Warning, /education/kstars/doc/config.docbook is written in an unsupported language. File is not indexed.
0001 <chapter id="config"> 0002 <title>Configuring &kstars;</title> 0003 0004 <sect1 id="setgeo"> 0005 <title>Setting the Geographic Location</title> 0006 0007 <para> 0008 Here is a screenshot of the <guilabel>Set Geographic Location</guilabel> 0009 window: 0010 <screenshot> 0011 <screeninfo>Changing the Geographic Location</screeninfo> 0012 <mediaobject> 0013 <imageobject> 0014 <imagedata fileref="geolocator.png" format="PNG"/> 0015 </imageobject> 0016 <textobject> 0017 <phrase>Set Location Window</phrase> 0018 </textobject> 0019 </mediaobject> 0020 </screenshot> 0021 </para> 0022 0023 <para> 0024 There is a list of over 3400 predefined cities available to choose from. 0025 You set your location by highlighting a city from this list. Each 0026 city is represented in the world map as a small dot, and when a city 0027 is highlighted in the list, a red crosshairs appears on its location 0028 in the map. 0029 </para> 0030 0031 <para> 0032 <indexterm><primary>Geographic Location Tool</primary> 0033 <secondary>Filtering</secondary></indexterm> 0034 It is not practical to scroll through the full list of 3400 locations, 0035 looking for a specific city. To make searches easier, the list can be 0036 filtered by entering text in the boxes below the map. For example, in 0037 the screenshot, the text <userinput>A</userinput> appears in the 0038 <guilabel>City filter:</guilabel> box, while <userinput>Te</userinput> has been 0039 entered in the <guilabel>Province filter:</guilabel> box, and 0040 <userinput>USA</userinput> is in the <guilabel>Country filter:</guilabel> 0041 box. Note that all of the cities displayed in the list have city, 0042 province, and country names that begin with the entered filter 0043 strings, and that the message below the filter boxes indicates that 6 0044 cities are matched by the filters. Also notice that the dots 0045 representing these six cities in the map have been colored white, 0046 while the unmatched cities remain gray. 0047 </para><para> 0048 The list can also be filtered by location in the map. Clicking anywhere 0049 in the world map will show only those cities within two degrees of the 0050 clicked location. At this time, you can search by name, or by location, 0051 but not both at once. In other words, when you click on the map, the 0052 name filters are ignored, and vice versa. 0053 </para><para> 0054 <indexterm><primary>Geographic Location Tool</primary> 0055 <secondary>Custom locations</secondary></indexterm> 0056 The <link linkend="ai-geocoords">longitude, latitude</link> and 0057 <link linkend="ai-timezones">time zone</link> information for the 0058 currently-selected location are displayed in the boxes at the bottom of 0059 the window. If you feel that any of these values are inaccurate, you 0060 can modify them and press the <guibutton>+</guibutton> (Add City) button 0061 to record your custom version of the location. You can also define a 0062 completely new location by pressing the 0063 <guibutton>Clear Fields</guibutton> button, and entering the data for 0064 the new location. Note that all fields except the optional 0065 <guilabel>Province:</guilabel>/<guilabel>Country:</guilabel> must be filled before the new 0066 location can be added to the list. &kstars; will automatically load 0067 your custom locations for all future sessions. Please note, at this 0068 point, the only way to remove a custom location is to remove the 0069 appropriate line from the file <filename>kstars/mycities.dat</filename> 0070 in your folder <userinput><command>qtpaths</command> <option>--paths GenericDataLocation</option></userinput> . 0071 </para><para> 0072 If you add custom locations (or modify existing ones), please send us 0073 your <filename>mycities.dat</filename> file so that we can add your 0074 locations to the master list. 0075 </para> 0076 </sect1> 0077 0078 <sect1 id="settime"> 0079 <title>Setting the Time</title> 0080 <para> 0081 <indexterm><primary>Date and Time</primary> 0082 <secondary>The simulation clock</secondary></indexterm> 0083 When &kstars; starts up, the time is set to your computer's system 0084 clock, and the &kstars; clock is running to keep up with the real time. 0085 If you want to stop the clock, select the <menuchoice><guimenu>Time</guimenu> 0086 <guimenuitem>Stop Clock</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item, or simply 0087 click on the <guiicon>Stop Clock</guiicon> icon in the toolbar. You can 0088 make the clock run slower or faster than normal, or even make it run 0089 backward, using the time-step spinbox in the toolbar. This spinbox 0090 has two sets of up/down buttons. The first one will step through all 0091 83 available time steps, one by one. The second one will skip to the 0092 next higher (or lower) unit of time, which allows you to make large 0093 timestep changes more quickly. 0094 </para> 0095 <para> 0096 <indexterm><primary>Date and Time</primary> 0097 <secondary>Setting</secondary></indexterm> 0098 You can set the time and date by selecting the <menuchoice><guimenu>Time</guimenu> 0099 <guimenuitem>Set Time...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item, or by 0100 pressing the <guiicon>Time</guiicon> icon in the toolbar. The 0101 <guilabel>Set Time</guilabel> window uses a standard &kde; Date Picker 0102 widget, coupled with a spinbox for setting the hours and minutes. 0103 If you want to re-synchronize the simulation clock back to the 0104 current CPU time, just select the <menuchoice><guimenu>Time</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Set 0105 Time to Now</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item.</para> 0106 0107 <note><para> 0108 <indexterm><primary>Date and Time</primary> 0109 <secondary>Extended range of dates</secondary></indexterm> 0110 &kstars; can accept very remote dates beyond the usual limits imposed by 0111 QDate. Currently, you can set the date between the years -100000 and +100000. 0112 We may extend this range even further in future releases. However, please 0113 be aware that the accuracy of the simulation becomes more and more degraded 0114 as more remote dates are examined. This is especially true for the positions 0115 of solar system bodies. 0116 </para></note> 0117 </sect1> 0118 0119 <sect1 id="viewops"> 0120 <title>The Configure &kstars; Window</title> 0121 <para> 0122 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary></indexterm> 0123 The <guilabel>Configure - &kstars;</guilabel> window allows you to modify 0124 a wide range of display options. You can access the window with the 0125 <guiicon>Configure</guiicon> toolbar icon, or by selecting the 0126 <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Configure 0127 &kstars;...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item. 0128 The window is depicted below: 0129 0130 <screenshot> 0131 <screeninfo>Configure - &kstars; Window</screeninfo> 0132 <mediaobject> 0133 <imageobject> 0134 <imagedata fileref="viewops.png" format="PNG"/> 0135 </imageobject> 0136 <textobject> 0137 <phrase>Configure - &kstars; Window</phrase> 0138 </textobject> 0139 </mediaobject> 0140 </screenshot> 0141 </para> 0142 0143 <para> 0144 The <guilabel>Configure - &kstars;</guilabel> window is divided into twelve pages: 0145 <guilabel>Catalogs</guilabel>, <guilabel>Solar System</guilabel>, <guilabel>Satellites</guilabel>, 0146 <guilabel>Supernovae</guilabel>, <guilabel>Guides</guilabel>, <guilabel>Terrain</guilabel>, <guilabel>Colors</guilabel>, <guilabel>FITS</guilabel>, 0147 <guilabel>INDI</guilabel>, <guilabel>Ekos</guilabel>, <guilabel>Xplanet</guilabel> and <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel>. 0148 </para> 0149 0150 <!-- Catalogs page: --> 0151 <para> 0152 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0153 <secondary>Catalogs page</secondary></indexterm> In 0154 the <guilabel>Catalogs</guilabel> page, you determine several 0155 properties concerning the display of the star and deep sky object catalogs. 0156 </para> 0157 0158 <!