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There are many ways available by which you can customize
the look of your Starry Night. By using the Preferences and
Options controls in the Settings menu, you can adjust the
program's look to suit your needs, or to maximize its
performance on slower computers.
Options
Open Options to gain access to settings which affect the
look of almost any object or guide in Starry Night. Common
options that people like to adjust are the font and font
sizes used to label star and planet names, or how the Guides
are displayed.
Options dialog box
Selecting Options from the Settings menu brings you to
the Options dialog box. This window displays the adjustable
settings of Starry Night's features. Use the popup menu to
choose which feature you'd like to adjust. You can also
access options by pressing the Options buttons on the
Display palette.
Once you have adjusted the settings in the feature's
dialog box, you can preview how these will look by clicking
the Apply button. If you're satisfied with your new
settings, click OK to return to the current view. If you're
not, keep adjusting, or press the Cancel button to leave
your settings untouched.
Save Options As
Default
If you wish to change the default settings, you can
change them by choosing "Save Options As Default" from the
Settings menu.
For example, if you wish not to see the Feet guides as a
default, select Feet under the Guides menu, thereby turning
them off. Then select Save Options As Default. From now on,
all new windows that you open will not show the feet as a
default. (You can still turn them back on via the Guides
menu as desired.)
Other aspects of Starry Night, such as the time flow can
also be saved as default. In this way, you could set the
time flow to be stopped when the program first opens. Just
set up the program exactly as you like it, then select Save
Options As Default.
A second way you can adjust your default windows is by
closing all open windows, then going through the menu bar
and adjusting the available menu commands. Any of the menu
items that aren't dimmed can be toggled on or off, now
becoming your default settings. Every new window that you
open will now have these settings.
Custom Option Sets
Starry Night also allows you to create custom option sets
for most of its features. This makes it easier for you to
switch quickly between a variety of custom settings.
Save Options As...
The "Save Options As" command under the Settings menu
saves your current settings as an option set and places
it in the Option Sets folder.
Use Options
Selecting this command from the Settings menu allows
you to access option sets. The command will let you
select from any saved option set or return to the default
set. After selection, the current window will now reflect
the new settings.
For example, you may wish to create a custom set for
printing charts, one in which Daylight is always turned off,
and Constellations, Deep Sky objects, and Local Guides are
turned on. If you haven't already, open a Starry Night
window, then go through and set these options as desired.
Then, choose "Save Options as" from the Settings menu. Name
your option set, and save it to the Options folder. You can
now select it by choosing "Use Options" any time you want to
quickly change to these settings.
- Note: To delete an
option set, search your hard disk for the file then drag
it into the Trash.
Orientation
In the Standard orientation, which is the default for
most windows, the sky is depicted as if you are standing on
the surface of the Earth. When time is set to move faster
than normal, the spin of the Earth can make the stars seem
to rapidly rotate.
By selecting Orientation from the Settings menu command,
you can change your viewing position so as to minimize this
effect.
Local (Standard): This orientation is
from the perspective of standing on Earth.
Equatorial: Changes your orientation to that of
standing on the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Ecliptic: Changes your orientation to that of
standing on the ecliptic plane of the Solar System. This
view is especially effective for looking at comets.
Galactic: Changes your orientation to that of
standing on the Galactic plane.
In any other orientation besides Standard view, the
horizon is automatically turned off. If you wish to see your
local horizon, choose Options>Local Guides from the
Settings menu, and turn off all options except Local
Horizon, then select Local Guides from the Guides Menu. This
will show you the relative orientation between the Standard
Local Horizon orientation and the other orientations.
Flip
Selecting Flip from the Settings menu changes the current
view to a mirror image. This is very helpful if your
telescope flips or inverts sky images. Selecting will adjust
your current view to match what you see through your
telescope. You can then print out charts that match the
telescope's view, for use during observing sessions.
You have the ability to flip the image horizontally,
vertically, or both directions.
- Tip: If you check the
Orientation check box in Options>Onscreen
Info>Location under the Settings menu, Onscreen info
will display a direction-indicator pointing north and
west, and also tell you if your view is flipped in any
way. This feature is handy as a reminder that you are
using the Flip command.
