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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>&nbsp;.
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 fourteen pages:
0145 <guilabel>Catalogs</guilabel>, <guilabel>Solar System</guilabel>, <guilabel>Satellites</guilabel>,
0146 <guilabel>Supernovae</guilabel>, <guilabel>Guides</guilabel>, <guilabel>Terrain</guilabel>,
0147 <guilabel>Image Overlays</guilabel>, <guilabel>Colors</guilabel>, <guilabel>FITS</guilabel>,
0148 <guilabel>INDI</guilabel>, <guilabel>Ekos</guilabel>, <guilabel>Xplanet</guilabel>,
0149 <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel> and <guilabel>Developer</guilabel>.
0150 </para>
0151 
0152 <!-- Catalogs page: -->
0153 <para>
0154 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0155 <secondary>Catalogs page</secondary></indexterm> In
0156 the <guilabel>Catalogs</guilabel> page, you determine several
0157 properties concerning the display of the star and deep sky object catalogs.
0158 </para>
0159 
0160 <!-- Solar System page: -->
0161 <para>
0162 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0163 <secondary>Solar System page</secondary></indexterm>
0164 In the <guilabel>Solar System</guilabel> page, you can specify whether
0165 the Sun, Moon, planets, comets and asteroids are displayed.
0166 </para>
0167 
0168 <!-- Satellites page: -->
0169 <para>
0170 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0171 <secondary>Satellites page</secondary></indexterm>
0172 The <guilabel>Satellites</guilabel> page allows you to set the satellites view options.
0173 </para>
0174 
0175 <!-- Supernovae page: -->
0176 <para>
0177 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0178 <secondary>Supernovae page</secondary></indexterm>
0179 The <guilabel>Supernovae</guilabel> page allows you to manage how supernovae are displayed by &kstars;.
0180 </para>
0181 
0182 <!-- Guides page: -->
0183 <para>
0184 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0185 <secondary>Guides page</secondary></indexterm>
0186 The <guilabel>Guides</guilabel> page lets you toggle whether non-objects
0187 are displayed (&ie;, constellation lines, constellation names, the
0188 Milky Way contour).
0189 </para>
0190 
0191 <variablelist>
0192   <varlistentry>
0193     <term></term><listitem><para><indexterm><primary>Sky culture</primary></indexterm>
0194     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.
0195     </para></listitem>
0196   </varlistentry>
0197 </variablelist>
0198 
0199 <!-- Terrain page: -->
0200 <para>
0201 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0202 <secondary>Terrain page</secondary></indexterm>
0203 <indexterm><primary>Terrain image</primary>
0204 <secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm>
0205 The <guilabel>Terrain</guilabel> page allows you to set the terrain or landscape image
0206 and configure its speedup options.
0207 </para>
0208 
0209 <!-- Image Overlays page: -->
0210 <para>
0211 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0212 <secondary>Image Overlays page</secondary></indexterm>
0213 <indexterm><primary>Image Overlays</primary>
0214 <secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm>
0215 The <guilabel>Image Overlays</guilabel> page allows you to add and manage your own images
0216 that will be displayed in the skymap.
0217 </para>
0218 
0219 <!-- Colors page: -->
0220 <para>
0221 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0222 <secondary>Colors page</secondary></indexterm>
0223 <indexterm><primary>Color Schemes</primary>
0224 <secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm>
0225 The <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> page allows you to set the color scheme,
0226 and to define new custom color schemes.
0227 </para>
0228 
0229 <!-- FITS page: -->
0230 <para>For detailed explanation of the options on the <guilabel>FITS</guilabel>
0231 page see the <link linkend="fits-configure">Configure FITS</link> section.
0232 </para>
0233 
0234 <!-- INDI page: -->
0235 <para>For detailed explanation of the options on the <guilabel>INDI</guilabel>
0236 page see the <link linkend="indi-configure">Configure INDI</link> section.
0237 </para>
0238 
0239 <!-- Ekos page: -->
0240 <para>For detailed explanation of <guilabel>Ekos</guilabel> astrophotography suite,
0241 see the <link linkend="ekos">Ekos section of this manual</link>.
0242 </para>
0243 
0244 <!-- Xplanet page: -->
0245 <para>
0246 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0247 <secondary>Xplanet page</secondary></indexterm>
0248 The <guilabel>Xplanet</guilabel> page provides fine-grained control
0249 over <ulink url="http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/">Solar system planet surface renderer Xplanet</ulink> (should be installed separately).
0250 </para>
0251 
0252 <!-- Advanced page: -->
0253 <para>
0254 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0255 <secondary>Advanced page</secondary></indexterm>
0256 The <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel> page provides fine-grained control
0257 over the more subtle behaviors of &kstars;.
0258 </para>
0259 
0260 <!-- Developer page: -->
0261 <para>
0262 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
0263 <secondary>Advanced page</secondary></indexterm>
0264 The <guilabel>Developer</guilabel> page allows you to enable or disable a few options mostly useful for developers or for folks looking to
0265 help debug issues. Currently these are enabling the saving of images during Ekos's autofocus, guiding and alignment.
0266 </para>
0267 </sect1>
0268 
0269 <sect1 id="catalogs">
0270 <title>Catalogs</title>
0271 <para>
0272   <indexterm><primary>Catalogs</primary></indexterm>
0273 <screenshot>
0274 <screeninfo>Catalogs Window</screeninfo>
0275 <mediaobject>
0276   <imageobject>
0277     <imagedata fileref="viewops.png" format="PNG"/>
0278   </imageobject>
0279   <textobject>
0280     <phrase>Catalogs Window</phrase>
0281   </textobject>
0282 </mediaobject>
0283 </screenshot>
0284 </para>
0285 
0286 <para>
0287 <indexterm><primary>Catalogs page</primary>
0288 <secondary>Short overview</secondary></indexterm> In the
0289 <guilabel>Catalogs</guilabel> page, you can configure which object
0290 catalogs are displayed by &kstars;, as well as how much information
0291 you would like to be included on the Sky Map. By default, &kstars;
0292 includes ~300,000 named and unnamed stars up to magnitude 8. For Deep
0293 Sky Objects, the included catalog is the New General Catalog
0294 (<quote>NGC</quote>) including the Index Catalog (<quote>IC</quote>)
0295 and the Messier Catalog.
0296 </para>
0297 
0298 <para>
0299 The New General Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars
0300 (abbreviated as NGC) is a catalog of ca 7,840 deep-sky objects.
0301 </para>
0302 
0303 <para>
0304 The Index Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (abbreviated as
0305 IC) serves as a supplement to the NGC, and contains an additional
0306 5,386 objects, collectively known as the IC objects.
0307 </para>
0308 
0309 <para>
0310 You can install new catalogs using &kstars; <quote>Add-On Installer</quote>. You can open it
0311 via the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Download New Data...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item.
0312 You can choose from a list of catalogs, including (but not limited to):
0313 <itemizedlist>
0314 
0315 <listitem><para>
0316 Steinicke NGC/IC Catalog: is a more complete NGC/IC catalog.
0317 </para></listitem>
0318 
0319 <listitem><para>
0320 Abell Planetary Nebulae Catalog: is a catalog of 86 planetary nebulae. The
0321 maximum magnitude is represented by Abell 47's value of 19.5.
0322 </para></listitem>
0323 
0324 <listitem><para>
0325 Sharpless HII region Catalog: is the Sharpless (Sh2) catalog of HII regions (diffuse nebulae).
0326 </para></listitem>
0327 
0328 <listitem><para>
0329 Hickson Compact Groups: is a catalog consisting of 99 compact groups of galaxies.
0330 </para></listitem>
0331 
0332 <listitem><para>
0333 Tycho-2 Star Catalog: is a catalog of more than 2.5 million of the brightest stars. It contains
0334 stars with a magnitude value from 8.0 to 12.5.