-- Solar System page: --> 0159 <para> 0160 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0161 <secondary>Solar System page</secondary></indexterm> 0162 In the <guilabel>Solar System</guilabel> page, you can specify whether 0163 the Sun, Moon, planets, comets and asteroids are displayed. 0164 </para> 0165 0166 <!-- Satellites page: --> 0167 <para> 0168 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0169 <secondary>Satellites page</secondary></indexterm> 0170 The <guilabel>Satellites</guilabel> page allows you to set the satellites view options. 0171 </para> 0172 0173 <!-- Supernovae page: --> 0174 <para> 0175 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0176 <secondary>Supernovae page</secondary></indexterm> 0177 The <guilabel>Supernovae</guilabel> page allows you to manage how supernovae are displayed by &kstars;. 0178 </para> 0179 0180 <!-- Guides page: --> 0181 <para> 0182 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0183 <secondary>Guides page</secondary></indexterm> 0184 The <guilabel>Guides</guilabel> page lets you toggle whether non-objects 0185 are displayed (&ie;, constellation lines, constellation names, the 0186 Milky Way contour). 0187 </para> 0188 0189 <variablelist> 0190 <varlistentry> 0191 <term></term><listitem><para><indexterm><primary>Sky culture</primary></indexterm> 0192 It is possible to choose a <guilabel>Sky culture:</guilabel> for the constellation lines and names on this page. The current version of &kstars; includes data for more than a dozen sky cultures. 0193 </para></listitem> 0194 </varlistentry> 0195 </variablelist> 0196 0197 <!-- Terrain page: --> 0198 <para> 0199 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0200 <secondary>Terrain page</secondary></indexterm> 0201 <indexterm><primary>Terrain image</primary> 0202 <secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm> 0203 The <guilabel>Terrain</guilabel> page allows you to set the terrain or landscape image 0204 and configure its speedup options. 0205 </para> 0206 0207 <!-- Colors page: --> 0208 <para> 0209 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0210 <secondary>Colors page</secondary></indexterm> 0211 <indexterm><primary>Color Schemes</primary> 0212 <secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm> 0213 The <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> page allows you to set the color scheme, 0214 and to define new custom color schemes. 0215 </para> 0216 0217 <!-- FITS page: --> 0218 <para>For detailed explanation of the options on the <guilabel>FITS</guilabel> 0219 page see the <link linkend="fits-configure">Configure FITS</link> section. 0220 </para> 0221 0222 <!-- INDI page: --> 0223 <para>For detailed explanation of the options on the <guilabel>INDI</guilabel> 0224 page see the <link linkend="indi-configure">Configure INDI</link> section. 0225 </para> 0226 0227 <!-- Ekos page: --> 0228 <para>For detailed explanation of <guilabel>Ekos</guilabel> astrophotography suite, 0229 see the <link linkend="tool-ekos">Ekos section of this manual</link>. 0230 </para> 0231 0232 <!-- Xplanet page: --> 0233 <para> 0234 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0235 <secondary>Xplanet page</secondary></indexterm> 0236 The <guilabel>Xplanet</guilabel> page provides fine-grained control 0237 over <ulink url="http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/">Solar system planet surface renderer Xplanet</ulink> (should be installed separately). 0238 </para> 0239 0240 <!-- Advanced page: --> 0241 <para> 0242 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0243 <secondary>Advanced page</secondary></indexterm> 0244 The <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel> page provides fine-grained control 0245 over the more subtle behaviors of &kstars;. 0246 </para> 0247 </sect1> 0248 0249 <sect1 id="catalogs"> 0250 <title>Catalogs</title> 0251 <para> 0252 <indexterm><primary>Catalogs</primary></indexterm> 0253 <screenshot> 0254 <screeninfo>Catalogs Window</screeninfo> 0255 <mediaobject> 0256 <imageobject> 0257 <imagedata fileref="viewops.png" format="PNG"/> 0258 </imageobject> 0259 <textobject> 0260 <phrase>Catalogs Window</phrase> 0261 </textobject> 0262 </mediaobject> 0263 </screenshot> 0264 </para> 0265 0266 <para> 0267 <indexterm><primary>Catalogs page</primary> 0268 <secondary>Short overview</secondary></indexterm> In the 0269 <guilabel>Catalogs</guilabel> page, you can configure which object 0270 catalogs are displayed by &kstars;, as well as how much information 0271 you would like to be included on the Sky Map. By default, &kstars; 0272 includes ~300,000 named and unnamed stars up to magnitude 8. For Deep 0273 Sky Objects, the included catalog is the New General Catalog 0274 (<quote>NGC</quote>) including the Index Catalog (<quote>IC</quote>) 0275 and the Messier Catalog. 0276 </para> 0277 0278 <para> 0279 The New General Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars 0280 (abbreviated as NGC) is a catalog of ca 7,840 deep-sky objects. 0281 </para> 0282 0283 <para> 0284 The Index Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (abbreviated as 0285 IC) serves as a supplement to the NGC, and contains an additional 0286 5,386 objects, collectively known as the IC objects. 0287 </para> 0288 0289 <para> 0290 You can install new catalogs using &kstars; <quote>Add-On Installer</quote>. You can open it 0291 via the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Download New Data...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item. 0292 You can choose from a list of catalogs, including (but not limited to): 0293 <itemizedlist> 0294 0295 <listitem><para> 0296 Steinicke NGC/IC Catalog: is a more complete NGC/IC catalog. 0297 </para></listitem> 0298 0299 <listitem><para> 0300 Abell Planetary Nebulae Catalog: is a catalog of 86 planetary nebulae. The 0301 maximum magnitude is represented by Abell 47's value of 19.5. 0302 </para></listitem> 0303 0304 <listitem><para> 0305 Sharpless HII region Catalog: is the Sharpless (Sh2) catalog of HII regions (diffuse nebulae). 0306 </para></listitem> 0307 0308 <listitem><para> 0309 Hickson Compact Groups: is a catalog consisting of 99 compact groups of galaxies. 0310 </para></listitem> 0311 0312 <listitem><para> 0313 Tycho-2 Star Catalog: is a catalog of more than 2.5 million of the brightest stars. It contains 0314 stars with a magnitude value from 8.0 to 12.5. 0315 </para></listitem> 0316 0317 <listitem><para> 0318 USNO NOMAD Catalog: is a catalog of about 100 million stars with magnitude from 12.5 to 16.5. 0319 Note that is requires Tycho-2 to be installed. 0320 </para></listitem> 0321 0322 </itemizedlist> 0323 </para> 0324 0325 <para> 0326 The following is a summary of catalogs in &kstars;: 0327 0328 <table frame="top"><title>Stars Catalogs</title> 0329 <tgroup cols="4" colsep="1" rowsep="1"> 0330 <thead> 0331 <row> 0332 <entry>Name</entry> 0333 <entry>Abbreviation</entry> 0334 <entry>Number of objects</entry> 0335 <entry>Magnitude</entry> 0336 <entry>Add-On</entry> 0337 <entry>Default</entry> 0338 </row> 0339 </thead> 0340 <tbody> 0341 <row> 0342 <entry>Default Catalog</entry> 0343 <entry>Default</entry> 0344 <entry>~300,000</entry> 0345 <entry>Up to 8 magnitude</entry> 0346 <entry>No</entry> 0347 <entry>Yes</entry> 0348 </row> 0349 <row> 0350 <entry>Tycho-2</entry> 0351 <entry>Tycho2</entry> 0352 <entry>more than 2.5 million</entry> 0353 <entry>8.0-12.5 </entry> 0354 <entry>Yes</entry> 0355 <entry>No</entry> 0356 </row> 0357 <row> 0358 <entry>Naval Observatory Merged Astronomic Dataset</entry> 0359 <entry>USNO NOMAD</entry> 0360 <entry>100 million</entry> 0361 <entry>12.5-16.5</entry> 0362 <entry>Yes</entry> 0363 <entry>No</entry> 0364 </row> 0365 </tbody> 0366 </tgroup> 0367 </table> 0368 0369 <table frame="top"><title>Deep-sky objects Catalogs</title> 0370 <tgroup cols="4" colsep="1" rowsep="1"> 0371 <thead> 0372 <row> 0373 <entry>Name</entry> 0374 <entry>Abbreviation</entry> 0375 <entry>Number of objects</entry> 0376 <entry>Magnitude</entry> 0377 <entry>Add-On</entry> 0378 <entry>Default</entry> 0379 </row> 0380 </thead> 0381 <tbody> 0382 <row> 0383 <entry>New General Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (OpenNGC)</entry> 0384 <entry>NGC</entry> 0385 <entry>7,840</entry> 0386 <entry>-</entry> 0387 <entry>No</entry> 0388 <entry>Yes</entry> 0389 </row> 0390 <row> 0391 0392 <entry>Steinicke NGC/IC</entry> 0393 <entry>-</entry> 0394 <entry>-</entry> 0395 <entry>-</entry> 0396 <entry>Yes</entry> 0397 <entry>No</entry> 0398 </row> 0399 0400 <row> 0401 <entry>Abell Planetary Nebulae Catalog</entry> 0402 <entry>-</entry> 0403 <entry>86</entry> 0404 <entry>Up to 19.5 magnitude</entry> 0405 <entry>Yes</entry> 0406 <entry>No</entry> 0407 </row> 0408 0409 <row> 0410 <entry>Sharpless HII region Catalog</entry> 0411 <entry>Sh2</entry> 0412 <entry>-</entry> 0413 <entry>-</entry> 0414 <entry>Yes</entry> 0415 <entry>No</entry> 0416 </row> 0417 0418 <row> 0419 <entry>Hickson Compact Groups</entry> 0420 <entry>-</entry> 0421 <entry>99</entry> 0422 <entry>-</entry> 0423 <entry>Yes</entry> 0424 <entry>No</entry> 0425 </row> 0426 0427 </tbody> 0428 </tgroup> 0429 </table> 0430 <note> 0431 <para>A potentially more up-to-date listing can be found in 0432 the <ulink url="https://protagon.space/catalogs/pages/catalogs.html">catalog 0433 repository documentation</ulink>. 