Warning, /education/kstars/doc/quicktour.docbook is written in an unsupported language. File is not indexed.

0001 <chapter id="using-kstars">
0002 <title>A Quick Tour of the &kstars; Skymap</title>
0003 
0004 <para>
0005 This chapter presents a guided tour of the &kstars; skymap, introducing
0006 many of its important features.
0007 </para>
0008 
0009 <screenshot>
0010 <screeninfo>
0011 Here is a screenshot of the &kstars; main window:
0012 </screeninfo>
0013 <mediaobject>
0014   <imageobject>
0015     <imagedata fileref="screen1.png" format="PNG"/>
0016   </imageobject>
0017   <textobject>
0018     <phrase>Main Window</phrase>
0019   </textobject>
0020 </mediaobject>
0021 </screenshot>
0022 
0023 <para>
0024 The above screenshot shows a typical view of the &kstars; program.  You
0025 can see the sky display centered on Betelgeuse, the brightest star in
0026 the constellation Orion. Stars are displayed with <link linkend="ai-colorandtemp">realistic
0027 colors</link> and relative brightnesses.  In three corners
0028 of the sky display, there are on-screen text labels displaying data on
0029 the current time (<quote>LT: 3:08:30 AM EEST Wednesday, July 6, 2016</quote>), the current
0030 Geographic Location (<quote>Bucharest, Romania</quote>), and the
0031 current object in the center of the display (<quote>Focused on: Betelgeuse
0032 (alpha Orionis)</quote>).  Above the sky display, there are two toolbars.
0033 The main toolbar contains shortcuts for
0034 <link linkend="kstars-menus">menu functions</link>, as well as a
0035 time-step widget which controls how fast the simulation clock runs.
0036 The view toolbar contains buttons that toggle the display of different
0037 kinds of objects in the sky.  At the bottom of the window, there is a
0038 status bar which displays the name of any object you click on, and the
0039 <link linkend="ai-skycoords">sky coordinates</link> (both
0040 Right Ascension/Declination and Azimuth/Altitude) of the mouse cursor.
0041 </para>
0042 
0043 <sect1 id="startwizard">
0044 <title>The Setup Wizard</title>
0045 <para>
0046 <indexterm><primary>Setup Wizard</primary></indexterm>
0047 The first time you run &kstars;, you will be presented with a Setup Wizard,
0048 which allows you to easily set your geographic location and download some
0049 extra data files. You can press the <guilabel>OK</guilabel> button
0050 at any time to exit the Setup Wizard.
0051 </para>
0052 
0053 <para>
0054 The second page of the Setup Wizard allows you to choose the starting
0055 geographic location, by selecting from the list of the 3400+ known
0056 locations on the right side of the window.  The list of locations can be
0057 filtered to match the text you enter in the <guilabel>City filter:</guilabel>,
0058 <guilabel>Province filter:</guilabel>, and <guilabel>Country filter:</guilabel> edit
0059 boxes.  If your desired location is not present in the list, you can
0060 select a nearby city instead for now.  Later on, you can add your
0061 precise location manually using the <link linkend="setgeo">Set Geographic
0062 Location tool</link>.  Once you have selected a starting location, press
0063 the <guilabel>Next</guilabel> button.
0064 </para>
0065 
0066 <para>
0067 The last page of the Setup Wizard allows you to download extra data
0068 that are not included with the standard distribution of &kstars;.
0069 Simply press the <guilabel>Download Extra Data...</guilabel> button to open
0070 the <guilabel>Get New Stuff</guilabel> tool.  When you are all done,
0071 press the <guilabel>OK</guilabel> button in the Setup Wizard to
0072 start exploring &kstars;.
0073 </para>
0074 </sect1>
0075 
0076 <sect1 id="lookaround">
0077 <title>Have a Look Around</title>
0078 <para>
0079 <indexterm><primary>Navigation Controls</primary>
0080 <secondary>Basics</secondary></indexterm>
0081 Now that we have the time and location set, let us have a look around.
0082 You can pan the display using the arrow keys.  If you hold down the
0083 &Shift; key before panning, the scrolling speed is increased.  The
0084 display can also be panned by clicking and dragging with the mouse.