0335 </para></listitem>
0336 
0337 <listitem><para>
0338 USNO NOMAD Catalog: is a catalog of about 100 million stars with magnitude from 12.5 to 16.5.
0339 Note that is requires Tycho-2 to be installed.
0340 </para></listitem>
0341 
0342 </itemizedlist>
0343 </para>
0344 
0345 <para>
0346 The following is a summary of catalogs in &kstars;:
0347 
0348 <table frame="top"><title>Stars Catalogs</title>
0349 <tgroup cols="4" colsep="1" rowsep="1">
0350 <thead>
0351 <row>
0352 <entry>Name</entry>
0353 <entry>Abbreviation</entry>
0354 <entry>Number of objects</entry>
0355 <entry>Magnitude</entry>
0356 <entry>Add-On</entry>
0357 <entry>Default</entry>
0358 </row>
0359 </thead>
0360 <tbody>
0361 <row>
0362 <entry>Default Catalog</entry>
0363 <entry>Default</entry>
0364 <entry>~300,000</entry>
0365 <entry>Up to 8 magnitude</entry>
0366 <entry>No</entry>
0367 <entry>Yes</entry>
0368 </row>
0369 <row>
0370 <entry>Tycho-2</entry>
0371 <entry>Tycho2</entry>
0372 <entry>more than 2.5 million</entry>
0373 <entry>8.0-12.5 </entry>
0374 <entry>Yes</entry>
0375 <entry>No</entry>
0376 </row>
0377 <row>
0378 <entry>Naval Observatory Merged Astronomic Dataset</entry>
0379 <entry>USNO NOMAD</entry>
0380 <entry>100 million</entry>
0381 <entry>12.5-16.5</entry>
0382 <entry>Yes</entry>
0383 <entry>No</entry>
0384 </row>
0385 </tbody>
0386 </tgroup>
0387 </table>
0388 
0389 <table frame="top"><title>Deep-sky objects Catalogs</title>
0390 <tgroup cols="4" colsep="1" rowsep="1">
0391 <thead>
0392 <row>
0393 <entry>Name</entry>
0394 <entry>Abbreviation</entry>
0395 <entry>Number of objects</entry>
0396 <entry>Magnitude</entry>
0397 <entry>Add-On</entry>
0398 <entry>Default</entry>
0399 </row>
0400 </thead>
0401 <tbody>
0402 <row>
0403 <entry>New General Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (OpenNGC)</entry>
0404 <entry>NGC</entry>
0405 <entry>7,840</entry>
0406 <entry>-</entry>
0407 <entry>No</entry>
0408 <entry>Yes</entry>
0409 </row>
0410 <row>
0411 
0412 <entry>Steinicke NGC/IC</entry>
0413 <entry>-</entry>
0414 <entry>-</entry>
0415 <entry>-</entry>
0416 <entry>Yes</entry>
0417 <entry>No</entry>
0418 </row>
0419 
0420 <row>
0421 <entry>Abell Planetary Nebulae Catalog</entry>
0422 <entry>-</entry>
0423 <entry>86</entry>
0424 <entry>Up to 19.5 magnitude</entry>
0425 <entry>Yes</entry>
0426 <entry>No</entry>
0427 </row>
0428 
0429 <row>
0430 <entry>Sharpless HII region Catalog</entry>
0431 <entry>Sh2</entry>
0432 <entry>-</entry>
0433 <entry>-</entry>
0434 <entry>Yes</entry>
0435 <entry>No</entry>
0436 </row>
0437 
0438 <row>
0439 <entry>Hickson Compact Groups</entry>
0440 <entry>-</entry>
0441 <entry>99</entry>
0442 <entry>-</entry>
0443 <entry>Yes</entry>
0444 <entry>No</entry>
0445 </row>
0446 
0447 </tbody>
0448 </tgroup>
0449 </table>
0450 <note>
0451   <para>A potentially more up-to-date listing can be found in
0452     the <ulink url="https://protagon.space/catalogs/pages/catalogs.html">catalog
0453       repository documentation</ulink>.
0454   </para>
0455 </note>
0456 </para>
0457 
0458 <para>
0459 <indexterm><primary>Catalogs</primary>
0460 <secondary>Star catalogs</secondary></indexterm>
0461 The <guilabel>Stars</guilabel> section allows you to manage how stars are
0462 displayed in &kstars;. You can choose to see the stars or not by checking the
0463 <guilabel>Star catalogs</guilabel> checkbox. If you check it, then multiple
0464 options will be enabled. Thus, you can set how many stars are drawn on the map
0465 using the <guilabel>Star density:</guilabel> slider. You can also customize
0466 &kstars; to toggle star name and <link linkend="ai-magnitude">magnitudes</link>.
0467 Star names are drawn next to bright stars. To display labels of fainter stars,
0468 increase the <guilabel>Label density:</guilabel> slider.
0469 </para>
0470 
0471 <para>
0472 <indexterm><primary>Catalogs</primary>
0473 <secondary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</secondary></indexterm>
0474 Below the stars section, the <guilabel>Deep-Sky Objects</guilabel> section controls
0475 the display of several non-stellar object catalogs. You can toggle the display of
0476 Deep Sky Objects and control the display of their names and magnitudes. By default,
0477 the list of deep-sky objects includes the Messier, NGC and IC catalogs.
0478 Addons catalogs are available via the
0479 <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Download New Data...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
0480 menu item where you can download catalogs provided by &kstars; team and the community through
0481 the <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs">catalog
0482 packaging repository</ulink>. The <guilabel>DSO minimal zoom:</guilabel>
0483 slider controls the minimal zoom level for which the
0484 DSOs are shown. Increasing the minimal zoom level can lead to
0485 performance improvements when panning the skymap zoomed-out.
0486 The <guilabel>DSO cache percentage:</guilabel> slider regulates how
0487 much of the DSO master catalog is being kept in memory. If you
0488 experience memory issues with large catalogs, try lowering the
0489 percentage. The <guilabel>Label density:</guilabel> slider controls
0490 the perceived density of labels for the DSOs. If labels start to
0491 overlap and the skymap begins to look too crowded, try tuning this
0492 option. The <guilabel>Faint limit zoomed in/out:</guilabel> regulates up to which
0493 magnitude objects are shown on the skymap (higher magnitude is
0494 fainter). If <guilabel>Show objects of unknown magnitude</guilabel> is
0495 ticked, objects of unknown magnitude are always shown.
0496 </para>
0497 <para>The following sections will detail how DSO catalogs work in
0498 &kstars; and how they're managed.</para>
0499 
0500 <sect2 id="catalog_general">
0501 <title>The DSO Catalog Database</title>
0502 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary>
0503 <secondary>Database</secondary></indexterm>
0504 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary>
0505   <secondary>Database System</secondary></indexterm>
0506 <note>
0507   <para>
0508     This section aims at introducing the catalog database of &kstars; in
0509     simple but technical terms. It can be skipped without missing anything
0510     essential but helps understanding how to deal with and create (custom)
0511     catalogs.
0512   </para>
0513 </note>
0514 <para>
0515 DSO catalogs  in &kstars; are  just SQL (sqlite3) database  tables. Each
0516 catalog is represented by its own table which contains all its objects
0517 and an entry in a catalog  metadata table. Additionally, catalogs may be
0518 imported or exported from and into stand-alone database  files.
0519 </para>
0520 
0521 <para>
0522 Each object has the usual properties like name and coordinates but
0523 additionally features two IDs. The first ID is the unique identifier
0524 for the specific object and is calculated by hashing all the object fields
0525 along with the catalog id. Because objects can be contained in several
0526 catalogs each object has an additional object id (OID) that identifies
0527 the physical object and may be shared by several objects of different
0528 catalogs.
0529 </para>
0530 
0531 <para>
0532 To speed up object lookup all enabled catalogs are merged into a
0533 master table. Each catalog has a priority number and if several
0534 objects with the same OID occur the one from the catalog with the
0535 highest priority is loaded. The objects from the master catalog are
0536 then drawn on the sky and generally available in &kstars;.
0537 </para>
0538 
0539 <para>
0540 Currently, deduplication (the assignment of OIDs) is only supported by
0541 the tooling of
0542 the <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs">catalog
0543 packaging repository</ulink>. The aim of this tool-chain is to
0544 reproducibly build catalogs in a homogeneous environment. Every
0545 catalog is
0546 implemented <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs/-/blob/master/catalogs/sharpless_2.py">
0547 as a python module</ulink> and provides standard methods to acquire
0548 data, parse it and find duplicates in other catalogs. All
0549 downloadable catalogs are implemented this way. If you'd like to make
0550 a catalog of your own available for &kstars;, it is recommended that you
0551 implement it as a package in the repository. The tooling provided
0552 there is so flexible, that it should work for you. For more
0553 information on how to do that see
0554 the <ulink url="https://protagon.space/catalogs/">catalog repository
0555 documentation</ulink>. If you are not familiar with python programming
0556 you can request the addition of a catalog by opening a ticket in the
0557 repository or
0558 contacting <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs/-/project_members">the
0559 maintainers</ulink>. &kstars; provides also provides means to create
0560 custom catalogs by manually entering data or importing CSV tables, but
0561 those are less flexible and offer no deduplication.