0434 </para> 0435 </note> 0436 </para> 0437 0438 <para> 0439 <indexterm><primary>Catalogs</primary> 0440 <secondary>Star catalogs</secondary></indexterm> 0441 The <guilabel>Stars</guilabel> section allows you to manage how stars are 0442 displayed in &kstars;. You can choose to see the stars or not by checking the 0443 <guilabel>Star catalogs</guilabel> checkbox. If you check it, then multiple 0444 options will be enabled. Thus, you can set how many stars are drawn on the map 0445 using the <guilabel>Star density:</guilabel> slider. You can also customize 0446 &kstars; to toggle star name and <link linkend="ai-magnitude">magnitudes</link>. 0447 Star names are drawn next to bright stars. To display labels of fainter stars, 0448 increase the <guilabel>Label density:</guilabel> slider. 0449 </para> 0450 0451 <para> 0452 <indexterm><primary>Catalogs</primary> 0453 <secondary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</secondary></indexterm> 0454 Below the stars section, the <guilabel>Deep-Sky Objects</guilabel> section controls 0455 the display of several non-stellar object catalogs. You can toggle the display of 0456 Deep Sky Objects and control the display of their names and magnitudes. By default, 0457 the list of deep-sky objects includes the Messier, NGC and IC catalogs. 0458 Addons catalogs are available via the 0459 <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Download New Data...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> 0460 menu item where you can download catalogs provided by &kstars; team and the community through 0461 the <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs">catalog 0462 packaging repository</ulink>. The <guilabel>DSO minimal zoom:</guilabel> 0463 slider controls the minimal zoom level for which the 0464 DSOs are shown. Increasing the minimal zoom level can lead to 0465 performance improvements when panning the skymap zoomed-out. 0466 The <guilabel>DSO cache percentage:</guilabel> slider regulates how 0467 much of the DSO master catalog is being kept in memory. If you 0468 experience memory issues with large catalogs, try lowering the 0469 percentage. The <guilabel>Label density:</guilabel> slider controls 0470 the perceived density of labels for the DSOs. If labels start to 0471 overlap and the skymap begins to look too crowded, try tuning this 0472 option. The <guilabel>Faint limit zoomed in/out:</guilabel> regulates up to which 0473 magnitude objects are shown on the skymap (higher magnitude is 0474 fainter). If <guilabel>Show objects of unknown magnitude</guilabel> is 0475 ticked, objects of unknown magnitude are always shown. 0476 </para> 0477 <para>The following sections will detail how DSO catalogs work in 0478 &kstars; and how they're managed.</para> 0479 0480 <sect2 id="catalog_general"> 0481 <title>The DSO Catalog Database</title> 0482 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary> 0483 <secondary>Database</secondary></indexterm> 0484 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary> 0485 <secondary>Database System</secondary></indexterm> 0486 <note> 0487 <para> 0488 This section aims at introducing the catalog database of &kstars; in 0489 simple but technical terms. It can be skipped without missing anything 0490 essential but helps understanding how to deal with and create (custom) 0491 catalogs. 0492 </para> 0493 </note> 0494 <para> 0495 DSO catalogs in &kstars; are just SQL (sqlite3) database tables. Each 0496 catalog is represented by its own table which contains all its objects 0497 and an entry in a catalog metadata table. Additionally, catalogs may be 0498 imported or exported from and into stand-alone database files. 0499 </para> 0500 0501 <para> 0502 Each object has the usual properties like name and coordinates but 0503 additionally features two IDs. The first ID is the unique identifier 0504 for the specific object and is calculated by hashing all the object fields 0505 along with the catalog id. Because objects can be contained in several 0506 catalogs each object has an additional object id (OID) that identifies 0507 the physical object and may be shared by several objects of different 0508 catalogs. 0509 </para> 0510 0511 <para> 0512 To speed up object lookup all enabled catalogs are merged into a 0513 master table. Each catalog has a priority number and if several 0514 objects with the same OID occur the one from the catalog with the 0515 highest priority is loaded. The objects from the master catalog are 0516 then drawn on the sky and generally available in &kstars;. 0517 </para> 0518 0519 <para> 0520 Currently, deduplication (the assignment of OIDs) is only supported by 0521 the tooling of 0522 the <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs">catalog 0523 packaging repository</ulink>. The aim of this tool-chain is to 0524 reproducibly build catalogs in a homogeneous environment. Every 0525 catalog is 0526 implemented <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs/-/blob/master/catalogs/sharpless_2.py"> 0527 as a python module</ulink> and provides standard methods to acquire 0528 data, parse it and find duplicates in other catalogs. All 0529 downloadable catalogs are implemented this way. If you'd like to make 0530 a catalog of your own available for &kstars;, it is recommended that you 0531 implement it as a package in the repository. The tooling provided 0532 there is so flexible, that it should work for you. For more 0533 information on how to do that see 0534 the <ulink url="https://protagon.space/catalogs/">catalog repository 0535 documentation</ulink>. If you are not familiar with python programming 0536 you can request the addition of a catalog by opening a ticket in the 0537 repository or 0538 contacting <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs/-/project_members">the 0539 maintainers</ulink>. &kstars; provides also provides means to create 0540 custom catalogs by manually entering data or importing CSV tables, but 0541 those are less flexible and offer no deduplication. 0542 </para> 0543 </sect2> 0544 <sect2 id="catalog_gui"> 0545 <title>The Catalog Management &GUI;</title> 0546 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary> 0547 <secondary>GUI</secondary></indexterm> 0548 <para> 0549 The catalog management &GUI; is reached via the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> 0550 <guimenuitem>Manage DSO Catalogs...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item and is displayed 0551 <link linkend="dso_manager">below</link>. 0552 0553 <screenshot> 0554 <screeninfo>DSO Manager</screeninfo> 0555 <mediaobject id="dso_manager"> 0556 <imageobject> 0557 <imagedata fileref="dso_manager.png" format="PNG"/> 0558 </imageobject> 0559 <textobject> 0560 <phrase>The DSO catalog management interface.</phrase> 0561 </textobject> 0562 <caption>The DSO catalog management interface.</caption> 0563 </mediaobject> 0564 </screenshot> 0565 </para> 0566 <para> 0567 On the left, a list of catalogs is displayed. In this list, you can 0568 read off key catalog properties, including whether a catalog is 0569 enabled, what its ID is and what its name 0570 is. The <guilabel>Mutable</guilabel> column signifies whether the catalog 0571 can be edited or not. Catalogs which have been downloaded from the 0572 catalog repository via the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> 0573 <guimenuitem>Download New Data...