0085 Note that while the display is scrolling, not all objects are
0086 displayed.  This is done to cut down on the <acronym>CPU</acronym> load
0087 of recomputing object positions, which makes the scrolling smoother
0088 (you can configure what gets hidden while scrolling in the <link
0089 linkend="config">Configure - &kstars;</link> window).
0090 
0091 There are several ways to change the magnification (or
0092 <firstterm>Zoom level</firstterm>) of the display:</para>
0093 
0094 <orderedlist>
0095 <listitem>
0096         <para>Use the <keycap>+</keycap> and
0097         <keycap>-</keycap> keys.</para>
0098 </listitem>
0099 <listitem>
0100     <para>Press the <guibutton>Zoom In</guibutton>/<guibutton>Zoom Out</guibutton> buttons in the toolbar.</para>
0101 </listitem>
0102 <listitem>
0103     <para>Select the <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Zoom In / Zoom 
0104     Out</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item.</para>
0105 </listitem>
0106 <listitem>
0107     <para>Select the <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Zoom
0108     to Angular Size...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item. This allows you to specify
0109         the field-of-view angle for the display, in degrees.</para>
0110 </listitem>
0111 <listitem>
0112         <para>Use the scroll <mousebutton>wheel</mousebutton> on your mouse.</para>
0113 </listitem>
0114 <listitem>
0115         <para>Drag the mouse up and down with the &MMB; pressed.</para>
0116 </listitem>
0117 <listitem>
0118         <para>Hold down &Ctrl; while dragging the mouse.  This
0119         will allow you to define a rectangle in the map.  When you release the mouse
0120         button, the display will zoom to match the rectangle.</para>
0121 </listitem>
0122 </orderedlist>
0123 
0124 <para>Notice that as you zoom in, you can see fainter stars than at
0125 lower zoom settings.</para>
0126 
0127 <para>
0128 Zoom out until you can see a green curve; this represents your local
0129 <link linkend="ai-horizon">horizon</link>.  If you have not adjusted
0130 the default &kstars; configuration, the display will be solid green
0131 below the horizon, representing the solid ground of the Earth.  There
0132 is also a white curve, which represents the <link
0133 linkend="ai-cequator">celestial equator</link>, and a brown curve, which
0134 represents the <link linkend="ai-ecliptic">Ecliptic</link>, the path
0135 that the Sun appears to follow across the sky over the course of a
0136 year.  The Sun is always found somewhere along the Ecliptic, and the
0137 planets are never far from it.
0138 </para>
0139 
0140 <para>
0141 You can configure &kstars; to draw or not the celestial equator and Ecliptic curves
0142 on the Sky Map using the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Configure
0143 &kstars;...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item.
0144 Select the <guimenu>Guides</guimenu> page and check/uncheck the <guilabel>Celestial equator</guilabel>
0145 and <guilabel>Ecliptic</guilabel> check boxes. You can also configure which colors &kstars; uses for
0146 drawing these curves, using the <guimenu>Colors</guimenu> page.
0147 </para>
0148 <screenshot>
0149 <screeninfo>
0150 Here is a screenshot of the &kstars; main window, focusing on horizon,
0151 celestial equator and Ecliptic curves:
0152 </screeninfo>
0153 <mediaobject>
0154   <imageobject>
0155     <imagedata fileref="kstars_horizon.png" format="PNG"/>
0156   </imageobject>
0157   <textobject>
0158     <phrase>&kstars; Window</phrase>
0159   </textobject>
0160 </mediaobject>
0161 </screenshot>
0162 </sect1>
0163 
0164 <sect1 id="skyobjects">
0165 <title>Objects in the Sky</title>
0166 <para>
0167 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary>
0168 <secondary>Overview</secondary></indexterm>
0169 &kstars; displays thousands of celestial objects: stars, planets,
0170 comets, asteroids, clusters, nebulae and galaxies.  You can interact
0171 with displayed objects to perform actions on them or obtain more
0172 information about them.  Clicking on an object will identify it in the
0173 status bar, and simply hovering the mouse cursor on an object will label
0174 it temporarily in the map.  Double-clicking will recenter the display on
0175 the object and begin tracking it (so that it will remain centered as
0176 time passes).  <mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> clicking an object opens
0177 the object's popup menu, which provides more options.