0562 </para>
0563 </sect2>
0564 <sect2 id="catalog_gui">
0565 <title>The Catalog Management &GUI;</title>
0566 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary>
0567 <secondary>GUI</secondary></indexterm>
0568 <para>
0569 The catalog management &GUI; is reached via the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu>
0570 <guimenuitem>Manage DSO Catalogs...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item and is displayed
0571 <link linkend="dso_manager">below</link>.
0572 
0573 <screenshot>
0574 <screeninfo>DSO Manager</screeninfo>
0575 <mediaobject id="dso_manager">
0576   <imageobject>
0577     <imagedata fileref="dso_manager.png" format="PNG"/>
0578   </imageobject>
0579   <textobject>
0580     <phrase>The DSO catalog management interface.</phrase>
0581   </textobject>
0582   <caption>The DSO catalog management interface.</caption>
0583 </mediaobject>
0584 </screenshot>
0585 </para>
0586 <para>
0587 On the left, a list of catalogs is displayed. In this list, you can
0588 read off key catalog properties, including whether a catalog is
0589 enabled, what its ID is and what its name
0590 is. The <guilabel>Mutable</guilabel> column signifies whether the catalog
0591 can be edited or not. Catalogs which have been downloaded from the
0592 catalog repository via the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu>
0593 <guimenuitem>Download New Data...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item are
0594 usually immutable whereas user-created catalogs aren't. You can
0595 always <guilabel>Clone</guilabel> a catalog to make it mutable.
0596 </para>
0597 <para>
0598 The buttons in the upper right corner allow you to add catalogs to the
0599 database.
0600 </para>
0601 <variablelist>
0602 <varlistentry id="import">
0603 <term><guibutton>Import Catalog...</guibutton></term>
0604 <listitem>
0605   <para>Import a catalog in the <literal role="extension">.kscat</literal> format
0606   from a file.</para>
0607   <para>This is usually done to try out new versions of catalogs that
0608   haven't yet been picked up by the usual download server.</para>
0609 </listitem>
0610 </varlistentry>
0611 </variablelist>
0612 <para>
0613 With the buttons in the lower right corner, you can add, remove, modify
0614 and explore catalogs. Their actions always refer to the currently
0615 selected catalog (the highlighted row on the left).
0616 
0617 <variablelist>
0618 <varlistentry>
0619 <term><guibutton>Create Catalog...</guibutton></term>
0620 <listitem>
0621   <para>Create a new catalog. See <xref linkend="create_catalog"/>.
0622   </para>
0623 </listitem>
0624 </varlistentry>
0625 
0626 <varlistentry>
0627 <term><guibutton>Enable / Disable</guibutton></term>
0628 <listitem>
0629   <para>Enable or disable a catalog.</para>
0630   <para>This is reflected in the skymap upon closing the
0631     catalog management &GUI;.</para>
0632 </listitem>
0633 </varlistentry>
0634 
0635 <varlistentry>
0636 <term><guibutton>Remove</guibutton></term>
0637 <listitem>
0638   <para>Remove a catalog from the catalog database.</para>
0639   <para>This is reflected in the skymap upon closing the
0640     catalog management &GUI;.</para>
0641 </listitem>
0642 </varlistentry>
0643 
0644 <varlistentry>
0645 <term><guibutton>Export...</guibutton></term>
0646 <listitem>
0647   <para>Export a catalog into a <literal role="extension">.kscat</literal> file.</para>
0648   <para>The resulting file can be imported with 
0649   <link linkend="import"><guibutton>Import Catalog...</guibutton></link> button.
0650   </para>
0651 </listitem>
0652 </varlistentry>
0653 
0654 <varlistentry>
0655 <term><guibutton>Clone...</guibutton></term>
0656 <listitem>
0657   <para>Make an exact copy of the catalog and insert it into the database.</para>
0658   <para>This is useful if you wish to make modifications to an
0659   immutable catalog.
0660     <note><para>Note however that this is not the recommended way to
0661     alter catalogs that are provided by
0662     the <ulink url="https://invent.kde.org/vboettcher/kstars-catalogs">catalog
0663     packaging repository</ulink> &ie; the catalogs downloaded via the
0664     <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu><guimenuitem>Download New
0665     Data...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item.
0666     </para>
0667     </note>
0668   </para>
0669 </listitem>
0670 </varlistentry>
0671 
0672 <varlistentry>
0673 <term><guibutton>Colors</guibutton></term>
0674 <listitem>
0675   <para>Open the catalog color editor (See <xref linkend="catalog_colors"/>.).
0676   </para>
0677   <para>This will open a dialog which allows you to set the colors in
0678   which objects from the selected catalog will be displayed for each
0679   color scheme.
0680   </para>
0681 </listitem>
0682 </varlistentry>
0683 
0684 <varlistentry>
0685 <term><guibutton>More...</guibutton></term>
0686 <listitem>
0687   <para>Open the catalog details dialog. (See <xref linkend="catalog_details"/>.)
0688   </para>
0689   <para>In there, you can see the contents of the catalog, as well as
0690   some more meta information. Amongst other things, you can also edit
0691   its contents (if it is mutable).
0692   </para>
0693 </listitem>
0694 </varlistentry>
0695 </variablelist>
0696 </para>
0697 </sect2>
0698 
0699 <sect2 id="create_catalog">
0700 <title>Creating a new Catalog</title>
0701 <screenshot>
0702 <screeninfo>Catalog creation dialog</screeninfo>
0703 <mediaobject>
0704   <imageobject>
0705     <imagedata fileref="create_catalog.png" format="PNG"/>
0706   </imageobject>
0707   <textobject>
0708     <phrase>Catalog creation dialog.</phrase>
0709   </textobject>
0710 </mediaobject>
0711 </screenshot>
0712 <para>
0713 This dialog reached through the catalog management &GUI; (see
0714 <xref linkend="catalog_gui"/>). The <guilabel>ID:</guilabel>
0715 field will be automatically chosen but can be
0716 changed. The <guilabel>Color:</guilabel> field configures in which
0717 color the objects of the catalog will be displayed. All the other
0718 values are optional or have sensible defaults. You can, of
0719 course, change these values at a later point.
0720 </para>
0721 
0722 <para>Upon clicking <guilabel>Ok</guilabel> an empty catalog with the
0723   meta data entered into the dialog will be added to the database and
0724   can then be filled with
0725   objects. (See <xref linkend="catalog_details"/> and <xref linkend="csv_import"/>.)
0726 </para>
0727 </sect2>
0728 
0729 <sect2 id="catalog_colors">
0730 <title>Catalog Color Editor</title>
0731 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary>
0732   <secondary>Catalog Color Editor</secondary></indexterm>
0733 
0734 <screenshot>
0735 <screeninfo>Catalog color editor</screeninfo>
0736 <mediaobject>
0737   <imageobject>
0738     <imagedata fileref="color_editor.png" format="PNG"/>
0739   </imageobject>
0740   <textobject>
0741     <phrase>The catalog color editor.</phrase>
0742   </textobject>
0743 </mediaobject>
0744 </screenshot>
0745 <para>
0746 This dialog reached through the catalog management &GUI; (see
0747 <xref linkend="catalog_gui"/>). Each button represents the color that
0748 objects will be drawn in for a specific color scheme. Clicking on a
0749 button will allow you to choose a color with a color picker. The
0750 button colors are initialized with the default colors from the catalog
0751 specification. The color "default" is the color which will be chosen
0752 for the catalog if there is no color set for a color scheme.
0753 </para>
0754 </sect2>
0755 
0756 <sect2 id="catalog_details">
0757 <title>Catalog Details Dialog</title>
0758 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary>
0759   <secondary>Catalog Details Dialog</secondary></indexterm>
0760 
0761 <screenshot>
0762 <screeninfo>Catalog details dialog</screeninfo>
0763 <mediaobject>
0764   <imageobject>
0765     <imagedata fileref="catalog_details.png" format="PNG"/>
0766   </imageobject>
0767   <textobject>
0768     <phrase>The catalog details dialog.</phrase>
0769   </textobject>
0770 </mediaobject>
0771 </screenshot>
0772 <para>
0773 This dialog reached through the catalog management &GUI; (see
0774 <xref linkend="catalog_gui"/>). In the top left corner, the catalog
0775 metadata is being displayed. On the right, a table of all objects in
0776 the catalog is being shown. The search line above the table filters
0777 objects by name. Double-clicking a row opens the object details dialog
0778 (see <xref linkend="tool-details"/>).
0779 </para>
0780 <para>
0781 Selecting a row enables
0782 the <guilabel>Object</guilabel> menu on the left.
0783 Selecting multiple rows performs the single-object action for each
0784 selected object.
