TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Installing & Getting Started 1 Welcome! .......................................1 What’s New? .....................................2 Product Level .....................................6 Minimum System Requirements ...........................7 Performance ......................................7 Disclaimer .......................................8 Installing TheSky ...................................8 Removing TheSky ..................................10 Typographic Conventions ..............................10 Windows and Macintosh Conventions .......................11 Running TheSky ...................................11 Tip of the Day ....................................12 Getting Started with TheSky .............................12 Going Further ....................................14 If You Need Help... .................................14 Product Support ...................................15 2 Orienting the Virtual Sky 17 Selecting Terrestrial Coordinates ..........................17 Setting the Time and Date ..............................18 Understanding Projections .............................20 Setting the Orientation ................................22 The Look Commands ................................23 Interrupting a Screen Redraw ............................24 Undoing Changes to the Virtual Sky ........................24 3 Navigating the Virtual Sky 25 Zooming the Display .................................25 Scrolling the Display .................................28 The Move To Command ...............................29 Making It All Make Sense ..............................31 Interrupting a Screen Redraw ............................31 Undoing Changes to the Virtual Sky ........................32 4 Displaying Celestial Objects 33 Type Selection ....................................33 How TheSky Displays the Principal Catalogs ....................35 High / Medium / Low Density Display Modes ....................36 Catalog Contents ..................................36 Disclaimer ......................................38 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 Finding and Identifying Celestial Objects 39 Identifying Objects ..................................39 Finding Objects ...................................43 6 Display Modes and Options 49 Full Screen .....................................49 Chart Mode .....................................49 Projections ......................................50 Mirror Image / Inverting the Display .........................50 Stellar Options ....................................50 Night Vision .....................................54 Halt Update .....................................54 Redraw Screen ...................................54 Update Solar System ................................55 Options .......................................55 Precessing Equatorial Coordinates .........................57 Computer Time ...................................57 Toolbars .......................................57 Tool Tips .......................................59 Object Tips .....................................59 Status Bar ......................................59 Undo .........................................60 7 Reference Lines 61 Adding Reference Lines to the Display .......................61 Field of View Indicator ................................67 8 Labels 71 Label Setup .....................................71 9 Comets, Minor Planets, and Satellites 73 Entering Orbital Elements ..............................73 Extended Minor Planet Data ............................76 Satellites .......................................77 10 Configuring TheSky with Sky Documents 79 What is a Sky Document? ..............................79 Default Configuration ................................79 Selecting a Sky Document at Startup ........................80 Loading a Different Sky Document .........................80 Creating Multiple Sky Documents ..........................80 Sky Documents Supplied with TheSky .......................81 TABLE OF CONTENTS 11 Customizing the Display with Preferences 83 The Preferences Dialog Box ............................83 Font .........................................84 Line .........................................84 Fill ..........................................85 Symbol .......................................87 Creating New Preference Files ...........................88 12 Adding User Data 89 Basics of Adding User Data .............................89 Changing the Default Data Type ..........................90 Adding Reference Points/Objects ..........................90 Adding Labels ....................................90 Adding Lines/Polygons ...............................91 Adding Ellipses ...................................93 13 Star Charts and Tables 95 Printed Charts ....................................95 Adding Star Charts to Other Documents ..................... 101 Displaying and Printing Uranometria 2000.0™ Charts .............. 102 List Creator .................................... 102 Planet Report ................................... 108 14 The Sky Database Manager 109 Specialized Databases .............................. 110 15 Custom Databases 113 Database Requirements .............................. 113 Importing Databases ............................... 114 Creating Custom Databases ........................... 117 16 Image and Multimedia Databases 129 Activating Additional Image Databases ...................... 129 Displaying Pictures ................................ 130 Creating Your Own Image Databases ....................... 132 Associating Sounds with Events in TheSky .................... 135 17 Image Link Overlays 137 Inserting the Image to be Linked ......................... 137 Aligning Automatically with the Link Wizard .................... 138 Aligning Manually with Object Dragging ...................... 142 Creating an Automatically Linked DSS Image .................. 143 Attaching an OLE Object to the Virtual Sky .................... 144 TABLE OF CONTENTS 18 Time Skip Animation 147 Orientation and Animation ............................. 147 Setting Up a Simulation .............................. 148 Running the Simulation .............................. 150 Time Skip Examples ................................ 152 Recording Time Skip Simulations ......................... 154 Using the Time Skip Controls with the Virtual Sky ................ 154 Creating and Playing Movies ........................... 154 19 Simulations and Tools 157 3D Solar System View ............................... 157 Daytime Sky Mode ................................ 160 Eclipse Finder and Simulator ........................... 161 Jupiter’s and Saturn’s Moons ........................... 162 Saturn’s Rings ................................... 163 Moon Phase Calendar ............................... 163 20 Linking Your Telescope with TheSky 165 Introduction .................................... 165 Setting Up and Using Optical Encoder Systems ................. 166 Setting Up and Using a Meade LX200 ...................... 172 Setting Up and Using the Quadrant Systems Coordinate III ........... 176 Troubleshooting .................................. 178 Using the Link Simulator ............................. 180 Digital Setting Circles ............................... 180 Mosaic Command ................................. 181 Using the Telescopes in Education Network ................... 182 Using Astronomy Command Language ...................... 182 Using the Paramount GT-1100 Drive System ................... 182 A Database Locations and Errors 183 Database Locations ................................ 183 Missing or Anomalous GSC Data ......................... 183 B Reference Data 185 Common Star Names ............................... 185 Common NGC Objects .............................. 186 Spectral Classes ................................. 186 Constellation Abbreviations ............................ 187 Dreyer Abbreviations ............................... 188 Object-Type Index Numbers ........................... 190 C Function & Accelerator Keys 191 1 Installing & Getting Started Welcome! Thank you for purchasing TheSky™. No other astronomy software offers as much power, versatility and expandability. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced observer, TheSky has many features to increase the enjoyment of your hobby. ● Access the Hipparcos and Tycho catalogs. These data for 1.1 million stars (Tycho) and 118,000 stars (Hipparcos) are the primary databases for the Virtual Sky. They fix “messy” entries in the GSC and are invaluable for CCD astrometry. ● Explore the Hubble Guide Star Catalog (GSC). With 15 million stellar and 4 million non-stellar objects, data on over 70,000 galaxies, 12,000 double stars, 28,000 variable stars, and thousands of nebulae, clusters, and other objects, it’s not “billions and billions,” but more than can be explored in one lifetime. ● Plan a viewing session. Select the objects you intend to view, then print detailed star charts for those sections of the sky. ● View simulations of astronomical events. Watch a Solar or Lunar eclipse. View the Solar System as a passing comet sees it. Predict when a minor planet will occult a star. Preview the positions of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s largest moons and Saturn’s rings. Display a chart of the Moon’s phases for any month of any year. ● Control your telescope. Connect an automated telescope to your computer (desktop or notebook) and let TheSky control it. ● Create custom databases. TheSky’s database compiler can assemble almost any kind of astronomical