0178 </para>
0179 
0180 <sect2 id="popupquick">
0181 <title>The Popup Menu</title>
0182 <indexterm><primary>Popup Menu</primary><secondary>Example</secondary></indexterm>
0183 
0184 <para>
0185 Here is an example of the <mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click popup
0186 menu, for the Uranus:
0187 </para>
0188 
0189 <screenshot>
0190 <screeninfo>Popup Menu for Uranus</screeninfo>
0191 <mediaobject>
0192   <imageobject>
0193     <imagedata fileref="popup.png" format="PNG"/>
0194   </imageobject>
0195   <textobject>
0196     <phrase>Popup Menu for Uranus</phrase>
0197   </textobject>
0198 </mediaobject>
0199 </screenshot>
0200 
0201 <para>
0202 The appearance of the popup menu depends somewhat on the kind of
0203 object you <mousebutton>right</mousebutton>-click on, but the basic
0204 structure is listed below.  You can get
0205 <link linkend="popup-menu">more detailed information about the popup
0206 menu</link>.
0207 </para>
0208 
0209 <para>
0210 The top section contains some lines of information which are not
0211 selectable: the object's names ("Uranus"),
0212 object type ("Solar system object"), and the constellation
0213 which contains the object ("Pisces").  The next three lines show the
0214 object's rise, set, and transit times.  If the rise and set times
0215 say "circumpolar", it means that the object is always above the
0216 horizon for the present location.
0217 </para>
0218 <para>
0219 The middle section contains actions which can be performed on the
0220 selected object, such as <guimenuitem>Center &amp; Track</guimenuitem>,
0221 <guimenuitem>Details</guimenuitem>, and
0222 <guimenuitem>Attach Label</guimenuitem>.  See the <link
0223 linkend="popup-menu">popup menu description</link> for a full list
0224 and description of each action.
0225 </para>
0226 <para>
0227 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary>
0228 <secondary>Internet Links</secondary>
0229 <seealso>Popup Menu</seealso></indexterm>
0230 The bottom section contains links to images and/or informative webpages
0231 about the selected object.  If you know of an additional &URL; with
0232 information or an image of the object, you can add a custom link to the
0233 object's popup menu. Use the <guimenuitem>Details</guimenuitem> item in
0234 the popup menu to open the <guilabel>Object Details</guilabel> dialog.
0235 On the <guilabel>Links</guilabel> tab use the <guibutton>Add Link...</guibutton>
0236 button.
0237 </para>
0238 </sect2>
0239 
0240 <sect2 id="findobjects">
0241 <title>Finding Objects</title>
0242 <indexterm><primary>Find Object Tool</primary></indexterm>
0243 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary>
0244 <secondary>Finding by Name</secondary></indexterm>
0245 <para>
0246 You can search for named objects using the <guilabel>Find
0247 Object</guilabel> tool, which can be opened by clicking on the
0248 <guiicon>search</guiicon> icon in the toolbar, by selecting
0249 <menuchoice><guimenu>Pointing</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Find
0250 Object...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item, or by pressing
0251 <keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>F</keycap></keycombo>.