0785 
0786 <variablelist>
0787 <varlistentry>
0788 <term><guibutton>Edit...</guibutton></term>
0789 <listitem>
0790   <para>Edit the catalog object. (See <xref linkend="add_object"/>).
0791   </para>
0792 </listitem>
0793 </varlistentry>
0794 
0795 <varlistentry>
0796 <term><guibutton>Remove</guibutton></term>
0797 <listitem>
0798   <para>Removes the object from the catalog.
0799   </para>
0800 </listitem>
0801 </varlistentry>
0802 </variablelist>
0803 </para>
0804 
0805 <para>
0806   Below the <guilabel>Object</guilabel> section, the general catalog
0807   options are situated.
0808 
0809 <variablelist>
0810 <varlistentry>
0811     <term><menuchoice>
0812         <guimenu>Edit Catalog Meta...</guimenu>
0813     </menuchoice></term>
0814     <listitem>
0815       <para>Edit the catalog metadata displayed in the top left. This
0816         opens the dialog described in <xref linkend="create_catalog"/>.
0817       </para>
0818     </listitem>
0819   </varlistentry>
0820 
0821   <varlistentry>
0822     <term><guibutton>Add Object...</guibutton></term>
0823     <listitem>
0824       <para>Add an object to the catalog. (See <xref linkend="add_object"/>.)
0825       </para>
0826     </listitem>
0827   </varlistentry>
0828 
0829   <varlistentry>
0830     <term><guibutton>Import CSV...</guibutton></term>
0831     <listitem>
0832       <para>Import objects from a tabular text format (csv, tsv,
0833         &etc;) into the catalog. (See <xref linkend="csv_import"/>.)
0834       </para>
0835     </listitem>
0836   </varlistentry>
0837 </variablelist>
0838 </para>
0839 <sect3 id="add_object">
0840 <title>Adding/Editing Objects</title>
0841 <indexterm><primary>Deep-Sky Catalogs</primary>
0842   <secondary>Adding/Editing Objects</secondary></indexterm>
0843 
0844 <screenshot>
0845   <screeninfo>Add/Edit DSO Dialog</screeninfo>
0846   <mediaobject>
0847     <imageobject>
0848       <imagedata fileref="add_object.png" format="PNG"/>
0849     </imageobject>
0850     <textobject>
0851       <phrase>Add/Edit DSO Dialog</phrase>
0852     </textobject>
0853   </mediaobject>
0854 </screenshot>
0855 <para>
0856   This dialog allows to create or edit a deep sky object
0857   (DSO). The <guilabel>Basics</guilabel> section contains fields that
0858   have to be filled in.
0859 </para>
0860 
0861 <variablelist>
0862   <varlistentry>
0863     <term><guilabel>Name:</guilabel></term>
0864     <listitem><para>The name of the object which will be displayed in the sky.</para></listitem>
0865   </varlistentry>
0866 
0867   <varlistentry>
0868     <term><guilabel>Type:</guilabel></term>
0869     <listitem><para>The type of the object.</para></listitem>
0870   </varlistentry>
0871 
0872   <varlistentry>
0873     <term><guilabel>RA / Dec (°, J2000):</guilabel></term>
0874     <listitem><para>The coordinates of the object in degrees and with respect to the J2000 epoch.</para></listitem>
0875   </varlistentry>
0876 
0877   <varlistentry>
0878     <term><guilabel>Apparent magnitude:</guilabel></term>
0879     <listitem><para>The apparent magnitude of the object.</para></listitem>
0880   </varlistentry>
0881 </variablelist>
0882 
0883 <para>
0884   The <guilabel>Optional</guilabel> section contains data fields that
0885   are optional, is divided into two subsections. They are set to and can be left at their defaults.
0886 </para>
0887 
0888 <para>
0889   The <guilabel>Size Info in Arcminutes</guilabel> subsection. The object is modeled as an ellipse which is described by its major and minor axis.
0890 </para>
0891 
0892 <para>
0893   The <guilabel>Misc</guilabel> subsection.
0894 </para>
0895 
0896 <variablelist>
0897   <varlistentry>
0898     <term><guilabel>Long name:</guilabel></term>
0899     <listitem><para>A longer, more descriptive name.</para>
0900     <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>
0901   </varlistentry>
0902 
0903   <varlistentry>
0904     <term><guilabel>Catalog identifier:</guilabel></term>
0905     <listitem><para>A catalog internal identifier.</para>
0906     <para>For example the screenshot above, the object originates from the OpenNGC catalog where each row is identified by <quote>NGCXXXX</quote>.</para></listitem>
0907   </varlistentry>
0908 
0909   <varlistentry>
0910     <term><guilabel>Flux:</guilabel></term>
0911     <listitem><para>The flux of the object. Only applies for radio sources.</para></listitem>
0912   </varlistentry>
0913 
0914   <varlistentry>
0915     <term><guilabel>Position angle (°):</guilabel></term>
0916     <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>
0917   </varlistentry>
0918 </variablelist>
0919 
0920 </sect3>
0921 <sect3 id="csv_import">
0922 <title>Importing CSV (and similar formats)</title>
0923 <screenshot>
0924 <screeninfo>Importing CSV Catalogs</screeninfo>
0925 <mediaobject>
0926   <imageobject>
0927     <imagedata fileref="csv_import.png" format="PNG"/>
0928   </imageobject>
0929   <textobject>
0930     <phrase>Importing CSV Catalogs</phrase>
0931   </textobject>
0932 </mediaobject>
0933 </screenshot>
0934 <para>The screenshot above shows the CSV import dialog in its default
0935   state. In the <guilabel>Input</guilabel> section, you can
0936   configure the csv parser. The <guilabel>Comment prefix:</guilabel> is
0937   the character that signals commented-out lines in the
0938   input. The <guilabel>Separator:</guilabel> should be adjusted to fit
0939   your input. Usually, it is <quote>,</quote> or <quote>;</quote> but other separators can
0940   occur. Finally, you can choose to skip a number of lines at the
0941   beginning of the file. <guibutton>Select/Read</guibutton> button lets you
0942   choose a csv file to read with the above configuration. After that,
0943   the dialog will look as in the screenshot below.
0944 </para>
0945 <screenshot>
0946 <screeninfo>Importing CSV Catalogs, Populated</screeninfo>
0947 <mediaobject>
0948   <imageobject>
0949     <imagedata fileref="csv_import_populated.png" format="PNG"/>
0950   </imageobject>
0951   <textobject>
0952     <phrase>Importing CSV Catalogs</phrase>
0953   </textobject>
0954 </mediaobject>
0955 </screenshot>
0956 <para>
0957 In the top right you can choose whether coordinates are being
0958 expressed in degrees or
0959 hours/minutes/seconds. The <guilabel>Mapping</guilabel> section lets
0960 you map columns in the CSV file to data fields in
0961 &kstars;. Selecting <guilabel>Ignore</guilabel> assigns the default
0962 value for this field. Entering your own text will use this as the
0963 value for every object being read.  The <guilabel>Type
0964 Mapping</guilabel> section maps strings to object types. You can add
0965 and remove mappings by clicking <guilabel>+</guilabel>
0966 or <guilabel>-</guilabel>.  When you're done mapping, you can test
0967 your settings by clicking <guilabel>Preview</guilabel> to read the
0968 first few objects from the csv. If you are satisfied you can
0969 click <guilabel>OK</guilabel> to import the whole catalog or adjust
0970 your settings and preview again. As a reference, a mapping for the
0971 OpenNGC catalog is shown in the below screenshot.
0972 </para>
0973 <screenshot>
0974 <screeninfo>Importing CSV Catalogs, OpenNGC</screeninfo>
0975 <mediaobject>
0976   <imageobject>
0977     <imagedata fileref="csv_openngc.png" format="PNG"/>
0978   </imageobject>
0979   <textobject>
0980     <phrase>Importing CSV Catalogs</phrase>
0981   </textobject>
0982 </mediaobject>
0983 </screenshot>
0984 </sect3>
0985 </sect2>
0986 </sect1>
0987 
0988 <sect1 id="solar_system">
0989 <title>Solar System</title>
0990 <screenshot>
0991 <screeninfo>Solar System Window</screeninfo>
0992 <mediaobject>
0993   <imageobject>
0994     <imagedata fileref="solarsystem_page.png" format="PNG"/>
0995   </imageobject>
0996   <textobject>
0997     <phrase>Solar System Window</phrase>
0998   </textobject>
0999 </mediaobject>
1000 </screenshot>
1001 <para>
1002 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1003 <secondary>Solar System page</secondary></indexterm>
1004 In the <guilabel>Solar System</guilabel> page, you can specify whether
1005 the Sun, Moon, planets, comets and asteroids are displayed, and
1006 whether the major bodies are drawn as colored circles or actual images.
