Starry Night Manual (Looking Around)

Looking Around

One of the first things you will probably want to do with Starry Night is to look around the sky. In your backyard this is simple enough to do,and using Starry Night is almost as easy.

Use the Hand (or Grabber) tool to grab the sky and, holding down your mouse button, drag the view left or right, up or down, any which way you want. It's that simple!

It is also possible to use the scroll bars to change the direction in which you are looking. By scrolling down to the bottom of the vertical scroll bar, you are looking straight down. By scrolling to the top, you're looking straight up. The horizontal scroll bar controls the direction in which you view, through all 360° of the compass.

Tip: If you click on the horizontal scroll arrow and hold down the mouse button, your view will continue to scroll around.

The Horizon

The landscape beneath the horizon is colored green, as if you are standing in a field looking at the sky. The trees and their shadows can give you a hint as to the Sun's location during the day. When dragged with the Hand tool, the horizon line will seem to curve as you move it up and down. This is because the view of the sky being shown uses a wide angle, giving a view similar to looking through a fisheye camera lens.

If you find yourself staring at a window full of green, this means that you are looking down at the ground in front of you. Just use the Hand tool or scroll bars and drag back up again, or you can press the Return home button to quickly return to your starting point.

Tip: If you wish to make the ground invisible, you can turn it off in the Display menu by selecting Horizon.

Zenith and Nadir

The point of sky directly above your head is known as the Zenith. The point directly below you is know as the Nadir. By default, both the Nadir and Zenith are identified, since they can be helpful when trying to get your bearings, especially when you are in space. If you wish, you may turn off this feature in Preferences under the Settings menu.

When looking straight down, you will see a pair of shoes. In space, or on other planets, these shoes will be replaced by a space suit.

Tip: You can turn the shoes off from the Guides menu.

Looking from the Perspective of a Person

Looking around in Starry Night is very much like using your own head and eyes. When you look straight down at your feet, you're unable to look any farther back since your body is in the way. When looking straight up, you can only look so far before your back can bend no further. To look behind you, either up or down, you must rotate your body a little.

The same is true while navigating within Starry Night. Upon reaching the Zenith or Nadir in your Starry Night view, you will be unable to continue past that point. To view areas past the Zenith or Nadir, you must "turn around" by dragging the view to the side.

If you're located in space, and are looking down at a planet beneath your feet, you may wish to change your orientation to Ecliptic or Equatorial by selecting Orientation under the Settings menus. By switching your orientation, the planet will no longer be located directly below you, and you'll have a better view of it.

Getting a Closer Look

When the sky is first presented, it is shown with a 100° field of view. This means you are viewing a 100° slice of the 360° panorama of the sky. We call this the normal field of view, and it approximates a view of the sky that you see with your own eyes (it includes some peripheral vision).

Using the Zoom buttons

The easiest and most convenient way to change your field of view is to use the Zoom buttons (they have the near mountains / far mountains icons on them), located on the Tool Palette. Note that your current field of view is displayed just beneath the buttons. The button on the left zooms the view out to a larger field of view, the middle one zooms in for a more magnified view, and a third button on the right returns the field of view to normal, or about 100°. Try using these buttons to get a hang of zooming in and out.

Tip: Zooming in too far will eventually present a field of view with no stars. To quickly return to the normal field of view, use the right-most button, the one with the outlined square on it.

It is important to remember that when you zoom in on objects, you are not in fact changing your location. It is, instead, akin to looking through a more and more powerful telescope, while staying with your feet firmly planted in one place. Unless you've locked onto an object, Starry Night will display the effects of Earth's rotation, so at a high zoom setting, stars and planets will "rotate out" of the window's view. We will discuss how to lock onto an object in the Planet Palette chapter.

Using the Magnification tool

Another way of changing your field of view is to use the Magnify tool (the little magnifying glass). Click on the tool to activate it, then click anywhere in the window to zoom in that direction.

To magnify a specific area of the sky, hold down the mouse button and drag to encompass the area you wish magnified. Holding down the Ctrl key (Windows) or the Option key (Macintosh) while using the Magnification tool will zoom you back out. Use the normal field of view button to quickly return to the standard view.

Tip: You can change the amount by which the view is zoomed at each zoom step from the Preferences dialog box.

Maximum Zoom Out

By default, you will be unable to zoom out past the standard view of 100°. However, by checking the "Allow maximum zoom-out" checkbox in the Preferences dialog box under the Settings Menu, you will be permitted to zoom out to see most of the sky in a single view. The sky can be thought of as a huge sphere, one half of which is visible at any particular time. Maximum Zoom-out maps this Celestial Sphere onto your computer screen. This is the view of the sky that most planispheres (handheld circular star charts) represent.

Cool effect: If you drag the horizon down to the bottom of the screen while in Maximum Zoom-out, the edge of the sky shown represents your local horizon seen in every direction, an extremely wide-angle view indeed!

Popup Zoom Menu

Yet another means to change your zoom setting is to use the popup menu that appears if you hold down your mouse button while the cursor is over the Current Field of View indicator on the Tool palette (see left). This popup menu includes several preset fields of view, that you can instantly switch to.

Tip: If you know the field of view of your binoculars or telescope, you can quickly switch back and forth to these values.

Note: Changing your window size will also affect the field of view; a smaller window shows a more limited view.