0252 The <guilabel>Find Object</guilabel> window is shown below:
0253 
0254 <screenshot>
0255 <screeninfo>Find Object Window with search online feature</screeninfo>
0256 <mediaobject>
0257   <imageobject>
0258     <imagedata fileref="find2.png" format="PNG"/>
0259   </imageobject>
0260   <textobject>
0261     <phrase>Find Object Window with search online feature</phrase>
0262   </textobject>
0263 </mediaobject>
0264 </screenshot>
0265 </para>
0266 
0267 <para>
0268 The window contains a list of (almost, see <xref linkend="catalogs"/>)
0269 all the named objects that &kstars; is aware of.  Many of the objects
0270 only have a numeric catalog name (for example, NGC 3077), but some
0271 objects have a common name as well (for example, Whirlpool Galaxy).
0272 You can filter the list by name and by object type.  To filter by
0273 name, enter a string in the edit box at the top of the window; the
0274 list will then only contain names which start with that string.  To
0275 filter by type, select a type from the combo box at the bottom of the
0276 window.
0277 </para>
0278 <para>
0279 &kstars; provides another method for resolving the objects that are
0280 missing from any of its predefined catalogues, by using an internet
0281 connection. Thus, if you want to find an object that &kstars; is not
0282 aware of, you can easily do this by querying several professional
0283 astronomical databases as: SIMBAD, NED or VizieR. This can be done by
0284 entering the object's name and then press the <guibutton>or search the
0285 internet for <replaceable>ObjectName</replaceable></guibutton> button. After your object is found,
0286 you can use it exactly as any object that is already loaded into &kstars;
0287 (&ie; adding it to the Observing WishList). If the object was not found
0288 in the online databases, then a warning dialogue will pop-up. Once you
0289 resolve an object by using this method, it is stored in &kstars; database,
0290 so if you close &kstars; and open it again, your object will still be there.
0291 </para>
0292 
0293 <para>
0294 You can choose to enable or disable this feature by checking or unchecking the
0295 <guibutton>Resolve names not known to &kstars; using online services</guibutton>
0296 check box from <guilabel>Catalogs</guilabel> page, inside of <guilabel>Configure
0297 - &kstars;</guilabel> dialog (select the <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
0298 <guimenuitem>Configure &kstars;...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item).
0299 If this checkbox is checked, when an object name unknown to &kstars;
0300 is entered in the <guilabel>Find Dialog</guilabel>, &kstars; will contact online
0301 services to learn about the desired object and then add it directly to &kstars;
0302 database. The objects acquired in this manner are stored in a fake catalog, called
0303 <quote>_Internet_Resolved</quote>. Thus, you can enable or disable the display of
0304 these objects by checking or unchecking the <quote>_Internet_Resolved</quote> catalog
0305 from the catalogues list. Note that you can not delete this fake catalogue, as you can
0306 do with a custom catalogue. If this checkbox is unchecked, then the
0307 <guilabel>Find Object</guilabel> window will be exactly the same, excepting a minor change:
0308 the online searching button will no longer be visible.
0309 </para>
0310 <screenshot>
0311 <screeninfo>Find Object Window</screeninfo>
0312 <mediaobject>
0313   <imageobject>
0314     <imagedata fileref="find.png" format="PNG"/>
0315   </imageobject>
0316   <textobject>
0317     <phrase>Find Object Window</phrase>
0318   </textobject>
0319 </mediaobject>
0320 </screenshot>
0321 <para>
0322 To center the display on an object, highlight the desired object in
0323 the list, and press <guibutton>Ok</guibutton>.  Note that if the
0324 object is below the horizon, the program will warn you that you may
0325 not see anything except the ground (you can make the ground invisible
0326 in the <guilabel>Guides</guilabel> settings page, or by pressing the
0327 <guiicon>Ground</guiicon> button in the View toolbar).