1007 You can also toggle whether solar system bodies have name labels attached,
1008 and control how many of the comets and asteroids get name labels.
1009 There is an option to automatically attach a temporary <quote>orbit
1010 trail</quote> whenever a solar system body is tracked, and another to
1011 toggle whether the color of the orbit trail fades into the background
1012 sky color.
1013 </para>
1014 </sect1>
1015 
1016 <sect1 id="satellites">
1017 <title>Satellites</title>
1018 <screenshot>
1019 <screeninfo>Satellites Window</screeninfo>
1020 <mediaobject>
1021   <imageobject>
1022     <imagedata fileref="satellites_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1023   </imageobject>
1024   <textobject>
1025     <phrase>Satellites Window</phrase>
1026   </textobject>
1027 </mediaobject>
1028 </screenshot>
1029 <para>
1030 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1031 <secondary>Satellites page</secondary></indexterm>
1032 The <guilabel>Satellites</guilabel> page allows you to set the satellites view options. Firstly,
1033 you can see or hide the satellites on the skymap using <guilabel>Show satellites</guilabel> checkbox
1034 from the top <guilabel>View Options</guilabel> section. By default, satellites are drawn as small
1035 light red filled circles with an optional dark red name label next to them. You can enable or disable
1036 these labels by checking or not the <guilabel>Show labels</guilabel> checkbox. It is located below
1037 the <guilabel>Show satellites</guilabel> checkbox, within the <guilabel>View Options</guilabel> section.
1038 </para>
1039 <para>
1040 The colors of the dots representing satellites and their name labels can be easily customized using
1041 the <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> page from the same <guilabel>Configure - &kstars;</guilabel> window.
1042 In addition, satellites can be drawn just like regular stars by checking the <guilabel>Draw satellites
1043 like stars</guilabel> checkbox. To display only the visible satellites from your current geographic location
1044 and time, select <guilabel>Show only visible satellites</guilabel>.
1045 </para>
1046 <para>
1047 &kstars; can draw artificial satellites from many predefined groups. Thus, you can select to display a particular
1048 group, multiple groups or partially select subgroups. Under each group, a list of individual satellites is
1049 presented. To select all satellites from a group, you need to check the group checkbox. You can also select
1050 only the satellites of interest in each group.
1051 The satellites orbital elements can be updated via the internet by pressing the <guibutton>Update TLEs</guibutton>
1052 button. Another way for updating the satellites orbital elements is to use the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu>
1053 <guisubmenu>Updates</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>Update Satellites Orbital Elements</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu
1054 item. If you know the name of a desired satellite then you can use the search satellites method that &kstars;
1055 provides. You need to enter the name of satellite in the <guilabel>Search satellites</guilabel> text box and the
1056 list will be reduced only to its best matches.
1057 </para>
1058 <para>
1059 You can add new satellites to &kstars; default satellites set by editing the
1060 <filename>kstars/data/satellites.dat</filename> file. As each line of this file is a group of
1061 satellites, you need to add a new entry for your desired satellites group.
1062 An entry should have the following format: <userinput>Group Name;local_filename;url</userinput>.
1063 For example: <userinput>Iridium;iridium.tle;https://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/iridium.txt</userinput>.
1064 </para>
1065 </sect1>
1066 
1067 <sect1 id="supernovae">
1068 <title>Supernovae</title>
1069 <screenshot>
1070 <screeninfo>Supernovae Window</screeninfo>
1071 <mediaobject>
1072   <imageobject>
1073     <imagedata fileref="supernovae_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1074   </imageobject>
1075   <textobject>
1076     <phrase>Supernovae Window</phrase>
1077   </textobject>
1078 </mediaobject>
1079 </screenshot>
1080 <para>
1081 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1082 <secondary>Supernovae page</secondary></indexterm>
1083 The <guilabel>Supernovae</guilabel> page allows you to decide if the supernovae are displayed or not by checking
1084 the <guilabel>Show supernovae</guilabel> checkbox. By default, supernovae are drawn as small light orange <quote>+</quote> mark.
1085 As for satellites, the color of supernovae can be easily customized using the <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> page.
1086 </para>
1087 <para>
1088 You can set the magnitude limit for showing a supernova as well as magnitude limit for supernova alerts using
1089 the spin boxes control. The limiting magnitude is the faintest apparent magnitude of an skyobject that is
1090 visible with the naked-eye or a telescope.
1091 </para>
1092 <para>
1093 The list of recent supernovae can be updated via the <menuchoice><guimenu>Data</guimenu> 
1094 <guisubmenu>Updates</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>Update Recent Supernovae data</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item.
1095 </para>
1096 </sect1>
1097 
1098 <sect1 id="guides">
1099 <title>Guides</title>
1100 <screenshot>
1101 <screeninfo>Guides Window</screeninfo>
1102 <mediaobject>
1103   <imageobject>
1104     <imagedata fileref="guides_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1105   </imageobject>
1106   <textobject>
1107     <phrase>Guides Window</phrase>
1108   </textobject>
1109 </mediaobject>
1110 </screenshot>
1111 <para>
1112 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1113 <secondary>Guides page</secondary></indexterm>
1114 The <guilabel>Guides</guilabel> page lets you toggle whether non-objects
1115 are displayed (&ie;, constellation lines, constellation names, the
1116 Milky Way contour, the <link linkend="ai-cequator">celestial
1117 equator</link>, <link linkend="ai-ecliptic">the ecliptic</link>, <link
1118 linkend="ai-horizon">the horizon line</link>, and the opaque ground).
1119 You can also choose a sky culture, whether you would like to see Latin constellation
1120 names, <acronym>IAU</acronym>-standard three-letter abbreviations, or
1121 constellation names using your local language.
1122 </para>
1123 </sect1>
1124 
1125 <sect1 id="terrain">
1126 <title>Terrain</title>
1127 <screenshot>
1128 <screeninfo>Terrain Window</screeninfo>
1129 <mediaobject>
1130   <imageobject>
1131     <imagedata fileref="terrain_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1132   </imageobject>
1133   <textobject>
1134     <phrase>Terrain Window</phrase>
1135   </textobject>
1136 </mediaobject>
1137 </screenshot>
1138 <para>
1139 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1140 <secondary>Terrain page</secondary></indexterm>
1141 The <guilabel>Terrain</guilabel> page lets you configure whether the terrain (landscape) image will be shown on the skymap.
1142 </para>
1143 <para>
1144 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.
1145 </para>
1146 <para>
1147 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.
1148 </para>
1149 <para>
1150 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.
1151 </para>
1152 <para>
1153 Moreover, some speedup options can be configured to achieve the best user experience when rendering the terrain on the sky map.
1154 </para>
1155 <tip>
1156     <para>
1157         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.
1158     </para>
1159 </tip>
1160 </sect1>
1161 
1162 <sect1 id="imageOverlays">
1163 <title>Image Overlays</title>
1164 <screenshot>
1165 <screeninfo>Image Overlays on SkyMap</screeninfo>
1166 <mediaobject>
1167   <imageobject>
1168     <imagedata fileref="imageOverlays2.png" format="PNG"/>
1169   </imageobject>
1170   <textobject>
1171     <phrase>Image Overlays on SkyMap</phrase>
1172   </textobject>
1173 </mediaobject>
1174 </screenshot>
1175 <para>
1176 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1177 <secondary>Image Overlays page</secondary></indexterm>
1178 Image overlays are custom images (typically <literal role="extension">.jpg</literal>) that are rendered onto the
1179 skymap over stars and other skymap items, but below the terrain. These images are added by you, the user, a sort
1180 of personal sky catalog. If configured properly, these personal images can be displayed almost perfectly aligned
1181 with other objects in the sky.
1182 </para>
1183 <screenshot>
1184 <screeninfo>Image Overlays Window</screeninfo>
1185 <mediaobject>
1186   <imageobject>
1187     <imagedata fileref="imageOverlays1.png" format="PNG"/>
1188   </imageobject>
1189   <textobject>
1190     <phrase>Image Overlays Window</phrase>
1191   </textobject>
1192 </mediaobject>
1193 </screenshot>
1194 <para>
1195 The <guilabel>Image Overlays</guilabel> page lets you configure whether image overlays will be shown on the skymap,
1196 and helps you add them to the system. The image at the start of this section shows the skymap with image overlays
1197 enabled and some image overlays loaded.