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item are 0574 usually immutable whereas user-created catalogs aren't. You can 0575 always <guilabel>Clone</guilabel> a catalog to make it mutable. 0576 </para> 0577 <para> 0578 The buttons in the upper right corner allow you to add catalogs to the 0579 database. 0580 </para> 0581 <variablelist> 0582 <varlistentry id="import"> 0583 <term><guibutton>Import Catalog...</guibutton></term> 0584 <listitem> 0585 <para>Import a catalog in the <literal role="extension">.kscat</literal> format 0586 from a file.</para> 0587 <para>This is usually done to try out new versions of catalogs that 0588 haven't yet been picked up by the usual download server.</para> 0589 </listitem> 0590 </varlistentry> 0591 </variablelist> 0592 <para> 0593 With the buttons in the lower right corner, you can add, remove, modify 0594 and explore catalogs. Their actions always refer to the currently 0595 selected catalog (the highlighted row on the left). 0596 0597 <variablelist> 0598 <varlistentry> 0599 <term><guibutton>Create Catalog...</guibutton></term> 0600 <listitem> 0601 <para>Create a new catalog. See <xref linkend="create_catalog"/>. 0602 </para> 0603 </listitem> 0604 </varlistentry> 0605 0606 <varlistentry> 0607 <term><guibutton>Enable / Disable</guibutton></term> 0608 <listitem> 0609 <para>Enable or disable a catalog.</para> 0610 <para>This is reflected in the skymap upon closing the 0611 catalog management &GUI;.</para> 0612 </listitem> 0613 </varlistentry> 0614 0615 <varlistentry> 0616 <term><guibutton>Remove</guibutton></term> 0617 <listitem> 0618 <para>Remove a catalog from the catalog database.</para> 0619 <para>This is reflected in the skymap upon closing the 0620 catalog management &GUI;.</para> 0621 </listitem> 0622 </varlistentry> 0623 0624 <varlistentry> 0625 <term><guibutton>Export...</guibutton></term> 0626 <listitem> 0627 <para>Export a catalog into a <literal role="extension">.kscat</literal> file.</para> 0628 <para>The resulting file can be imported with 0629 <link linkend="import"><guibutton>Import Catalog...</guibutton></link> button. 0630 </para> 0631 </listitem> 0632 </varlistentry> 0633 0634 <varlistentry> 0635 <term><guibutton>Clone...</guibutton></term> 0636 <listitem> 0637 <para>Make an exact copy of the catalog and insert it into the database.</para> 0638 <para>This is useful if you wish to make modifications to an 0639 immutable catalog. 0640 <note><para>Note however that this is not the recommended way to 0641 alter catalogs that are provided by 0642 the <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs">catalog 0643 packaging repository</ulink> &ie; the catalogs downloaded via the 0644 <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu><guimenuitem>Download New 0645 Data...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item. 0646 </para> 0647 </note> 0648 </para> 0649 </listitem> 0650 </varlistentry> 0651 0652 <varlistentry> 0653 <term><guibutton>Colors</guibutton></term> 0654 <listitem> 0655 <para>Open the catalog color editor (See <xref linkend="catalog_colors"/>.). 0656 </para> 0657 <para>This will open a dialog which allows you to set the colors in 0658 which objects from the selected catalog will be displayed for each 0659 color scheme. 0660 </para> 0661 </listitem> 0662 </varlistentry> 0663 0664 <varlistentry> 0665 <term><guibutton>More...</guibutton></term> 0666 <listitem> 0667 <para>Open the catalog details dialog. (See <xref linkend="catalog_details"/>.) 0668 </para> 0669 <para>In there, you can see the contents of the catalog, as well as 0670 some more meta information. Amongst other things, you can also edit 0671 its contents (if it is mutable). 0672 </para> 0673 </listitem> 0674 </varlistentry> 0675 </variablelist> 0676 </para> 0677 </sect2> 0678 0679 <sect2 id="create_catalog"> 0680 <title>Creating a new Catalog</title> 0681 <screenshot> 0682 <screeninfo>Catalog creation dialog</screeninfo> 0683 <mediaobject> 0684 <imageobject> 0685 <imagedata fileref="create_catalog.png" format="PNG"/> 0686 </imageobject> 0687 <textobject> 0688 <phrase>Catalog creation dialog.</phrase> 0689 </textobject> 0690 </mediaobject> 0691 </screenshot> 0692 <para> 0693 This dialog reached through the catalog management &GUI; (see 0694 <xref linkend="catalog_gui"/>). The <guilabel>ID:</guilabel> 0695 field will be automatically chosen but can be 0696 changed. The <guilabel>Color:</guilabel> field configures in which 0697 color the objects of the catalog will be displayed. All the other 0698 values are optional or have sensible defaults. You can, of 0699 course, change these values at a later point. 0700 </para> 0701 0702 <para>Upon clicking <guilabel>Ok</guilabel> an empty catalog with the 0703 meta data entered into the dialog will be added to the database and 0704 can then be filled with 0705 objects. (See <xref linkend="catalog_details"/> and <xref linkend="csv_import"/>.) 0706 </para> 0707 </sect2> 0708 0709 <sect2 id="catalog_colors"> 0710 <title>Catalog Color Editor</title> 0711 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary> 0712 <secondary>Catalog Color Editor</secondary></indexterm> 0713 0714 <screenshot> 0715 <screeninfo>Catalog color editor</screeninfo> 0716 <mediaobject> 0717 <imageobject> 0718 <imagedata fileref="color_editor.png" format="PNG"/> 0719 </imageobject> 0720 <textobject> 0721 <phrase>The catalog color editor.</phrase> 0722 </textobject> 0723 </mediaobject> 0724 </screenshot> 0725 <para> 0726 This dialog reached through the catalog management &GUI; (see 0727 <xref linkend="catalog_gui"/>). Each button represents the color that 0728 objects will be drawn in for a specific color scheme. Clicking on a 0729 button will allow you to choose a color with a color picker. The 0730 button colors are initialized with the default colors from the catalog 0731 specification. The color "default" is the color which will be chosen 0732 for the catalog if there is no color set for a color scheme. 0733 </para> 0734 </sect2> 0735 0736 <sect2 id="catalog_details"> 0737 <title>Catalog Details Dialog</title> 0738 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary> 0739 <secondary>Catalog Details Dialog</secondary></indexterm> 0740 0741 <screenshot> 0742 <screeninfo>Catalog details dialog</screeninfo> 0743 <mediaobject> 0744 <imageobject> 0745 <imagedata fileref="catalog_details.png" format="PNG"/> 0746 </imageobject> 0747 <textobject> 0748 <phrase>The catalog details dialog.</phrase> 0749 </textobject> 0750 </mediaobject> 0751 </screenshot> 0752 <para> 0753 This dialog reached through the catalog management &GUI; (see 0754 <xref linkend="catalog_gui"/>). In the top left corner, the catalog 0755 metadata is being displayed. On the right, a table of all objects in 0756 the catalog is being shown. The search line above the table filters 0757 objects by name. Double-clicking a row opens the object details dialog 0758 (see <xref linkend="tool-details"/>). 0759 </para> 0760 <para> 0761 Selecting a row enables 0762 the <guilabel>Object</guilabel> menu on the left. 0763 Selecting multiple rows performs the single-object action for each 0764 selected object. 0765 0766 <variablelist> 0767 <varlistentry> 0768 <term><guibutton>Edit...</guibutton></term> 0769 <listitem> 0770 <para>Edit the catalog object. (See <xref linkend="add_object"/>). 0771 </para> 0772 </listitem> 0773 </varlistentry> 0774 0775 <varlistentry> 0776 <term><guibutton>Remove</guibutton></term> 0777 <listitem> 0778 <para>Removes the object from the catalog. 0779 </para> 0780 </listitem> 0781 </varlistentry> 0782 </variablelist> 0783 </para> 0784 0785 <para> 0786 Below the <guilabel>Object</guilabel> section, the general catalog 0787 options are situated. 0788 0789 <variablelist> 0790 <varlistentry> 0791 <term><menuchoice> 0792 <guimenu>Edit Catalog Meta...</guimenu> 0793 </menuchoice></term> 0794 <listitem> 0795 <para>Edit the catalog metadata displayed in the top left. This 0796 opens the dialog described in <xref linkend="create_catalog"/>. 