blur but we will have a limited diffraction for the eyes.
Astronomical Twilight
Section titled “Astronomical Twilight”Astronomical twilight (morning and evening) is the time when the center of the sun is between 12° and 18° below the horizon (-12º,-18º). From the end of astronomical twilight in the evening to the beginning of astronomical twilight in the morning, the sky is dark enough for all astronomical observations. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Azimuth
Section titled “Azimuth”The angle between a celestial body (sun, moon, …), measured clockwise around the observer’s horizon and the North. It determines the direction of the celestial body. So a celestial body due North has an azimuth of 0°, one due East 90°, South 180° and West 270°. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Blue Hour
Section titled “Blue Hour”Period of twilight without daylight or in complete darkness during which the light takes on an intense blue color. The moment is considered special because of the quality of the light. The blue hour of the morning and the evening corresponds to a position of the center of the sun between 4 and 6 ° below the horizon (-4 °, -6 °). Learn more about Wikipedia.
Civil Twilight
Section titled “Civil Twilight”Morning civil twilight begins when the center of the sun is 6º below the horizon (-6º) and ends at sunrise. Evening civil twilight begins at sunset and ends when the center of the sun reaches 6° below the horizon (-6º). Learn more on Wikipedia.
Compass
Section titled “Compass”Instrument for determining directions (azimuth), as by means of a freely rotating magnetized needle that indicates magnetic north. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Crop Factor
Section titled “Crop Factor”The ratio of the sensor format relative to a 35 mm frame. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Circle of Confusion (CoC)
Section titled “Circle of Confusion (CoC)”It is the largest on-film/sensor circle that you can see as a well defined point on an 8’‘×10’’ print when viewed at from a “normal” viewing distance of 2 to 3 feet. Anything larger is seen as a small circle, not a point and is therefore perceived as out of focus. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Clip Length (Time lapse)
Section titled “Clip Length (Time lapse)”The desired length of the video clip that portrays the event.
Day length
Section titled “Day length”The number of daylight hours per day. Refers to the time measured from the moment the upper limb of the sun’s disk appears above the horizon during sunrise to the moment when the upper limb disappears below the horizon during sunset. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Depth of Field (DoF)
Section titled “Depth of Field (DoF)”It corresponds to the area of acceptable sharpness in front of and behind the subject to which the lens is focused on. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Near Limit
Section titled “Near Limit”Distance from where acceptable focus starts, when you focus at a given distance.
Far Limit
Section titled “Far Limit”The distance where acceptable focus ends, when you focus at a given distance.
In Front
Section titled “In Front”Distance between the DoF Near Limit and the focus plane.
Behind
Section titled “Behind”Distance between the focus plane and the DoF Far Limit.
Declination
Section titled “Declination”The vertical angular distance between the center of a celestial body and the celestial equator. A declination of +20° means that the celestial body is located 20° north of the celestial equator. The south polar cap is at a declination of –90°, the equator is at declination 0°, and the north polar cap is at a declination of +90°. Declination is to a celestial globe as latitude is to a terrestrial globe, a vertical positioning of an object. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Elevation
Section titled “Elevation”The vertical angular distance between a celestial body (sun, moon, …) and the observer’s local horizon. For visible objects it is an angle between 0 degrees to 90 degrees. For example, the elevation of the sun is the angle between the direction of the geometric center of the sun’s apparent disk and the observer’s (idealized) horizon. We say sun is at elevation 12º when it is situated at 12º above our ideal horizon. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Exposure
Section titled “Exposure”The amount of light allowed to fall on each area unit of a photographic medium (photographic film or image sensor) during the process of taking a photograph. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Exposure Value (EV)
Section titled “Exposure Value (EV)”A number representing equivalent shutter speeds and lens apertures combinations for the same exposure, given a scene brightness. At ISO 100, 0 represents (f/1.0 at 1 sec); 1 = (f/1.4 at 1 sec) or (f/1.0 at 1/2 sec); 2 = (f/2.0 at 1 sec) or (f/1.4 at 1/2 sec) or (f/1.0 at 1/4 sec) and so on. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Exposure value at ISO 100.
