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0001 <sect1 id="tool-solarsys">
0002 <title>Solar System Viewer</title>
0003 <indexterm><primary>Tools</primary>
0004 <secondary>Solar System Viewer</secondary>
0005 </indexterm>
0006 
0007 <screenshot>
0008 <screeninfo>
0009 The Solar System Viewer
0010 </screeninfo>
0011 <mediaobject>
0012   <imageobject>
0013     <imagedata fileref="solarsystem.png" format="PNG"/>
0014   </imageobject>
0015   <textobject>
0016     <phrase>Solar System Viewer</phrase>
0017   </textobject>
0018 </mediaobject>
0019 </screenshot>
0020 
0021 <para>
0022 This tool displays a model of our solar system as seen from
0023 above.  The Sun is drawn as a yellow dot in the center of the
0024 plot, and the orbits of the planets are drawn as ellipses with
0025 the correct shapes and orientations.  The current position
0026 of each planet along its orbit is drawn as a colored dot, along
0027 with a name label.  The display can be zoomed in and out with
0028 the <keycap>+</keycap> and <keycap>-</keycap> keys, and the
0029 display can be recentered with the arrow keys, or by
0030 double-clicking anywhere in the window with the mouse.  You can
0031 also center on a planet with the <keycap>0</keycap>&ndash;<keycap>9</keycap> keys
0032 (<keycap>0</keycap> is the Sun; <keycap>9</keycap> is Pluto).
0033 If you center on a planet, it will be tracked as time passes in
0034 the tool.
0035 </para>
0036 <para>
0037 The Solar System Viewer has its own clock, independent of the
0038 clock in the main &kstars; window.  There is a timestep control
0039 widget here, similar to the one in the main window's toolbar.
0040 However, this control defaults to a timestep of 1 day (so that
0041 the motions of the planets can be seen), and it starts out with
0042 the clock paused when the tool is opened. You may set the date to now
0043 by pressing the <guibutton>Today</guibutton> button.
0044 </para>
0045 <note>
0046 <para>
0047 The current model used for Pluto's orbit is only good for dates
0048 within about 100 years of the present date.  If you let the Solar
0049 System clock advance beyond this range, you will see Pluto behave
0050 very strangely!  We are aware of this issue, and will try to
0051 improve Pluto's orbit model soon.
0052 </para>
0053 </note>
0054 </sect1>