1198 </para>
1199 <para>
1200 Each time it starts up, &kstars; looks for new image overlay images in a special directory, parallel to the logs
1201 directory, named <literal>imageOverlays</literal>. On Linux this can be found in
1202 <filename class="directory">~/.local/share/kstars/imageOverlays</filename>. The exact location for your system can
1203 be found by clicking the <guibutton>Overlay Directory</guibutton> button near the top of the
1204 <guilabel>Image Overlays</guilabel> config page shown at the top of this section. To start, add your images to that
1205 directory. Ideally, for performance reasons these aren't massive files, but probably images with widths 1000 or 2000
1206 should be fine. To add additional images in the future, add them to the same directory and click the refresh button
1207 or restart &kstars;. To remove overlays, remove them from the directory and click the refresh button or restart &kstars;.
1208 </para>
1209 <para>
1210 Start &kstars; once you have images in the <literal>imageOverlays</literal> directory. If you then go to the
1211 <guilabel>Image Overlays</guilabel> config page, you should see the new files listed in the table. The new images
1212 will show their status as <guilabel>Unprocessed</guilabel>. Only images whose status is <guilabel>OK</guilabel>
1213 are displayed on the SkyMap. That is because &kstars; needs to know the sky location, size, and orientation for
1214 these images before it can display them. To change the status to <guilabel>OK</guilabel> you need to plate-solve
1215 the images or add the required information manually--see below.
1216 </para>
1217 <para>
1218 To prepare your images for display, you need to plate-solve the images (one time only). To do this, find an image
1219 in the table, click on its filename, and then click <guibutton>Solve</guibutton> below the table.
1220 The <guibutton>Solve</guibutton> button's label should switch to <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton> during the solve,
1221 and then when completed successfully, the solved parameters are displayed in the table and the status is changed
1222 to <guilabel>OK</guilabel>.  A successful plate-solve's information is stored in the user database so that solving
1223 doesn't need to be repeated. The solved image should from then on appear in its proper position in the SkyMap. You
1224 can plate-solve multiple images in a single operation by clicking on the first image's filename, then holding down
1225 the &Shift; key and clicking on another filename. All the image files between the filenames should be selected.
1226 Then clicking <guibutton>Solve</guibutton> will attempt to solve them all. However, &kstars; will not attempt to
1227 plate-solve images whose status is <guilabel>OK</guilabel>, it will skip those images. (If you wish to re-plate-solve
1228 images with status <guilabel>OK</guilabel>, then manually change their status to <guilabel>Unprocessed</guilabel> and
1229 click <guibutton>Solve</guibutton>). It is possible that if you select several images, a few of them will not be
1230 successfully solved.
1231 </para>
1232 <para>
1233 Plate solving these images can sometimes be difficult. That is because at this point the system has no information as
1234 to the scale or position to look, and thus it is a blind solve. To improve your chance for success, you can enter an
1235 approximate RA/DEC center sky position into the <guilabel>RA</guilabel> and <guilabel>DEC</guilabel> columns for the
1236 row you are trying to solve. You can also add an image scale, in arcseconds-per-pixel. You can add a default scale to
1237 the right of the <guibutton>Solve</guibutton> button in the box labeled <guilabel>Default a-s/px</guilabel> so that
1238 all solving attempts use this scale by default. You can also add a scale directly into the table-row-column, which
1239 would override the default. You can choose which StellarSolver profile the solver uses (these profiles can be edited
1240 in Ekos' <guilabel>Align</guilabel> tab). Finally, you can adjust the solver's <guilabel>Timeout</guilabel> in seconds.
1241 </para>
1242 <para>
1243 If you have problematic images that won't solve, you can still display them by manually entering the values (that the
1244 solver didn't find) into the table. They are the RA, DEC, arcsecond-per-pixel, orientation angle, and east-to-the-right
1245 (or West-to-the-right) settings. Once you have done that, you can then change the status to <guilabel>OK</guilabel> and
1246 &kstars; will save these values to the user database as if they had been automatically solved.
1247 </para>
1248 <para>
1249 There are a few more controls on the <guilabel>Image Overlays</guilabel> settings page.
1250 The <guilabel>Show image overlays</guilabel> checkbox at the top of the page enables or disables this feature--that is,
1251 toggles whether any image overlays are display on the SkyMap or not.
1252 </para>
1253 <para>
1254 The <guilabel>Maximum image dimension:</guilabel> spinbox allows you to vary the maximum image dimension used for images.
1255 That is, if you place images that are, for example, 5000 pixels wide into the <literal>imageOverlays</literal> directory,
1256 but this input box's value is 1000, then the 5000-pixel-images will be read in, but then downsampled to 1000-pixels-wide
1257 before display. This is done to reduce the memory footprint and cpu usage of this feature. It would be more efficient to
1258 add image files with the desired image width.
1259 </para>
1260 <para>
1261 The <guilabel>Center SkyMap on selection</guilabel> checkbox allows you to easily navigate to the overlay images without
1262 directly manipulating the SkyMap. With this enabled, you select a row in the overlay table (&ie;, by clicking on the
1263 filename field) and the skymap is moved to that image if the image's status is <guilabel>OK</guilabel>. At that point
1264 you can move from one image to the next with &Up; and &Down; arrow keyboard commands.
1265 </para>
1266 </sect1>
1267 
1268 <sect1 id="colors">
1269 <title>Colors</title>
1270 <screenshot>
1271 <screeninfo>Colors Window</screeninfo>
1272 <mediaobject>
1273   <imageobject>
1274     <imagedata fileref="colors_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1275   </imageobject>
1276   <textobject>
1277     <phrase>Colors Window</phrase>
1278   </textobject>
1279 </mediaobject>
1280 </screenshot>
1281 <para>
1282 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1283 <secondary>Colors page</secondary></indexterm>
1284 <indexterm><primary>Color Schemes</primary>
1285 <secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm>
1286 The <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> page allows you to set the color scheme,
1287 and to define custom color schemes.  The tab is split into two panels:
1288 </para>
1289 <para>
1290 The left panel shows a list of all display items with adjustable
1291 colors.  Click on any item to bring up a color selection window to
1292 adjust its color.  Below the list is the <guilabel>Star color
1293 mode:</guilabel> dropdown box.  By default, &kstars; draws stars with
1294 a <link linkend="ai-colorandtemp">realistic color</link> tint according
1295 to the spectral type of the star.  However, you may also choose to draw
1296 the stars as solid white, black or red circles.  If you are using the
1297 realistic star colors, you can set the saturation level of the star
1298 colors with the <guilabel>Star color intensity:</guilabel> spinbox.
1299 </para>
1300 <para>
1301 The right panel lists the defined color schemes.  There are four
1302 predefined schemes: the <guilabel>Default Colors</guilabel> scheme,
1303 <guilabel>Star Chart</guilabel>, which uses black stars on a white
1304 background, <guilabel>Night Vision</guilabel>, which uses only shades
1305 of red in order to protect dark-adapted vision, and <guilabel>Moonless
1306 Night</guilabel>, a more realistic, dark theme.  Additionally,
1307 you can save the current color settings as a custom scheme by clicking
1308 the <guibutton>Save As...</guibutton> button.  It will prompt
1309 you for a name for the new scheme, and then your scheme will appear in
1310 the list in all future &kstars; sessions.  To remove a custom scheme,
1311 simply highlight it in the list, and press the <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> button.
1312 </para>
1313 </sect1>
1314 
1315 <sect1 id="fits-configure">
1316 <title>FITS</title>
1317 <screenshot>
1318 <screeninfo>FITS Window</screeninfo>
1319 <mediaobject>
1320   <imageobject>
1321     <imagedata fileref="fits_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1322   </imageobject>
1323   <textobject>
1324     <phrase>FITS Window</phrase>
1325   </textobject>
1326 </mediaobject>
1327 </screenshot>
1328 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1329 <secondary>FITS page</secondary></indexterm>
1330 <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;.
1331 </para>
1332 <para>
1333     The left panel is for configuring FITS viewer itself.
1334 </para>
1335 <para>
1336 Check the <guilabel>Use FITS viewer</guilabel> item if you want automatically display received images in the FITS Viewer.
1337 </para>
1338 <para>The <guilabel>Single preview tab</guilabel> item is to display all captured FITS images in a single tab instead of multiple tabs
1339 per image. The <guilabel>Single window capture</guilabel> item is to display captured FITS images from all cameras in a single FITS Viewer window
1340 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
1341 dedicated window to each file and the <guilabel>Independent window</guilabel> item is to make FITS Viewer window independent from &kstars;.
