AstroGrav iconAstroGrav Help /Window Types /Star WindowsVersion 5.0.1

AstroGrav icon    Star Windows

Introduction

Star windows let you view the details of background stars in solar system simulations.

A star window can only be opened by double-clicking on one of the background stars in a view window of a solar system simulation. There is no menu item for opening a new star window. A star window is tied to the view window from which it was opened in the sense that some of its data is viewpoint dependent, and so changes as the viewpoint is changed. Some of the data is also time dependent, and so changes as the simulation evolves.

The values that are displayed are calculated relative to the viewpoint, so that the choice of viewpoint is important. If the viewpoint is on the Earth, some quantities (such as speed, motions, and position angles) change rapidly as a result of the Earth's changing velocity. If you want to see the values as they would appear in a star catalogue, you should use the View / View From... command to switch to a Floating viewpoint, so that the viewpoint's velocity is constant.

A star window contains the following eight data areas.

The Names/Catalogues and Physical Elements areas contain data that is constant and does not vary as the time and viewpoint changes. All the other areas contain data that varies as the time and viewpoint changes, although in some cases the rate of change is very small. The Horizontal Coordinates data will be blanked out if the viewpoint is not somewhere on the Earth.

Date/Viewpoint

The Date/Viewpoint area shows the following data items.

Names/Catalogues

The Names/Catalogues area shows the following data items.

Physical Elements

The Physical Elements area shows the following data items.

Position/Velocity

The Position/Velocity area shows the following data items as seen from the viewpoint.

Ecliptic Coordinates

The Ecliptic Coordinates area shows the following data items as seen from the viewpoint.

Equatorial Coordinates

The Equatorial Coordinates area shows the following data items as seen from the viewpoint.

Galactic Coordinates

The Galactic Coordinates area shows the following data items as seen from the viewpoint.

Horizontal Coordinates

The Horizontal Coordinates area shows the following data items as seen from the viewpoint.



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