WIDE ANGLE STAR VIEW This is the wide angle star view. It's approximate dimensions are 2 hrs R.A. along the horizontal axis by 30 deg. Dec. along the vertical axis. Stars are displayed to magnitude 6.5. Star colours correspond to spectral type according to the following table. Spectral type Star colour O,B Light Blue A White F Green G0-G5 Yellow G6-G10 Bright Red K Bright Red M Dark Red all others White All the stars displayed in this view are listed in the Yale Bright Star Catalogue. As such there is extensive information available for each star. Click the left mouse button while the mouse cursor is on a star to see this information displayed in the main text window below the wide angle star view. Clicking the right mouse button will display the main and finder fields of view centred on the position of the mouse cursor. Press to enable/disable the coordinate grid. MAIN TEXT WINDOW This is where all the information on stars and deep sky objects (DSO's) is displayed. To identify stars in the wide angle star view click on the star with the left mouse button. The first line then gives the star name (proper name and Greek designation ie. Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kentaurus) ). If there is none then the star's Henry Draper catalogue number is displayed. The second line shows the star's rank in the constellation. Alpha Centauri would be 01 Centauri. The following lines give the star's coordinates in R.A. and Dec. as well as magnitude, distance and spectral type. The last line shows the magnitude difference and separation of components (in seconds of arc) in a binary system. If any of this information is not available that line will be blank. To identify DSO's in the main or finder fields of view click on the object with the left mouse button. The first line in the main text window will then show the objects name. The second line (AKA) shows other appropriate names for the object (ie. NGC 224 is AKA M31). The next line gives the object type. This displays what type of object you have selected (ie. Galaxy, Planetary Nebula etc.). The next line is for object class. This is most frequently when the object is a galaxy. The object class then shows the Hubble galaxy class. The following lines show R.A., Dec., magnitude and size. Finally the last two lines show what constellation the object is in and its NGC description, if any. This description is fairly cryptic but can be decoded using Appendix 1 in the manual. If you wish to identify a star in the main or finder fields of view click on the star with the right mouse button. The information is organized the same as stars identified in the wide angle star view however many more stars are available. To save disk space stars which are not displayed in the wide angle star view (not Yale Bright Star Catalogue) only show the SAO number, basic spectral type, magnitude and coordinates. This information is derived from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory catalogue. TOGGLE OBJECTS Click on an object with the left mouse button to toggle the display of that object on or off. When an object will not be displayed it is grayed out. After toggling an objects display status use Replot to implement the change immediately. Otherwise the change will occur when the main and finder fields are next redrawn. SCOPES Use this menu to reconfigure the main and finder scope fields to match your own telescope(s). As many configurations as necessary can be set up and saved. Use this menu to enable/disable DSO magnitude filtering. All DSO's with a magnitude fainter than the magnitude limit set for the main scope field of view will not be displayed in either the main or finder scope fields. After enabling/disabling the DSO magnitude limit the next question asks if you wish to load a file. Press to close the window. If you answer es then you will be prompted for a file name. File names are entered without an extension. Once a save file is loaded Deep Sky will display it for you to check. If you answer o then you will be prompted for the required information. The previous values are shown. If these are OK press to retain these values. When finished Deep Sky will ask if you wish to save the configuration in a file. Enter a file name (without extension) and the configuration will be saved to disk. If you name the file 'scopes' then this will become the default configuration and will be loaded whenever Deep Sky is run. Note that whenever you make a change to the scope parameters you must select REPLOT to implement these changes immediately. Otherwise Deep Sky uses the changes when it next plots the finder/main scope fields. PLOT If you know the coordinates of the area of sky you wish to display you can enter the coordinates directly using this option. Enter the coordinates in decimal degrees and decimal hours. The coordinates entered will be for the lower right corner of the displayed area. SEARCH Search is used to find DSO's or stars if you do not know their location or name. As well you can set a number of search parameters to look for more than one object. One example would be to build an observing list. Once Search is selected a menu pops up with various options. These are: 1. Search for object 2. Search for star 3. Customize search 4. Exit When Search for object is selected a small dialogue box pops up. Enter the objects catalogue number. There are many different catalogues in the database. Most DSO's appear in several of them. The most familiar catalogues will be the NGC and Messier catalogues. Others are listed in appendix C. Searches are not case sensitive. Spaces between the catalogue (ie. NGC) and number(224) are optional. One example would be to search for the Andromeda Galaxy. This is listed in the database as M31 or NGC 224. Entering either number will find it. Once the object is found a text window will pop up with all the available information on the object and you will be asked if you wish to plot a finder chart. Search for star works in a similar manner. Here you enter a star's common name, designation, Henry Draper or SAO catalogue number. You are also given the option of plotting a finder chart. Searches are conducted in the following order; common name, designation, catalogue number. When a finder chart is plotted the main screen replots with the star (or object) roughly centred in the wide angle star field. The information available for the star or object is also displayed. As well the main and finder scope fields are plotted with the object centred. Selecting Customize Search allows you to set search criteria for DSO's. Using this option you can select the type of object, a magnitude range for the objects, the constellation or a range of coordinates. Search criteria can be combined in any way. Thus, for example, you can search for all galaxies in Auriga between magnitude 5 and 9. As each search criterium is selected an asterisk will appear beside that menu selection. If you make a mistake simply click on that menu item or enter its number again to deselect it. After the search starts each object's information will be displayed in turn. You can then plot a finder chart or go on to the next object. SKY When you select SKY the screen will be redrawn as a hemispheric map of the entire sky. Each hemisphere is divided by lines every 2 hrs. of R.A. and every 30 deg. of Declination. Lines of R.A. are labelled. When you move the mouse around the map the R.A. and Dec. are constantly displayed. These coordinates are calculated to correctly display the section of the sky the mouse is currently pointing to. When the left mouse button is clicked this section will be displayed on the main screen. REPLOT Use this command to replot the main and finder scope fields. FINDER SCOPE Stars and DSOs are plotted according to the parameters set out in the scope configuration file. The field can be inverted or reversed. As well the field of view can be set (in degrees) and a magnitude limit set. This magnitude limit applies to stars plotted in the finder field of view. Press to show the main scope field size as a red circle superimposed on the finder field. Press to remove the circle. MAIN SCOPE Stars and DSOs are plotted according to the parameters set out in the scope configuration file. The field can be inverted or reversed. As well the field of view can be set (in degrees) and a magnitude limit set. This magnitude limit applies to stars plotted in the main field of view. If the DSO magnitude filter is enabled then DSOs will also have the magnitude filter applied to them. As well DSOs in the finder field of view will be filtered. If the object of interest has not been centred in the main scope field you can adjust the centring if you wish. Press "P" to enable panning then using the mouse, move the cursor to the desired main scope centre in the finder field and click the left mouse button. The field will be replotted with the new centre. FINDER SCOPE INFORMATION Information in this field gives the scope parameters that apply to the finder scope field. These are inverted or reversed (i,r or ir), magnitude limit and field of view. MAIN SCOPE INFORMATION Information in this field gives the scope parameters that apply to the finder scope field. These are inverted or reversed (i,r or ir), magnitude limit and field of view. MAGNITUDE SCALE This scale shows the size of stars plotted in the main and finder fields related to their respective magnitude. The scale can be adjusted by pressing the "+" or "-" keys. Use REPLOT to make the changes visible immediately.