Magnitudes
A star's magnitude measures its apparent brightness. The
idea for assigning magnitudes originated with Greek
astronomer Hipparchos (190-120 BC). He catalogued all the
visible stars he could see and assigned them magnitudes from
1 to 6, the brightest stars having a value of 1.
Contemporary astronomers have refined his system somewhat,
re-assigning some of the brighter objects and adding dimmer
and dimmer stars. The faintest stars that can be seen by the
Hubble Space Telescope are in the 26 to 28th magnitude
range, very dim stars indeed!
On a dark moonless night in the country, far from the
city's light, it is possible to see from 1,000 to 2,000
stars, some as dim as sixth magnitude, depending on the time
of year and your location on Earth.
- Cool fact: Astronauts orbiting
Earth in the Space Shuttle can only see the stars while
on the night side of Earth, since the day side of the
planet is so bright.
The brightness and quantity of stars that can be seen in
Starry Night is adjustable. Select Magnitudes from the
Setting menu to bring up a dialog box with several
options.
Brightness
The "How stars are drawn" slider allows you to adjust how
brightly the stars are drawn on the computer screen. If you
are running Starry Night on a portable computer, or if the
room in which you are in is brightly illuminated, raising
the brightness of the stars can be helpful. If you have the
room lights low and are looking at lots of Hubble stars,
you'll probably also want to turn down the stars'
brightness.
Number Of Objects
Starry Night uses one of two methods for determining the
dimmest stars to show. The default is "Basic Mode", which
adjusts the number of displayed stars based on how far
zoomed in you are; as you zoom in, dimmer and dimmer stars
are shown. The Complete Hubble Star Guide Catalog included
on the CD can display some stars down to 16th magnitude.
Important: Insert the Starry Night CD before you start, if
you want to have access to all the stars.
The other method is "Expert Mode" which allows you to
adjust the total number of stars and other objects shown at
each zoom level. For instance, if you wish to see more
stars, increase the Stars slider setting. The scale on the
slider is measured in magnitudes, so that setting the slider
at +1 will show stars that are 1 magnitude dimmer than you
would normally see in Basic mode. The second slider allows
you to fine tune the number of other objects that are shown
at each zoom step.
- Note: Showing more stars and
objects will increase the time required to draw views. We
recommend that you use Expert mode with caution, since
performance may suffer on slower computers. However, by
showing lots of Hubble stars, you can get
near-photographic quality images of the rich star regions
of the Milky Way.
- Tip: When looking at lots of
Hubble stars, turn off the Milky Way in the Display Menu.
This allows the Hubble stars to form their own milky band
of stars.
Magnitude Cutoff
Checking this box allows you to set a magnitude limit
after which dimmer stars and objects are not shown. You can
use this control if you know the limiting magnitude of your
real sky, and would like to display your Starry Night sky in
a similar fashion.
For example, if you live in a city, and your naked eye
limiting magnitude is say, 4th magnitude, you could adjust
the slider to show up to 4th magnitude stars but nothing
dimmer. That way, what you see on the computer screen will
be similar to what you will actually see naked-eye while
observing from your city location.
You may also want to use this control to simulate your
telescope's view on a given night. If you know the dimmest
star that your telescope can make out, setting the slider to
that magnitude will give you a good idea what you can view
through your instrument.
- Note: We recommend that you use
Magnitude Cutoff with caution. If you forget that you
have it enabled, you may wonder where the stars all went
next time you're zooming in.
Chart View
Selecting "Chart View" from the Settings Menu will change
the current view to Chart mode, which simulates the look of
an astronomy chart. Stars are represented by dark circles on
a white background. The size of a particular circle reflects
the relative brightness of the star.
Chart view may be printed by selecting the Print command
in the File Menu. This feature is particularly useful if you
wish to take your Starry Night views outside in order to aid
your field observations. (That is, if your computer isn't
portable.)
Preferences
When you select Preferences from the Settings Menu, you
are able to adjust several aspects of Starry Night, giving
you control over how the program looks and responds.
Preferences are global in nature, that is, once set, they
are automatically used as the default preferences.
- Shortcut: A quick way to access
the Preferences window is to double-click on the
Selection Tool.
To adjust particular features of objects such as stars,
planets, and constellations, as well as guides and the
onscreen info, choose Options from the Settings menu.