0797 </para> 0798 </listitem> 0799 </varlistentry> 0800 0801 <varlistentry> 0802 <term><guibutton>Add Object...</guibutton></term> 0803 <listitem> 0804 <para>Add an object to the catalog. (See <xref linkend="add_object"/>.) 0805 </para> 0806 </listitem> 0807 </varlistentry> 0808 0809 <varlistentry> 0810 <term><guibutton>Import CSV...</guibutton></term> 0811 <listitem> 0812 <para>Import objects from a tabular text format (csv, tsv, 0813 &etc;) into the catalog. (See <xref linkend="csv_import"/>.) 0814 </para> 0815 </listitem> 0816 </varlistentry> 0817 </variablelist> 0818 </para> 0819 <sect3 id="add_object"> 0820 <title>Adding/Editing Objects</title> 0821 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary> 0822 <secondary>Adding/Editing Objects</secondary></indexterm> 0823 0824 <screenshot> 0825 <screeninfo>Add/Edit DSO Dialog</screeninfo> 0826 <mediaobject> 0827 <imageobject> 0828 <imagedata fileref="add_object.png" format="PNG"/> 0829 </imageobject> 0830 <textobject> 0831 <phrase>Add/Edit DSO Dialog</phrase> 0832 </textobject> 0833 </mediaobject> 0834 </screenshot> 0835 <para> 0836 This dialog allows to create or edit a deep sky object 0837 (DSO). The <guilabel>Basics</guilabel> section contains fields that 0838 have to be filled in. 0839 </para> 0840 0841 <variablelist> 0842 <varlistentry> 0843 <term><guilabel>Name:</guilabel></term> 0844 <listitem><para>The name of the object which will be displayed in the sky.</para></listitem> 0845 </varlistentry> 0846 0847 <varlistentry> 0848 <term><guilabel>Type:</guilabel></term> 0849 <listitem><para>The type of the object.</para></listitem> 0850 </varlistentry> 0851 0852 <varlistentry> 0853 <term><guilabel>RA / Dec (°, J2000):</guilabel></term> 0854 <listitem><para>The coordinates of the object in degrees and with respect to the J2000 epoch.</para></listitem> 0855 </varlistentry> 0856 0857 <varlistentry> 0858 <term><guilabel>Apparent magnitude:</guilabel></term> 0859 <listitem><para>The apparent magnitude of the object.</para></listitem> 0860 </varlistentry> 0861 </variablelist> 0862 0863 <para> 0864 The <guilabel>Optional</guilabel> section contains data fields that 0865 are optional, is divided into two subsections. They are set to and can be left at their defaults. 0866 </para> 0867 0868 <para> 0869 The <guilabel>Size Info in Arcminutes</guilabel> subsection. The object is modeled as an ellipse which is described by its major and minor axis. 0870 </para> 0871 0872 <para> 0873 The <guilabel>Misc</guilabel> subsection. 0874 </para> 0875 0876 <variablelist> 0877 <varlistentry> 0878 <term><guilabel>Long name:</guilabel></term> 0879 <listitem><para>A longer, more descriptive name.</para> 0880 <para>Usually, the long name is something like <quote>Andromeda Galaxy</quote> for the object M31. It can contain alternative designations and names in other catalogs as well.</para></listitem> 0881 </varlistentry> 0882 0883 <varlistentry> 0884 <term><guilabel>Catalog identifier:</guilabel></term> 0885 <listitem><para>A catalog internal identifier.</para> 0886 <para>For example the screenshot above, the object originates from the OpenNGC catalog where each row is identified by <quote>NGCXXXX</quote>.</para></listitem> 0887 </varlistentry> 0888 0889 <varlistentry> 0890 <term><guilabel>Flux:</guilabel></term> 0891 <listitem><para>The flux of the object. Only applies for radio sources.</para></listitem> 0892 </varlistentry> 0893 0894 <varlistentry> 0895 <term><guilabel>Position angle (°):</guilabel></term> 0896 <listitem><para>If the object is extended, it must have some orientation in the sky. The position angle is the angle between its major axis and a straight line to the north pole.</para></listitem> 0897 </varlistentry> 0898 </variablelist> 0899 0900 </sect3> 0901 <sect3 id="csv_import"> 0902 <title>Importing CSV (and similar formats)</title> 0903 <screenshot> 0904 <screeninfo>Importing CSV Catalogs</screeninfo> 0905 <mediaobject> 0906 <imageobject> 0907 <imagedata fileref="csv_import.png" format="PNG"/> 0908 </imageobject> 0909 <textobject> 0910 <phrase>Importing CSV Catalogs</phrase> 0911 </textobject> 0912 </mediaobject> 0913 </screenshot> 0914 <para>The screenshot above shows the CSV import dialog in its default 0915 state. In the <guilabel>Input</guilabel> section, you can 0916 configure the csv parser. The <guilabel>Comment prefix:</guilabel> is 0917 the character that signals commented-out lines in the 0918 input. The <guilabel>Separator:</guilabel> should be adjusted to fit 0919 your input. Usually, it is <quote>,</quote> or <quote>;</quote> but other separators can 0920 occur. Finally, you can choose to skip a number of lines at the 0921 beginning of the file. <guibutton>Select/Read</guibutton> button lets you 0922 choose a csv file to read with the above configuration. After that, 0923 the dialog will look as in the screenshot below. 0924 </para> 0925 <screenshot> 0926 <screeninfo>Importing CSV Catalogs, Populated</screeninfo> 0927 <mediaobject> 0928 <imageobject> 0929 <imagedata fileref="csv_import_populated.png" format="PNG"/> 0930 </imageobject> 0931 <textobject> 0932 <phrase>Importing CSV Catalogs</phrase> 0933 </textobject> 0934 </mediaobject> 0935 </screenshot> 0936 <para> 0937 In the top right you can choose whether coordinates are being 0938 expressed in degrees or 0939 hours/minutes/seconds. The <guilabel>Mapping</guilabel> section lets 0940 you map columns in the CSV file to data fields in 0941 &kstars;. Selecting <guilabel>Ignore</guilabel> assigns the default 0942 value for this field. Entering your own text will use this as the 0943 value for every object being read. The <guilabel>Type 0944 Mapping</guilabel> section maps strings to object types. You can add 0945 and remove mappings by clicking <guilabel>+</guilabel> 0946 or <guilabel>-</guilabel>. When you're done mapping, you can test 0947 your settings by clicking <guilabel>Preview</guilabel> to read the 0948 first few objects from the csv. If you are satisfied you can 0949 click <guilabel>OK</guilabel> to import the whole catalog or adjust 0950 your settings and preview again. As a reference, a mapping for the 0951 OpenNGC catalog is shown in the below screenshot. 0952 </para> 0953 <screenshot> 0954 <screeninfo>Importing CSV Catalogs, OpenNGC</screeninfo> 0955 <mediaobject> 0956 <imageobject> 0957 <imagedata fileref="csv_openngc.png" format="PNG"/> 0958 </imageobject> 0959 <textobject> 0960 <phrase>Importing CSV Catalogs</phrase> 0961 </textobject> 0962 </mediaobject> 0963 </screenshot> 0964 </sect3> 0965 </sect2> 0966 </sect1> 0967 0968 <sect1 id="solar_system"> 0969 <title>Solar System</title> 0970 <screenshot> 0971 <screeninfo>Solar System Window</screeninfo> 0972 <mediaobject> 0973 <imageobject> 0974 <imagedata fileref="solarsystem_page.png" format="PNG"/> 0975 </imageobject> 0976 <textobject> 0977 <phrase>Solar System Window</phrase> 0978 </textobject> 0979 </mediaobject> 0980 </screenshot> 0981 <para> 0982 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 0983 <secondary>Solar System page</secondary></indexterm> 0984 In the <guilabel>Solar System</guilabel> page, you can specify whether 0985 the Sun, Moon, planets, comets and asteroids are displayed, and 0986 whether the major bodies are drawn as colored circles or actual images. 0987 You can also toggle whether solar system bodies have name labels attached, 0988 and control how many of the comets and asteroids get name labels. 0989 There is an option to automatically attach a temporary <quote>orbit 0990 trail</quote> whenever a solar system body is tracked, and another to 0991 toggle whether the color of the orbit trail fades into the background 0992 sky color. 