1342 </para>
1343 <para>
1344 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
1345 will not be processed; WCS maps sky coordinates to image coordinates;
1346 equatorial grid lines, object identification, and telescope slew within an
1347 image are disabled), and <guilabel>3D cube</guilabel> (RGB images will not be
1348 processed; only grayscale images are shown). You can switch off some of these resource-greedy operations separately as well.
1349 </para>
1350 </sect1>
1351 
1352 <sect1 id="indi_page">
1353 <title>INDI</title>
1354 <screenshot>
1355 <screeninfo>INDI Window</screeninfo>
1356 <mediaobject>
1357   <imageobject>
1358     <imagedata fileref="indi_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1359   </imageobject>
1360   <textobject>
1361     <phrase>INDI Window</phrase>
1362   </textobject>
1363 </mediaobject>
1364 </screenshot>
1365 <para>For detailed explanation of the options on the <guilabel>INDI</guilabel>
1366 page see the <link linkend="indi-configure">Configure INDI</link> section.
1367 </para>
1368 </sect1>
1369 
1370 <sect1 id="ekos-window">
1371 <title>Ekos</title>
1372 <screenshot>
1373 <screeninfo>Ekos Window</screeninfo>
1374 <mediaobject>
1375   <imageobject>
1376     <imagedata fileref="ekos_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1377   </imageobject>
1378   <textobject>
1379     <phrase>Ekos Window</phrase>
1380   </textobject>
1381 </mediaobject>
1382 </screenshot>
1383 <para>
1384 Ekos is an astrophotography suite, a complete astrophotography solution that can control
1385 all INDI devices including numerous telescopes, CCDs, DSLRs, focusers, filters, and a lot more.
1386 Ekos supports highly accurate tracking using online and offline astrometry solver, autofocus
1387 and autoguiding capabilities, and capture of single or multiple images using the powerful
1388 built in sequence manager. For detailed explanation of <guilabel>Ekos</guilabel>,
1389 see the <link linkend="ekos">Ekos section of this manual</link>.
1390 </para>
1391 </sect1>
1392 
1393 <sect1 id="xplanet-configure">
1394 <title>Xplanet</title>
1395 <screenshot>
1396 <screeninfo>Xplanet Window</screeninfo>
1397 <mediaobject>
1398   <imageobject>
1399     <imagedata fileref="xplanet_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1400   </imageobject>
1401   <textobject>
1402     <phrase>Xplanet Window</phrase>
1403   </textobject>
1404 </mediaobject>
1405 </screenshot>
1406 <para>
1407 <ulink url="http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/">Xplanet</ulink> (should be installed separately) is
1408 a solar system planet surface renderer. This page allows you to configure presentation and
1409 processing of <application>Xplanet</application> data in &kstars;.
1410 </para>
1411 </sect1>
1412 
1413 <sect1 id="advanced">
1414 <title>Advanced</title>
1415 <screenshot>
1416 <screeninfo>Advanced Window</screeninfo>
1417 <mediaobject>
1418   <imageobject>
1419     <imagedata fileref="advanced_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1420   </imageobject>
1421   <textobject>
1422     <phrase>Advanced Window</phrase>
1423   </textobject>
1424 </mediaobject>
1425 </screenshot>
1426 <para>
1427 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1428 <secondary>Advanced page</secondary></indexterm>
1429 The <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel> page provides fine-grained control
1430 over the more subtle behaviors of &kstars;.
1431 </para><para>
1432 <indexterm><primary>Atmospheric Refraction</primary></indexterm>
1433 The <guilabel>Correct for atmospheric refraction</guilabel> checkbox
1434 controls whether the positions of objects are corrected for the effects
1435 of the atmosphere.  Because the atmosphere is a spherical shell, light from
1436 outer space is <quote>bent</quote> as it passes through the atmosphere to
1437 our telescopes or eyes on the Earth's surface.  The effect is largest for
1438 objects near the horizon, and actually changes the predicted rise or set
1439 times of objects by a few minutes.  In fact, when you <quote>see</quote> a
1440 sunset, the Sun's actual position is already well below the horizon;
1441 atmospheric refraction makes it seem as if the Sun is still in the sky.
1442 Note that atmospheric refraction is never applied if you are using
1443 <guilabel>Equatorial coordinates</guilabel>.
1444 </para><para>
1445 <indexterm><primary>Animated Slewing</primary></indexterm>
1446 The <guilabel>Use animated slewing</guilabel> checkbox controls how the
1447 display changes when a new focus position is selected in the map.  By
1448 default, you will see the sky drift or <quote>slew</quote> to the new
1449 position; if you uncheck this option, then the display will instead
1450 <quote>snap</quote> immediately to the new focus position.
1451 </para><para>
1452 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary>
1453 <secondary>Labeling</secondary>
1454 <tertiary>Automatic</tertiary>
1455 </indexterm>
1456 If the <guilabel>Attach label to centered object</guilabel> checkbox is
1457 selected, then a name label will automatically be attached to an object
1458 when it is being tracked by the program.  The label will be removed when
1459 the object is no longer being tracked.  Note that you can also manually
1460 attach a persistent name label to any object with its <link
1461 linkend="popup-menu">popup menu</link>.
1462 </para><para>
1463 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary>
1464 <secondary>Hiding</secondary></indexterm>
1465 There are three situations when &kstars; must redraw the sky display very
1466 rapidly: when a new focus position is selected (and <guilabel>Use
1467 animated slewing</guilabel> is checked), when the sky is dragged with the
1468 mouse, and when the time step is large.  In these situations, the positions
1469 of all objects must be recomputed as rapidly as possible, which can put
1470 a large load on the <abbrev>CPU</abbrev>.  If the <abbrev>CPU</abbrev>
1471 cannot keep up with the demand, then the display will seem sluggish or jerky.
1472 To mitigate this, &kstars; will hide certain objects during these rapid-redraw
1473 situations, as long as the <guilabel>Hide objects while moving</guilabel>
1474 checkbox is selected.  The timestep threshold above which objects will be
1475 hidden is determined by the <guilabel>Also hide if time step larger
1476 than:</guilabel> timestep-spinbox.  You can specify the objects that should
1477 be hidden in the <guilabel>Configure Hidden Objects</guilabel> section.
1478 </para>
1479 </sect1>
1480 
1481 <sect1 id="developer">
1482 <title>Developer</title>
1483 <screenshot>
1484 <screeninfo>Developer Window</screeninfo>
1485 <mediaobject>
1486   <imageobject>
1487     <imagedata fileref="developer_page.png" format="PNG"/>
1488   </imageobject>
1489   <textobject>
1490     <phrase>Developer Window</phrase>
1491   </textobject>
1492 </mediaobject>
1493 </screenshot>
1494 <para>
1495 <indexterm><primary>Configure &kstars; window</primary>
1496 <secondary>Developer page</secondary></indexterm>
1497 The <guilabel>Developer</guilabel> page provides a few checkboxes that can help
1498 debug issues with &kstars;. There are checkboxes for saving images
1499 in logging directories that might help debug issues. Of course, saving images
1500 can take up disk space and should be used judiciously.
1501 </para><para>
1502   The images that can be saved are</para>
1503   <itemizedlist>
1504 <listitem><para>
1505     all focus images,
1506 </para></listitem>
1507 <listitem><para>
1508     all guider images,
1509 </para></listitem>
1510 <listitem><para>
1511     all align images, and
1512 </para></listitem>
1513 <listitem><para>
1514     align images where the plate-solving failed.
1515 </para></listitem>
1516   </itemizedlist><para>
1517     The images are all saved in folders parallel to the main
1518   logging directory. They are in folders named guide, autofocus, align, and align/failed.
1519 </para>
1520 </sect1>
1521 
1522 <sect1 id="customize">
1523 <title>Customizing the Display</title>
1524 
1525 <para>
1526 There are several ways to modify the display to your liking.</para>
1527 <itemizedlist>
1528 <listitem><para>
1529 <indexterm><primary>Info Boxes</primary><secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm>
1530 <indexterm><primary>Info Boxes</primary><secondary>Shading</secondary></indexterm>
1531 Toggle whether the Info Boxes are drawn in the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
1532 <guisubmenu>Info Boxes</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu.  In addition, you can
1533 manipulate the three Info Boxes with the mouse.  Each box has additional lines of data
1534 that are hidden by default. You can toggle whether these additional lines are visible
1535 by double-clicking a box to <quote>shade</quote> it.  Also, you can reposition a box by
1536 dragging it with the mouse.  When a box hits a window edge, it will
1537 <quote>stick</quote> to the edge when the window is resized.