Dynamic Scrolling: Checking this box allows
dynamic scrolling, which means that views are updated
constantly while adjusting a scroller or slider. If
unchecked, your view won't change as you adjust the scroll
until you let go. If you have a slower computer, you may
want to uncheck this box to increase performance.
- Cool effect: If you hold down
the Alt key (Windows) or the Option key (Macintosh) while
turning dynamic scrolling on, time will flow between each
update of the screen while you are using the hand
grabber. To turn off you must click in the dynamic
scrolling (even if unchecked) with the Alt or Option key
held down.
Show Zenith And Nadir: When
this box is checked, the point directly above you (zenith)
and the point directly below you (nadir) are shown.
Allow Maximum Zoom Out:
Checking this box will allow you to zoom out to the maximum
of 180°.
No Save Warnings: Checking
this box turns off the message asking you if you want to
save the currently unsaved window.
Labels Show Arrows: When this box is checked,
labels will be accompanied by arrows, which point to the
labeled object. When these arrows are on, Starry Night will
activate a "name-avoidance algorithm", which attempts to
keep labels from overlapping one another.
Show Viewport in Info Windows:
If this box is checked, info windows will show the
Viewport. For more information on this remarkable little
window, see The
Viewport, in the Gathering Information chapter.
- Note: If you have a slower
computer, you may want to uncheck this box to increase
performance.
Enlarge Moon Size: When this
box is checked, the Moon's disc is enlarged when viewing
from the Earth. This simulates the illusion of an enlarged
Moon that we experience here on Earth.
Sun Halo: The Sun's halo is an
atmospheric effect that occurs when the Sun's light scatters
through our atmosphere. The popup menu allows you to adjust
whether or not this halo is displayed, and if so, whether it
is shown only in daylight, or at all times. If you're
viewing a total eclipse of the Sun, we recommend that you
turn the Sun's halo on, as this halo also serves as the
Sun's corona.
Sound Effects (Macintosh only):
You can use this popup menu to choose between several sound
effect sets.
Number Formats: There are a
number of different formats in which declination, altitude,
right ascension, and azimuth are described. These popup
menus let you choose how each of these terms is displayed
throughout Starry Night.
- d: degrees
- m: minutes
- s: seconds
The numbers of each letter indicates decimal places of
the format. For example, dd mm.mmm indicates that degrees
will be displayed by up to two digits, with minutes being
displayed by up to two digits rounded off to three decimal
places, e.g. 25° 30.123 minutes.
Update In Realtime Every:
This sets the number of seconds between screen updates when
time is flowing at a normal rate.
- The default setting is 5 seconds.
If set to 0, the screen will update as fast as your
computer will let it. On slower computer it is best to set
this default higher.
Number Of Undo Levels:
Adjusts the number of undo levels, from 2 to 99. The default
setting is 15 levels.
Zoom Step: sets the size of
each zoom step. By increasing this slider, you will zoom in
or out faster, since each zoom step is larger.
Elevation Step: sets the size
of each elevation step. By increasing this slider, you can
change your elevation at a faster rate, since each elevation
step is larger.
Planet Path Length: sets
the length of planets local and celestial paths, whenever
they are turned on.
Animation Speed: This slider has been designed for
use with future high-speed computer systems. Unless your
computer is running at 500 MHz or more, we recommend leaving
the animation speed slider full on.
Panning Speed: Sets the speed of pans used during
finds, and when locating and centering objects.
Factory Defaults: Resets the above preferences to
"fresh out of the box" default specifications.
Scenery Sets
Starry Night give you a choice of scenery sets. By
default, Starry Night opens with tree scenery on the planet
Earth. You may choose between several different scenery
sets, including a star gazing party, an ocean view, palm
trees or even dinosaurs. Select these from within the
Viewing Location window.
Click on the Location button on the Tool Palette to open
the Viewing Location window. Using the scenery popup menu,
select which scenery set, if any, you would like to have
displayed. Then close the window by pressing the Set
Location button. The chosen scenery set will now be
displayed.
To adjust the manner in which scenery sets are displayed,
select Options from the Settings menu, then select Horizon
from the popup list. For more information about these
options see the Horizon
chapter
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