0993 </para> 0994 </sect1> 0995 0996 <sect1 id="satellites"> 0997 <title>Satellites</title> 0998 <screenshot> 0999 <screeninfo>Satellites Window</screeninfo> 1000 <mediaobject> 1001 <imageobject> 1002 <imagedata fileref="satellites_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1003 </imageobject> 1004 <textobject> 1005 <phrase>Satellites Window</phrase> 1006 </textobject> 1007 </mediaobject> 1008 </screenshot> 1009 <para> 1010 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 1011 <secondary>Satellites page</secondary></indexterm> 1012 The <guilabel>Satellites</guilabel> page allows you to set the satellites view options. Firstly, 1013 you can see or hide the satellites on the skymap using <guilabel>Show satellites</guilabel> checkbox 1014 from the top <guilabel>View Options</guilabel> section. By default, satellites are drawn as small 1015 light red filled circles with an optional dark red name label next to them. You can enable or disable 1016 these labels by checking or not the <guilabel>Show labels</guilabel> checkbox. It is located below 1017 the <guilabel>Show satellites</guilabel> checkbox, within the <guilabel>View Options</guilabel> section. 1018 </para> 1019 <para> 1020 The colors of the dots representing satellites and their name labels can be easily customized using 1021 the <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> page from the same <guilabel>Configure - &kstars;</guilabel> window. 1022 In addition, satellites can be drawn just like regular stars by checking the <guilabel>Draw satellites 1023 like stars</guilabel> checkbox. To display only the visible satellites from your current geographic location 1024 and time, select <guilabel>Show only visible satellites</guilabel>. 1025 </para> 1026 <para> 1027 &kstars; can draw artificial satellites from many predefined groups. Thus, you can select to display a particular 1028 group, multiple groups or partially select subgroups. Under each group, a list of individual satellites is 1029 presented. To select all satellites from a group, you need to check the group checkbox. You can also select 1030 only the satellites of interest in each group. 1031 The satellites orbital elements can be updated via the internet by pressing the <guibutton>Update TLEs</guibutton> 1032 button. Another way for updating the satellites orbital elements is to use the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> 1033 <guisubmenu>Updates</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>Update Satellites Orbital Elements</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu 1034 item. If you know the name of a desired satellite then you can use the search satellites method that &kstars; 1035 provides. You need to enter the name of satellite in the <guilabel>Search satellites</guilabel> text box and the 1036 list will be reduced only to its best matches. 1037 </para> 1038 <para> 1039 You can add new satellites to &kstars; default satellites set by editing the 1040 <filename>kstars/data/satellites.dat</filename> file. As each line of this file is a group of 1041 satellites, you need to add a new entry for your desired satellites group. 1042 An entry should have the following format: <userinput>Group Name;local_filename;url</userinput>. 1043 For example: <userinput>Iridium;iridium.tle;https://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/iridium.txt</userinput>. 1044 </para> 1045 </sect1> 1046 1047 <sect1 id="supernovae"> 1048 <title>Supernovae</title> 1049 <screenshot> 1050 <screeninfo>Supernovae Window</screeninfo> 1051 <mediaobject> 1052 <imageobject> 1053 <imagedata fileref="supernovae_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1054 </imageobject> 1055 <textobject> 1056 <phrase>Supernovae Window</phrase> 1057 </textobject> 1058 </mediaobject> 1059 </screenshot> 1060 <para> 1061 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 1062 <secondary>Supernovae page</secondary></indexterm> 1063 The <guilabel>Supernovae</guilabel> page allows you to decide if the supernovae are displayed or not by checking 1064 the <guilabel>Show supernovae</guilabel> checkbox. By default, supernovae are drawn as small light orange <quote>+</quote> mark. 1065 As for satellites, the color of supernovae can be easily customized using the <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> page. 1066 </para> 1067 <para> 1068 You can set the magnitude limit for showing a supernova as well as magnitude limit for supernova alerts using 1069 the spin boxes control. The limiting magnitude is the faintest apparent magnitude of an skyobject that is 1070 visible with the naked-eye or a telescope. 1071 </para> 1072 <para> 1073 The list of recent supernovae can be updated via the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> 1074 <guisubmenu>Updates</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>Update Recent Supernovae data</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item. 1075 </para> 1076 </sect1> 1077 1078 <sect1 id="guides"> 1079 <title>Guides</title> 1080 <screenshot> 1081 <screeninfo>Guides Window</screeninfo> 1082 <mediaobject> 1083 <imageobject> 1084 <imagedata fileref="guides_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1085 </imageobject> 1086 <textobject> 1087 <phrase>Guides Window</phrase> 1088 </textobject> 1089 </mediaobject> 1090 </screenshot> 1091 <para> 1092 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 1093 <secondary>Guides page</secondary></indexterm> 1094 The <guilabel>Guides</guilabel> page lets you toggle whether non-objects 1095 are displayed (&ie;, constellation lines, constellation names, the 1096 Milky Way contour, the <link linkend="ai-cequator">celestial 1097 equator</link>, <link linkend="ai-ecliptic">the ecliptic</link>, <link 1098 linkend="ai-horizon">the horizon line</link>, and the opaque ground). 1099 You can also choose a sky culture, whether you would like to see Latin constellation 1100 names, <acronym>IAU</acronym>-standard three-letter abbreviations, or 1101 constellation names using your local language. 1102 </para> 1103 </sect1> 1104 1105 <sect1 id="terrain"> 1106 <title>Terrain</title> 1107 <screenshot> 1108 <screeninfo>Terrain Window</screeninfo> 1109 <mediaobject> 1110 <imageobject> 1111 <imagedata fileref="terrain_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1112 </imageobject> 1113 <textobject> 1114 <phrase>Terrain Window</phrase> 1115 </textobject> 1116 </mediaobject> 1117 </screenshot> 1118 <para> 1119 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 1120 <secondary>Terrain page</secondary></indexterm> 1121 The <guilabel>Terrain</guilabel> page lets you configure whether the terrain (landscape) image will be shown on the skymap. 1122 </para> 1123 <para> 1124 The user is responsible for creating a partially-transparent image, that is overlayed onto the sky map. This image should have transparent regions that the user creates to let the skymap show through, and opaque regions representing the trees, buildings, the landscape around the telescope. There is a particular format required, and this is a significant effort. There are many resources on the web that explain how this is done for <ulink url="https://stellarium.org/landscapes.html">Stellarium</ulink>. The details of image creation are the same. 1125 </para> 1126 <para> 1127 Initially, the user captures a full sphere equirectangular projection image from approximately the same point-of-view as his/her telescope. This kind of image can be captured with the Google Camera App, or the Google YouTube App on iPhone, or likely many other camera apps. The user then needs to edit the resulting image so that the sky is erased/transparent, and save it as a PNG. Finally, the user needs to determine where North is in the image, so it can eventually be aligned with the skymap. Once all that is done, the sky map can simulate the local sky view including the local terrain. 1128 </para> 1129 <para> 1130 Once the image is created, it is possible to upload it via the <guilabel>Terrain</guilabel> page and configure the azimuth correction value (in degrees) that allows the user to rotate the view so north in the sky map is aligned with the north in the image. 