Event Duration (Time lapse)
Section titled “Event Duration (Time lapse)”Total time of the event for which you want to create a time lapse video.
First Quarter (Moon)
Section titled “First Quarter (Moon)”This phase occurs when one-half of the moon is illuminated by direct sunlight. The illuminated part will continue to increase. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Full Moon
Section titled “Full Moon”This phase occurs when the visible moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight. At the full moon, the sun and moon are in opposition. Learn more on Wikipedia.
f-number or f-stop
Section titled “f-number or f-stop”International sequence of numbers, expressing relative aperture, i.e. lens focal length divided by effective aperture diameter. Each change of f-setting halves or doubles image brightness. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Film speed
Section titled “Film speed”The measure of a photographic film’s sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Focal Length
Section titled “Focal Length”The distance (in mm) from the optical center of the lens to the focal plane. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Field of View (FoV)
Section titled “Field of View (FoV)”In photography, the field of view is that part of the world that is visible through the camera at a particular position and orientation in space; objects outside the FoV when the picture is taken are not recorded in the photograph.
Field of view is expressed in linear measurements (meters, mm; feet, inches) for a given working distance. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Frames Per Second (fps)
Section titled “Frames Per Second (fps)”The number of frames per second in your video. For example, if you have selected 25 fps you will need 25 photographs to generate one second of video. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Galactic center
Section titled “Galactic center”The Galactic Center is the rotational center of the Milky Way. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a time system originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. For example, GMT-4 means that Standard Time is 4 hours behind of Greenwich Mean Time. New York City uses GMT-4 as its Time Zone. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Golden Hour
Section titled “Golden Hour”The time of day when the sun is low in the sky, producing a soft, diffused light which is much more flattering than the harsh midday sun. This type of light produces less contrast, reducing the chances of losing parts of your subject in strong shadows or blown-out highlights. The warm glow adds a pleasing feel to the scene, and the long shadows help to pick out details, adding texture and depth to the image. The golden hour of the morning and the evening corresponds to a position of the center of the sun is between 6° above the horizon and 4 ° below the horizon (6 °, -4 °). Learn more on Wikipedia.
Horizon
Section titled “Horizon”The apparent line that separates earth from sky. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Hyperfocal Distance
Section titled “Hyperfocal Distance”The closest distance at which a lens can be focused while keeping objects at infinity acceptably sharp. When the lens is focused at this distance, all objects at distances from half of the hyperfocal distance out to infinity will be acceptably sharp. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Near Limit
Section titled “Near Limit”It is situated at half the hyperfocal distance. If we focus at the hyperfocal distance, we’ll get sharpness from the Hyperfocal Near Limit to infinity.
The abbreviation of International Organization for Standardization. It is a scale to measure Film speed. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Image Size (Time lapse)
Section titled “Image Size (Time lapse)”The size in Megabytes (MB) of an image file.
Last Quarter (Moon)
Section titled “Last Quarter (Moon)”This phase occurs when one-half of the moon appears illuminated by direct sunlight. The illuminated part is decreasing. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Latitude
Section titled “Latitude”A geographic angular coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the Earth’s surface, from the equator. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Longitude
Section titled “Longitude”A geographic angular coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth’s surface, from the prime meridian at Greenwich, England. Learn more on Wikipedia.
The only natural satellite of the Earth. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Moon phases
Section titled “Moon phases”New moon, Waxing Crescent , First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter and Waning Crescent. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Moonrise
Section titled “Moonrise”The instant at which the upper edge of the moon appears on the horizon. Moonrise occurs before the moon actually reaches the horizon because the moon’s image is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere.
