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Theskyx Professional and Serious Astronomer Edition User Guide

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Theskyx Professional and Serious Astronomer Edition User Guide TheSkyX Professional and Serious Astronomer Edition User Guide Copyright 2010 Software Bisque, Inc. Revision 1.2.3 Disclaimer Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Software Bisque. The software and/or databases described in this document are furnished under a license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. They may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the agreement (www.bisque.com/eula). It is against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license or nondisclosure agreement. The purchaser may make one copy of the software for backup purposes. No part of this manual and/or databases may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including (but not limited to) photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, for any purpose other than the purchaser’s personal use, without the express written permission of Software Bisque. Charts created with TheSkyX are for personal use only. They may not be published in any form without express written permission of Software Bisque, Inc. TheSkyX includes routines from Astronomical Algorithms Software, © 1991 by Jeffrey Sax, and option to the book Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus copyright © 1991 by Willmann-Bell. ISBN 0-943376-35-2. Non-exclusive use has been specifically granted, in writing, by Willmann-Bell, for use in TheSkyX. Serial Number U11A445. Photographs in the AAO folder of TheSkyX’s media are copyright Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAT images) and/or ROE/AATB (UK Schmidt Telescope images) and are reproduced with permission. Photographs from the Anglo Australian Observatory telescopes are by David Malin. The photograph of the Milky Way is licensed from Digital Sky LLC. TheSkyX™ copyright 2010 Software Bisque, Inc. All rights reserved. TheSkyX Serious Astronomer Edition is a trademark of Software Bisque, Inc. Winter Star Party panorama photographs courtesy Art Mullis. Selected “in-place” photos are copyright Robert Gendler and are reproduced with permission. Mac and the Mac logo are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other product names are trademarks of their respective owners and are used solely for identification. Portions of this document were written by Andre Bormanis and Woodrow W. Grizzle III. Revised: May 2010 3 Table of Contents Welcome to TheSkyX ......................................................................................... 11 Getting Started ...........................................................................................................................11 Updating Your Computer’s Video Driver ...........................................................................12 Running TheSkyX Without OpenGL ..................................................................................13 Minimum System Requirements ...............................................................................................14 Mac ......................................................................................................................................14 Windows..............................................................................................................................14 Installing TheSkyX ....................................................................................................................15 Removing TheSkyX ............................................................................................................16 Name and Serial Number Registration ......................................................................................16 Small Computer Screens ............................................................................................................17 Application Support Files ..........................................................................................................19 About This Documentation .................................................................................................19 Having a Look Around ...................................................................................... 19 Entering Your Location .......................................................................................................20 Custom Location .................................................................................................................22 Earth Map ............................................................................................................................23 The Basics ............................................................................................................ 24 Zoom Control .............................................................................................................................24 Scrolling and Panning Control ...................................................................................................26 Chart Navigation ........................................................................................................................27 Using the Navigate Command ............................................................................................27 Display Chart Elements .............................................................................................................29 Customizable Interface ..............................................................................................................31 Heading Home ...........................................................................................................................33 Saving & Retrieving Your Sky Chart .................................................................................33 Help Options ....................................................................................................... 34 Finding and Identifying Celestial Objects ....................................................... 35 Identifying Objects ..............................................................................................................35 Identifying Galaxies, Nebulas, and Open Clusters .............................................................37 Finding Objects ...................................................................................................................41 Advanced Searches ....................................................................................................................42 Labeling Objects ................................................................................................. 48 Tours .................................................................................................................... 51 Creating Tours ...........................................................................................................................51 Create Movies .....................................................................................................................55 Photos from the Deep Sky .................................................................................. 57 Viewing Astronomical Photos ...................................................................................................57 Placing Photos ...........................................................................................................................57 Creating a Photo Group .......................................................................................................58 Managing Photo Databases .................................................................................................60 5 TheSkyX Professional and Serious Astronomer Edition User Guide Viewing Photos from the Digitized Sky Survey ........................................................................60 Viewing FITS Photos ................................................................................................................62 FITS Viewer Window .........................................................................................................62 Your Sky Tonight ............................................................................................... 65 Observing Lists ...................................................................................................................65 Field of View Indicators ............................................................................................................65 Choosing Your Telescope and Eyepieces ...........................................................................66 Showing Telrad Finders ......................................................................................................68 Adding or Editing Field of View Indicator Properties ........................................................69 FOVIs and the Sky Chart ....................................................................................................72 Object Paths ...............................................................................................................................73 Generating An Object Path .................................................................................................74 Create Paths Options ...........................................................................................................75 Path Labels ..........................................................................................................................76 The Calendar
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