1131 </para> 1132 <para> 1133 Moreover, some speedup options can be configured to achieve the best user experience when rendering the terrain on the sky map. 1134 </para> 1135 <tip> 1136 <para> 1137 You can toggle the terrain overlay on and off using a keyboard shortcut <keycombo>&Ctrl;&Shift;<keycap>T</keycap></keycombo> and the <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show Terrain</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item. 1138 </para> 1139 </tip> 1140 </sect1> 1141 1142 <sect1 id="colors"> 1143 <title>Colors</title> 1144 <screenshot> 1145 <screeninfo>Colors Window</screeninfo> 1146 <mediaobject> 1147 <imageobject> 1148 <imagedata fileref="colors_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1149 </imageobject> 1150 <textobject> 1151 <phrase>Colors Window</phrase> 1152 </textobject> 1153 </mediaobject> 1154 </screenshot> 1155 <para> 1156 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 1157 <secondary>Colors page</secondary></indexterm> 1158 <indexterm><primary>Color Schemes</primary> 1159 <secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm> 1160 The <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> page allows you to set the color scheme, 1161 and to define custom color schemes. The tab is split into two panels: 1162 </para> 1163 <para> 1164 The left panel shows a list of all display items with adjustable 1165 colors. Click on any item to bring up a color selection window to 1166 adjust its color. Below the list is the <guilabel>Star color 1167 mode:</guilabel> dropdown box. By default, &kstars; draws stars with 1168 a <link linkend="ai-colorandtemp">realistic color</link> tint according 1169 to the spectral type of the star. However, you may also choose to draw 1170 the stars as solid white, black or red circles. If you are using the 1171 realistic star colors, you can set the saturation level of the star 1172 colors with the <guilabel>Star color intensity:</guilabel> spinbox. 1173 </para> 1174 <para> 1175 The right panel lists the defined color schemes. There are four 1176 predefined schemes: the <guilabel>Default Colors</guilabel> scheme, 1177 <guilabel>Star Chart</guilabel>, which uses black stars on a white 1178 background, <guilabel>Night Vision</guilabel>, which uses only shades 1179 of red in order to protect dark-adapted vision, and <guilabel>Moonless 1180 Night</guilabel>, a more realistic, dark theme. Additionally, 1181 you can save the current color settings as a custom scheme by clicking 1182 the <guibutton>Save As...</guibutton> button. It will prompt 1183 you for a name for the new scheme, and then your scheme will appear in 1184 the list in all future &kstars; sessions. To remove a custom scheme, 1185 simply highlight it in the list, and press the <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> button. 1186 </para> 1187 </sect1> 1188 1189 <sect1 id="fits-configure"> 1190 <title>FITS</title> 1191 <screenshot> 1192 <screeninfo>FITS Window</screeninfo> 1193 <mediaobject> 1194 <imageobject> 1195 <imagedata fileref="fits_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1196 </imageobject> 1197 <textobject> 1198 <phrase>FITS Window</phrase> 1199 </textobject> 1200 </mediaobject> 1201 </screenshot> 1202 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 1203 <secondary>FITS page</secondary></indexterm> 1204 <para><abbrev>FITS</abbrev> (Flexible Image Transport System) is a popular open standard for storage, transmission and processing of digital data. For the details, one is referred to the <ulink url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FITS">corresponding Wikipedia article</ulink>. This page allows you to configure presentation and processing of FITS data in &kstars;. 1205 </para> 1206 <para> 1207 The left panel is for configuring FITS viewer itself. 1208 </para> 1209 <para> 1210 Check the <guilabel>Use FITS viewer</guilabel> item if you want automatically display received images in the FITS Viewer. 1211 </para> 1212 <para>The <guilabel>Single preview tab</guilabel> item is to display all captured FITS images in a single tab instead of multiple tabs 1213 per image. The <guilabel>Single window capture</guilabel> item is to display captured FITS images from all cameras in a single FITS Viewer window 1214 instead of a dedicated window to each camera. The <guilabel>Single window open</guilabel> item is to display opened FITS images in a single FITS Viewer window instead of a 1215 dedicated window to each file and the <guilabel>Independent window</guilabel> item is to make FITS Viewer window independent from &kstars;. 1216 </para> 1217 <para> 1218 The right panel lists processing options. The <guilabel>Auto stretch</guilabel> item is to always apply auto stretch to images in FITS Viewer, <guilabel>Limited resources mode</guilabel> is to enable limited resource mode to turn off any resource-intensive operations, namely: <guilabel>Auto debayer</guilabel> (bayered images will not be debayered; only grayscale images are shown), <guilabel>Auto WCS</guilabel> (World Coordinate System data 1219 will not be processed; WCS maps sky coordinates to image coordinates; 1220 equatorial grid lines, object identification, and telescope slew within an 1221 image are disabled), and <guilabel>3D cube</guilabel> (RGB images will not be 1222 processed; only grayscale images are shown). You can switch off some of these resource-greedy operations separately as well. 1223 </para> 1224 </sect1> 1225 1226 <sect1 id="indi_page"> 1227 <title>INDI</title> 1228 <screenshot> 1229 <screeninfo>INDI Window</screeninfo> 1230 <mediaobject> 1231 <imageobject> 1232 <imagedata fileref="indi_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1233 </imageobject> 1234 <textobject> 1235 <phrase>INDI Window</phrase> 1236 </textobject> 1237 </mediaobject> 1238 </screenshot> 1239 <para>For detailed explanation of the options on the <guilabel>INDI</guilabel> 1240 page see the <link linkend="indi-configure">Configure INDI</link> section. 1241 </para> 1242 </sect1> 1243 1244 <sect1 id="ekos"> 1245 <title>Ekos</title> 1246 <screenshot> 1247 <screeninfo>Ekos Window</screeninfo> 1248 <mediaobject> 1249 <imageobject> 1250 <imagedata fileref="ekos_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1251 </imageobject> 1252 <textobject> 1253 <phrase>Ekos Window</phrase> 1254 </textobject> 1255 </mediaobject> 1256 </screenshot> 1257 <para> 1258 Ekos is an astrophotography suite, a complete astrophotography solution that can control 1259 all INDI devices including numerous telescopes, CCDs, DSLRs, focusers, filters, and a lot more. 1260 Ekos supports highly accurate tracking using online and offline astrometry solver, autofocus 1261 and autoguiding capabilities, and capture of single or multiple images using the powerful 1262 built in sequence manager. For detailed explanation of <guilabel>Ekos</guilabel>, 1263 see the <link linkend="tool-ekos">Ekos section of this manual</link>. 1264 </para> 1265 </sect1> 1266 1267 <sect1 id="xplanet-configure"> 1268 <title>Xplanet</title> 1269 <screenshot> 1270 <screeninfo>Xplanet Window</screeninfo> 1271 <mediaobject> 1272 <imageobject> 1273 <imagedata fileref="xplanet_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1274 </imageobject> 1275 <textobject> 1276 <phrase>Xplanet Window</phrase> 1277 </textobject> 1278 </mediaobject> 1279 </screenshot> 1280 <para> 1281 <ulink url="http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/">Xplanet</ulink> (should be installed separately) is 1282 a solar system planet surface renderer. This page allows you to configure presentation and 1283 processing of <application>Xplanet</application> data in &kstars;. 1284 </para> 1285 </sect1> 1286 1287 <sect1 id="advanced"> 1288 <title>Advanced</title> 1289 <screenshot> 1290 <screeninfo>Advanced Window</screeninfo> 1291 <mediaobject> 1292 <imageobject> 1293 <imagedata fileref="advanced_page.png" format="PNG"/> 1294 </imageobject> 1295 <textobject> 1296 <phrase>Advanced Window</phrase> 1297 </textobject> 1298 </mediaobject> 1299 </screenshot> 1300 <para> 1301 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary> 1302 <secondary>Advanced page</secondary></indexterm> 1303 The <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel> page provides fine-grained control 1304 over the more subtle behaviors of &kstars;. 