Moonset
Section titled “Moonset”The instant at which the upper edge of the moon disappears bellow the horizon. Moonset occurs after the upper edge of the Moon actually reaches the horizon because the moon’s image is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere.
Milky Way
Section titled “Milky Way”The spiral galaxy containing our solar system. Visible from the Earth as a broad band of faint light in the night sky. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Minimum Subject Distance
Section titled “Minimum Subject Distance”It is the minimum distance between you and the subject you want to fit in the frame. It varies with camera sensor, focal length, object dimensions and camera orientation.
New Moon
Section titled “New Moon”This phase occurs when the moon lies between the sun and the Earth. The side facing the sun is sunlit, while the side facing the Earth is not lit by the sun. This alignment leaves the moon dark and invisible to us. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Nautical Twilight
Section titled “Nautical Twilight”Nautical twilight, both morning and evening, is the time when the center of the sun is between 6° and 12° below the horizon (-6º,-12º). In general, nautical twilight ends when navigation via the horizon at sea is no longer possible. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Number of Photos (Time lapse)
Section titled “Number of Photos (Time lapse)”Number of photos we need to take during the event to create a time-lapse video.
Reflectance (Lightmeter)
Section titled “Reflectance (Lightmeter)”The reflectance of a surface is defined as the ratio of light reflected from a surface to the light incident upon the surface. The reflectance of a surface can be easily interpreted as the percent of incident light reflected by the surface (e.g. Reflectance of fresh snow ~ 90%; Reflectance of asphalt ~ 10%).
Shadow Ratio
Section titled “Shadow Ratio”The ratio of an object’s height to its shadow length. Multiply the height of any object by the shadow ratio to calculate the length of the object’s shadow.
The star at the center of the Solar System. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Sunrise
Section titled “Sunrise”The instant at which the upper edge of the sun appears on the horizon in the morning. In fact, sunrise occurs before the sun actually reaches the horizon because the sun’s image is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Sunset
Section titled “Sunset”The instant at which the upper edge of the sun disappears below the horizon in the evening. Sunset occurs after the upper edge of the sun reaches the horizon because the sun’s image is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Star Trail
Section titled “Star Trail”When you take a picture of stars in the night sky with a long exposure using a camera on a fixed mount, there is a trail of stars. This line of light corresponds to the change of positions of the stars on the photographic medium caused by the rotation of the Earth during the period when the shutter of the camera is held open. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Shutter Speed or Exposure Time
Section titled “Shutter Speed or Exposure Time”The effective length of time a camera’s shutter is open. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Subject Distance
Section titled “Subject Distance”The distance between the lens of a camera and a subject being photographed.
Shooting Interval (Time lapse)
Section titled “Shooting Interval (Time lapse)”Time between two consecutive shots or frames during the Event. A longer interval will result in a shorter, faster running video.
Teleconverter
Section titled “Teleconverter”A secondary lens which is mounted between the camera and a photographic lens. Its job is to enlarge the central part of an image obtained by the objective lens. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Total Memory Usage (Time lapse)
Section titled “Total Memory Usage (Time lapse)”It helps you estimate the size or number of memory cards you will need to save all the photos of your time-lapse video.
Time lapse
Section titled “Time lapse”Technique whereby the frequency at which film frames are captured (the frame rate) is much lower than that used to view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. For example, an image of a scene may be captured once every second, then played back at 30 frames per second. The result is an apparent 30-times speed increase. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Waxing Crescent
Section titled “Waxing Crescent”This phase occurs when the visible moon is partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. The illuminated part is increasing. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Waxing Gibbous
Section titled “Waxing Gibbous”This phase occurs when the moon is more than one-half but not fully illuminated by direct sunlight. The illuminated part is increasing. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Waning Gibbous
Section titled “Waning Gibbous”This phase occurs when the moon is partly but more than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. The illuminated part is decreasing. Learn more on Wikipedia.
Waning Crescent
Section titled “Waning Crescent”This phase occurs when the moon is partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing. Learn more on Wikipedia.