		One of the first things you will probably want to do with Starry Night is to look around the sky. In your backyard this is simple enough to do,and using Starry Night is almost as easy.
		Use the Hand (or Grabber) tool to grab the sky and, holding down your mouse button, drag the view left or right, up or down, any which way you want. It's that simple! It is also possible to use the scroll bars to change the direction in which you are looking. By scrolling down to the bottom of the vertical scroll bar, you are looking straight down. By scrolling to the top, you're looking straight up. The horizontal scroll bar controls the direction in which you view, through all 360° of the compass. Tip: If you click on the horizontal scroll arrow and hold down the mouse button, your view will continue to scroll around.
		The Horizon The landscape beneath the horizon is colored green, as if you are standing in a field looking at the sky. The trees and their shadows can give you a hint as to the Sun's location during the day. When dragged with the Hand tool, the horizon line will seem to curve as you move it up and down. This is because the view of the sky being shown uses a wide angle, giving a view similar to looking through a fisheye camera lens. If you find yourself staring at a window full of green, this means that you are looking down at the ground in front of you. Just use the Hand tool or scroll bars and drag back up again, or you can press the Return home button to quickly return to your starting point. Tip: If you wish to make the ground invisible, you can turn it off in the Display menu by selecting Horizon. Zenith and Nadir The point of sky directly above your head is known as the Zenith. The point directly below you is know as the Nadir. By default, both the Nadir and Zenith are identified, since they can be helpful when trying to get your bearings, especially when you are in space. If you wish, you may turn off this feature in Preferences under the Settings menu. When looking straight down, you will see a pair of shoes. In space, or on other planets, these shoes will be replaced by a space suit. Tip: You can turn the shoes off from the Guides menu. Looking from the Perspective of a Person Looking around in Starry Night is very much like using your own head and eyes. When you look straight down at your feet, you're unable to look any farther back since your body is in the way. When looking straight up, you can only look so far before your back can bend no further. To look behind you, either up or down, you must rotate your body a little. The same is true while navigating within Starry Night. Upon reaching the Zenith or Nadir in your Starry Night view, you will be unable to continue past that point. To view areas past the Zenith or Nadir, you must "turn around" by dragging the view to the side. If you're located in space, and are looking down at a planet beneath your feet, you may wish to change your orientation to Ecliptic or Equatorial by selecting Orientation under the Settings menus. By switching your orientation, the planet will no longer be located directly below you, and you'll have a better view of it. Getting a Closer Look When the sky is first presented, it is shown with a 100° field of view. This means you are viewing a 100° slice of the 360° panorama of the sky. We call this the normal field of view, and it approximates a view of the sky that you see with your own eyes (it includes some peripheral vision). Using the Zoom buttons
		The easiest and most convenient way to change your field of view is to use the Zoom buttons (they have the near mountains / far mountains icons on them), located on the Tool Palette. Note that your current field of view is displayed just beneath the buttons. The button on the left zooms the view out to a larger field of view, the middle one zooms in for a more magnified view, and a third button on the right returns the field of view to normal, or about 100°. Try using these buttons to get a hang of zooming in and out. Tip: Zooming in too far will eventually present a field of view with no stars. To quickly return to the normal field of view, use the right-most button, the one with the outlined square on it. It is important to remember that when you zoom in on objects, you are not in fact changing your location. It is, instead, akin to looking through a more and more powerful telescope, while staying with your feet firmly planted in one place. Unless you've locked onto an object, Starry Night will display the effects of Earth's rotation, so at a high zoom setting, stars and planets will "rotate out" of the window's view. We will discuss how to lock onto an object in the Planet Palette chapter. Using the Magnification tool
		Another way of changing your field of view is to use the Magnify tool (the little magnifying glass). Click on the tool to activate it, then click anywhere in the window to zoom in that direction. To magnify a specific area of the sky, hold down the mouse button and drag to encompass the area you wish magnified. Holding down the Ctrl key (Windows) or the Option key (Macintosh) while using the Magnification tool will zoom you back out. Use the normal field of view button to quickly return to the standard view. Tip: You can change the amount by which the view is zoomed at each zoom step from the Preferences dialog box.
		Maximum Zoom Out By default, you will be unable to zoom out past the standard view of 100°. However, by checking the "Allow maximum zoom-out" checkbox in the Preferences dialog box under the Settings Menu, you will be permitted to zoom out to see most of the sky in a single view. The sky can be thought of as a huge sphere, one half of which is visible at any particular time. Maximum Zoom-out maps this Celestial Sphere onto your computer screen. This is the view of the sky that most planispheres (handheld circular star charts) represent. Cool effect: If you drag the horizon down to the bottom of the screen while in Maximum Zoom-out, the edge of the sky shown represents your local horizon seen in every direction, an extremely wide-angle view indeed! Popup Zoom Menu Yet another means to change your zoom setting is to use the popup menu that appears if you hold down your mouse button while the cursor is over the Current Field of View indicator on the Tool palette (see left). This popup menu includes several preset fields of view, that you can instantly switch to. Tip: If you know the field of view of your binoculars or telescope, you can quickly switch back and forth to these values. Note: Changing your window size will also affect the field of view; a smaller window shows a more limited view.

The Horizon

Zenith and Nadir

Looking from the Perspective of a Person

Getting a Closer Look

Maximum Zoom Out

Popup Zoom Menu

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