1305 </para><para> 1306 <indexterm><primary>Atmospheric Refraction</primary></indexterm> 1307 The <guilabel>Correct for atmospheric refraction</guilabel> checkbox 1308 controls whether the positions of objects are corrected for the effects 1309 of the atmosphere. Because the atmosphere is a spherical shell, light from 1310 outer space is <quote>bent</quote> as it passes through the atmosphere to 1311 our telescopes or eyes on the Earth's surface. The effect is largest for 1312 objects near the horizon, and actually changes the predicted rise or set 1313 times of objects by a few minutes. In fact, when you <quote>see</quote> a 1314 sunset, the Sun's actual position is already well below the horizon; 1315 atmospheric refraction makes it seem as if the Sun is still in the sky. 1316 Note that atmospheric refraction is never applied if you are using 1317 <guilabel>Equatorial coordinates</guilabel>. 1318 </para><para> 1319 <indexterm><primary>Animated Slewing</primary></indexterm> 1320 The <guilabel>Use animated slewing</guilabel> checkbox controls how the 1321 display changes when a new focus position is selected in the map. By 1322 default, you will see the sky drift or <quote>slew</quote> to the new 1323 position; if you uncheck this option, then the display will instead 1324 <quote>snap</quote> immediately to the new focus position. 1325 </para><para> 1326 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary> 1327 <secondary>Labeling</secondary> 1328 <tertiary>Automatic</tertiary> 1329 </indexterm> 1330 If the <guilabel>Attach label to centered object</guilabel> checkbox is 1331 selected, then a name label will automatically be attached to an object 1332 when it is being tracked by the program. The label will be removed when 1333 the object is no longer being tracked. Note that you can also manually 1334 attach a persistent name label to any object with its <link 1335 linkend="popup-menu">popup menu</link>. 1336 </para><para> 1337 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary> 1338 <secondary>Hiding</secondary></indexterm> 1339 There are three situations when &kstars; must redraw the sky display very 1340 rapidly: when a new focus position is selected (and <guilabel>Use 1341 animated slewing</guilabel> is checked), when the sky is dragged with the 1342 mouse, and when the time step is large. In these situations, the positions 1343 of all objects must be recomputed as rapidly as possible, which can put 1344 a large load on the <abbrev>CPU</abbrev>. If the <abbrev>CPU</abbrev> 1345 cannot keep up with the demand, then the display will seem sluggish or jerky. 1346 To mitigate this, &kstars; will hide certain objects during these rapid-redraw 1347 situations, as long as the <guilabel>Hide objects while moving</guilabel> 1348 checkbox is selected. The timestep threshold above which objects will be 1349 hidden is determined by the <guilabel>Also hide if time step larger 1350 than:</guilabel> timestep-spinbox. You can specify the objects that should 1351 be hidden in the <guilabel>Configure Hidden Objects</guilabel> section. 1352 </para> 1353 </sect1> 1354 1355 <sect1 id="customize"> 1356 <title>Customizing the Display</title> 1357 1358 <para> 1359 There are several ways to modify the display to your liking.</para> 1360 <itemizedlist> 1361 <listitem><para> 1362 <indexterm><primary>Info Boxes</primary><secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm> 1363 <indexterm><primary>Info Boxes</primary><secondary>Shading</secondary></indexterm> 1364 Toggle whether the Info Boxes are drawn in the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> 1365 <guisubmenu>Info Boxes</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu. In addition, you can 1366 manipulate the three Info Boxes with the mouse. Each box has additional lines of data 1367 that are hidden by default. You can toggle whether these additional lines are visible 1368 by double-clicking a box to <quote>shade</quote> it. Also, you can reposition a box by 1369 dragging it with the mouse. When a box hits a window edge, it will 1370 <quote>stick</quote> to the edge when the window is resized. 1371 </para></listitem> 1372 <listitem><para> 1373 <indexterm><primary>Toolbars</primary><secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm> 1374 Toggle whether the Toolbars are drawn in the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> 1375 <guisubmenu>Toolbars Shown</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu. Like most &kde; toolbars, 1376 they can also be dragged around and anchored on any window edge, or even detached from 1377 the window completely if they are unlocked. 1378 </para></listitem> 1379 <listitem><para> 1380 <indexterm><primary>Color Schemes</primary><secondary>Selecting</secondary></indexterm> 1381 Select a different color scheme in the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> 1382 <guisubmenu>Color Schemes</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu. There are four predefined 1383 color schemes, and you can define your own in the 1384 <link linkend="config"><guilabel>Configure - &kstars;</guilabel></link> window. 1385 </para></listitem> 1386 <listitem> 1387 <para> 1388 <indexterm><primary>Field-of-View Symbols</primary><secondary>Description</secondary></indexterm> 1389 Choose an <quote>FOV Symbol</quote> using the 1390 <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guisubmenu>FOV Symbols</guisubmenu></menuchoice> 1391 submenu. <firstterm>FOV</firstterm> is an acronym for <quote>field-of-view</quote>. 1392 An FOV symbol is drawn at the center of the window to indicate where the display 1393 is pointing. Different symbols have different angular sizes; you can use a symbol to show 1394 what the view through a particular telescope would look like. For example, if you choose 1395 the <quote>7x35 Binoculars</quote> FOV symbol, then a circle is drawn on the display that is 1396 9.2 degrees in diameter; this is the field-of-view for 7x35 binoculars. 1397 </para> 1398 <para> 1399 <indexterm><primary>Field-of-View Symbols</primary><secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm> 1400 You can define your own FOV symbols (or modify the existing symbols) using the 1401 <guimenuitem>Edit FOV Symbols...</guimenuitem> menu item, which launches the FOV Editor: 1402 </para> 1403 <screenshot> 1404 <screeninfo>Field-of-View Symbols Editor</screeninfo> 1405 <mediaobject> 1406 <imageobject> 1407 <imagedata fileref="fovdialog.png" format="PNG"/> 1408 </imageobject> 1409 <textobject> 1410 <phrase>FOV Symbol Editor</phrase> 1411 </textobject> 1412 </mediaobject> 1413 </screenshot> 1414 1415 <para> 1416 The list of defined FOV symbols is displayed on the left. On the right are buttons for 1417 adding a new symbol, editing the highlighted symbol's properties, and removing the 1418 highlighted symbol from the list. Note that you can even modify or remove the four 1419 predefined symbols (if you remove all symbols, the four defaults will be restored the 1420 next time you start &kstars;). Below these three buttons is a graphical preview display 1421 showing the highlighted symbol from the list. When the <guibutton>New...</guibutton> or 1422 <guibutton>Edit...</guibutton> button is pressed, the <guilabel>New FOV Indicator</guilabel> 1423 window is opened: 1424 </para> 1425 1426 <screenshot> 1427 <screeninfo>New Field-of-View Symbol</screeninfo> 1428 <mediaobject> 1429 <imageobject> 1430 <imagedata fileref="newfov.png" format="PNG"/> 1431 </imageobject> 1432 <textobject> 1433 <phrase>New FOV Symbol</phrase> 1434 </textobject> 1435 </mediaobject> 1436 </screenshot> 1437 1438 <para> 1439 <indexterm><primary>Field-of-View Symbols</primary><secondary>Defining New</secondary></indexterm> 1440 This window lets you modify the four properties that define a FOV symbol: name, size, 1441 shape, and color. The angular size for the symbol can either be entered directly in the 1442 <guilabel>Field of View</guilabel> edit box, or you can use the Eyepiece/Camera Tabs to 1443 calculate the field-of-view angle, given parameters of your telescope/eyepiece or 1444 telescope/camera setup. The five available shapes are: Square, Circle, Crosshairs, Bullseye and Semitransparent circle. 1445 Once you have specified all four parameters, press <guibutton>Ok</guibutton>, 1446 and the symbol will appear in the list of defined symbols. It will also be available 1447 from the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guisubmenu>FOV Symbols</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu. 1448 </para> 1449 </listitem> 1450 </itemizedlist> 1451 1452 </sect1> 1453 1454 &hips; 1455 1456 </chapter>