1538 </para></listitem>
1539 <listitem><para>
1540 <indexterm><primary>Toolbars</primary><secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm>
1541 Toggle whether the Toolbars are drawn in the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
1542 <guisubmenu>Toolbars Shown</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu.  Like most &kde; toolbars,
1543 they can also be dragged around and anchored on any window edge, or even detached from
1544 the window completely if they are unlocked.
1545 </para></listitem>
1546 <listitem><para>
1547 <indexterm><primary>Color Schemes</primary><secondary>Selecting</secondary></indexterm>
1548 Select a different color scheme in the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
1549 <guisubmenu>Color Schemes</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu.  There are four predefined
1550 color schemes, and you can define your own in the
1551 <link linkend="config"><guilabel>Configure - &kstars;</guilabel></link> window.
1552 </para></listitem>
1553 <listitem>
1554 <para>
1555 <indexterm><primary>Field-of-View Symbols</primary><secondary>Description</secondary></indexterm>
1556 Choose an <quote>FOV Symbol</quote> using the
1557 <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guisubmenu>FOV Symbols</guisubmenu></menuchoice>
1558 submenu.  <firstterm>FOV</firstterm> is an acronym for <quote>field-of-view</quote>.
1559 An FOV symbol is drawn at the center of the window to indicate where the display
1560 is pointing.  Different symbols have different angular sizes; you can use a symbol to show
1561 what the view through a particular telescope would look like.  For example, if you choose
1562 the <quote>7x35 Binoculars</quote> FOV symbol, then a circle is drawn on the display that is
1563 9.2 degrees in diameter; this is the field-of-view for 7x35 binoculars.
1564 </para>
1565 <para>
1566 <indexterm><primary>Field-of-View Symbols</primary><secondary>Customizing</secondary></indexterm>
1567 You can define your own FOV symbols (or modify the existing symbols) using the
1568 <guimenuitem>Edit FOV Symbols...</guimenuitem> menu item, which launches the FOV Editor:
1569 </para>
1570 <screenshot>
1571 <screeninfo>Field-of-View Symbols Editor</screeninfo>
1572 <mediaobject>
1573   <imageobject>
1574     <imagedata fileref="fovdialog.png" format="PNG"/>
1575   </imageobject>
1576   <textobject>
1577     <phrase>FOV Symbol Editor</phrase>
1578   </textobject>
1579 </mediaobject>
1580 </screenshot>
1581 
1582 <para>
1583 The list of defined FOV symbols is displayed on the left.  On the right are buttons for
1584 adding a new symbol, editing the highlighted symbol's properties, and removing the
1585 highlighted symbol from the list.  Note that you can even modify or remove the four
1586 predefined symbols (if you remove all symbols, the four defaults will be restored the
1587 next time you start &kstars;).  Below these three buttons is a graphical preview display
1588 showing the highlighted symbol from the list.  When the <guibutton>New...</guibutton> or
1589 <guibutton>Edit...</guibutton> button is pressed, the <guilabel>New FOV Indicator</guilabel>
1590 window is opened:
1591 </para>
1592 
1593 <screenshot>
1594 <screeninfo>New Field-of-View Symbol</screeninfo>
1595 <mediaobject>
1596   <imageobject>
1597     <imagedata fileref="newfov.png" format="PNG"/>
1598   </imageobject>
1599   <textobject>
1600     <phrase>New FOV Symbol</phrase>
1601   </textobject>
1602 </mediaobject>
1603 </screenshot>
1604 
1605 <para>
1606 <indexterm><primary>Field-of-View Symbols</primary><secondary>Defining New</secondary></indexterm>
1607 This window lets you modify the four properties that define a FOV symbol: name, size,
1608 shape, and color.  The angular size for the symbol can either be entered directly in the
1609 <guilabel>Field of View</guilabel> edit box, or you can use the Eyepiece/Camera Tabs to
1610 calculate the field-of-view angle, given parameters of your telescope/eyepiece or
1611 telescope/camera setup.  The five available shapes are: Square, Circle, Crosshairs, Bullseye and Semitransparent circle.
1612 Once you have specified all four parameters, press <guibutton>Ok</guibutton>,
1613 and the symbol will appear in the list of defined symbols.  It will also be available
1614 from the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guisubmenu>FOV Symbols</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu.
1615 </para>
1616 </listitem>
1617 </itemizedlist>
1618 
1619 </sect1>
1620 
1621 <sect1 id="skymap_orientation">
1622   <title>Adjusting orientation of the sky map</title>
1623   <para>
1624     You can tweak various settings to make the orientation of the sky map match the view through your optical instrument, provided (as of this version) the instrument does not mirror the field-of-view (as is done by prisms used with SCTs and refractors).
1625   </para>
1626   <para>
1627     First, pick the coordinate system that matches your mount. For an equatorially mounted instrument, switch to the Equatorial Coordinate mode in the <guimenu>View</guimenu> menu. The option to toggle the coordinate system should read <guilabel>Switch to Horizontal View (Horizontal Coordinates)</guilabel> when the current mode is Equatorial Coordinates. For an altazimuth-mounted instrument or naked-eye viewing, switch to Horizontal Coordinates, so that the option in the <guimenu>View</guimenu> menu reads <guilabel>Switch to Star Globe View (Equatorial Coordinates)</guilabel>. This sets the base coordinate system used to render the sky map, and also sets the reference for the orientation of the skymap: zenith or north.
1628   </para>
1629   <para>
1630     To rotate the sky map freely, you can hold down the &Shift; key and drag the mouse on the sky map. A temporary overlay will appear showing the direction of north and zenith at the point, and displaying the angle they make with the vertical in a counterclockwise sense. The orientations of zenith and north will update as you rotate the sky map. Letting go of &Shift; or the mouse button will stop the rotation operation. As you pan the sky map or focus it on different objects, the rotation you set is retained as an offset from the reference direction. The reference direction is north when using Equatorial Coordinates and zenith when using Horizontal Coordinates. As a reminder, the reference direction is solid and brighter in the temporary overlay. For the two common orientations of erect and inverted, the rotation can be set / reset using the <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guisubmenu>Skymap Orientation</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu. Select "North Down" or "Zenith Down" as is applicable to set an orientation of 180 degrees.
1631   </para>
1632   <para>
1633     If you are visually observing through an eyepiece of an instrument, you may need to do some more correction. For the common case of a large Dobsonian telescope (or more generally a Newtonian design mounted on an altazimuth mount), a systematic additional correction is of help. This correction applies because we stand erect while using the telescope irrespective of the angle the telescope tube is making with the ground. So as we move the telescope in altitude, an additional correction depending on the altitude of the object needs to be applied to make the sky map match the view through the eyepiece. This correction is enabled by checking the <guilabel>Erect observer correction</guilabel> checkbox in the <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guisubmenu>Skymap Orientation</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu. This correction only makes sense in Horizontal Coordinate mode and is disabled when using equatorial coordinates.
1634   </para>
1635   <para>
1636     Finally we provide some examples of how to use these settings for various instruments:
1637     <itemizedlist>
1638       <listitem><para>Naked-eye observing: Choose Horizontal Coordinates and a <guilabel>Zenith Up</guilabel> orientation under <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guisubmenu>Skymap Orientation</guisubmenu></menuchoice>.</para></listitem>
1639       <listitem><para>Camera on an equatorially mounted telescope: Choose Equatorial Coordinates and adjust the orientation of the sky map so that it matches your camera. As your mount points to different regions of the sky, the orientation should be rendered correctly.</para></listitem>
1640       <listitem><para>Using binoculars: Same settings as Naked-eye observing</para></listitem>
1641       <listitem><para>Using a RACI finder scope on an altazimuth mounted telescope: Same settings as Naked-eye observing, except you may need to tweak the orientation manually once if you have it mounted at an angle</para></listitem>
1642       <listitem><para>Using a straight-through (inverted view) finder scope on an altazimuth mounted telescope: Choose Horizontal Coordinates and a sky-map orientation of <guilabel>Zenith Down</guilabel> in <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guisubmenu>Skymap Orientation</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu</para></listitem>
1643       <listitem><para>Eyepiece of a Dobsonian telescope: Choose Horizontal Coordinates, and in the <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guisubmenu>Skymap Orientation</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu, select <guilabel>Zenith Down</guilabel> and check the <guilabel>Erect observer correction</guilabel> option. Then adjust the orientation manually once to match your telescope eyepiece view, and it should henceforth track it correctly.</para></listitem>
1644     </itemizedlist>
1645   </para>
1646 </sect1>
1647 
1648 &hips;
1649 
1650 </chapter>