0328 </para>
0329 </sect2>
0330 
0331 <sect2 id="centertrack">
0332 <title>Centering and Tracking</title>
0333 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary>
0334 <secondary>Tracking</secondary></indexterm>
0335 <para>
0336 &kstars; will automatically begin tracking on an object whenever one
0337 is centered in the display, either by using the <guilabel>Find
0338 Object</guilabel> window, by double-clicking on it, or by
0339 selecting <guimenuitem>Center &amp; Track</guimenuitem> from its
0340 <mousebutton>right</mousebutton>-click popup menu.  You can disengage
0341 tracking by panning the display, pressing the <guiicon>Stop Tracking</guiicon>
0342 icon in the Main toolbar, or selecting <menuchoice><guimenu>Pointing</guimenu>
0343 <guimenuitem>Stop Tracking</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item.
0344 </para>
0345 
0346 <note>
0347 <para>
0348 <indexterm><primary>Orbit Trails</primary>
0349 <secondary>Attached to centered object</secondary>
0350 </indexterm>
0351 When tracking on a Solar System body, &kstars; will automatically
0352 attach an <quote>orbit trail</quote>, showing the path of the body
0353 across the sky.  You will likely need to change the clock's timestep
0354 to a large value (such as <quote>1 day</quote>) to see the trail.
0355 </para>
0356 </note>
0357 </sect2>
0358 
0359 <sect2 id="objectactions">
0360 <title>Keyboard Actions</title>
0361 <indexterm><primary>Objects in the Sky</primary>
0362 <secondary>Keyboard Actions</secondary></indexterm>
0363 <para>
0364 
0365 When you click on an object in the map, it becomes the
0366 <firstterm>selected object</firstterm>, and its name is identified in
0367 the statusbar.  There are a number of quick key commands available
0368 which act on the selected object:
0369 
0370 <variablelist>
0371 <varlistentry>
0372 <term><keycap>C</keycap></term>
0373 <listitem>
0374 <para>Center and Track on the selected object.</para>
0375 </listitem>
0376 </varlistentry>
0377 
0378 <varlistentry>
0379 <term><keycap>D</keycap></term>
0380 <listitem>
0381 <para>Show the <link linkend="tool-details">Details window</link>
0382 for the selected object.</para>
0383 </listitem>
0384 </varlistentry>
0385 
0386 <varlistentry>
0387 <term><keycap>L</keycap></term>
0388 <listitem>
0389 <para>Toggle a visible name label on the selected object.</para>
0390 </listitem>
0391 </varlistentry>
0392 
0393 <varlistentry>
0394 <term><keycap>O</keycap></term>
0395 <listitem>
0396 <para>Add the selected object to the
0397 <link linkend="tool-obsplanner">Observing wish-list</link>.</para>
0398 </listitem>
0399 </varlistentry>
0400 
0401 <varlistentry>
0402 <term><keycap>T</keycap></term>
0403 <listitem>
0404 <para>Toggle a visible curve on the sky, showing the path of the
0405 object across the sky (only applicable to Solar System bodies).
0406 </para>
0407 </listitem>
0408 </varlistentry>
0409 
0410 </variablelist>
0411 </para>
0412 
0413 <note>
0414 <para>
0415 By holding down the &Shift; key, you can perform
0416 these actions on the centered object, rather than the selected
0417 object.
0418 </para>
0419 </note>
0420 </sect2> <!--object actions-->
0421 </sect1> <!--objects in the sky-->
0422 
0423 <sect1 id="endtour">
0424 <title>End of the Tour</title>
0425 <para>
0426 This concludes the tour of the &kstars; skymap, although we have only scratched
0427 the surface of the available features.  &kstars; includes many useful
0428 <link linkend="tools">astronomy tools</link>, it can directly
0429 <link linkend="indi">control your telescope</link>, and it offers a
0430 wide variety of <link linkend="config">configuration and
0431 customization options</link>.  In addition, this Handbook includes the
0432 <link linkend="astroinfo">AstroInfo Project</link>, a series of short,
0433 interlinked articles explaining some of the celestial and astrophysical
0434 concepts behind &kstars;.
0435 </para>
0436 </sect1>
0437 
0438 </chapter>