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289 lines
11 KiB
289 lines
11 KiB
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
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<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY kappname "&kstars;">
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<!ENTITY package "tdeedu">
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<!ENTITY astroinfo SYSTEM "astroinfo.docbook">
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<!ENTITY blackbody SYSTEM "blackbody.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-angdist SYSTEM "calc-angdist.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-apcoords SYSTEM "calc-apcoords.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-ecliptic SYSTEM "calc-ecliptic.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-eqgal SYSTEM "calc-eqgal.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-equinox SYSTEM "calc-equinox.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-horiz SYSTEM "calc-horizontal.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-planetcoords SYSTEM "calc-planetcoords.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-precess SYSTEM "calc-precess.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-geodetic SYSTEM "calc-geodetic.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-dayduration SYSTEM "calc-dayduration.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-julian SYSTEM "calc-julianday.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calc-sidereal SYSTEM "calc-sidereal.docbook">
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<!ENTITY calculator SYSTEM "calculator.docbook">
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<!ENTITY cequator SYSTEM "cequator.docbook">
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<!ENTITY colorandtemp SYSTEM "colorandtemp.docbook">
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<!ENTITY commands SYSTEM "commands.docbook">
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<!ENTITY config SYSTEM "config.docbook">
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<!ENTITY contents SYSTEM "ai-contents.docbook">
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<!ENTITY cpoles SYSTEM "cpoles.docbook">
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<!ENTITY credits SYSTEM "credits.docbook">
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<!ENTITY csphere SYSTEM "csphere.docbook">
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<!ENTITY darkmatter SYSTEM "darkmatter.docbook">
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<!ENTITY dumpmode SYSTEM "dumpmode.docbook">
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<!ENTITY ecliptic SYSTEM "ecliptic.docbook">
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<!ENTITY ellipgal SYSTEM "ellipticalgalaxies.docbook">
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<!ENTITY equinox SYSTEM "equinox.docbook">
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<!ENTITY faq SYSTEM "faq.docbook">
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<!ENTITY flux SYSTEM "flux.docbook">
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<!ENTITY geocoords SYSTEM "geocoords.docbook">
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<!ENTITY greatcircle SYSTEM "greatcircle.docbook">
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<!ENTITY horizon SYSTEM "horizon.docbook">
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<!ENTITY hourangle SYSTEM "hourangle.docbook">
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<!ENTITY indi SYSTEM "indi.docbook">
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<!ENTITY install SYSTEM "install.docbook">
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<!ENTITY julianday SYSTEM "julianday.docbook">
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<!ENTITY leapyear SYSTEM "leapyear.docbook">
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<!ENTITY lightcurves SYSTEM "lightcurves.docbook">
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<!ENTITY luminosity SYSTEM "luminosity.docbook">
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<!ENTITY magnitude SYSTEM "magnitude.docbook">
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<!ENTITY meridian SYSTEM "meridian.docbook">
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<!ENTITY parallax SYSTEM "parallax.docbook">
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<!ENTITY precession SYSTEM "precession.docbook">
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<!ENTITY quicktour SYSTEM "quicktour.docbook">
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<!ENTITY retrograde SYSTEM "retrograde.docbook">
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<!ENTITY sidereal SYSTEM "sidereal.docbook">
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<!ENTITY skycoords SYSTEM "skycoords.docbook">
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<!ENTITY spiralgal SYSTEM "spiralgalaxies.docbook">
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<!ENTITY stars SYSTEM "stars.docbook">
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<!ENTITY timezones SYSTEM "timezones.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-aavso SYSTEM "lightcurves.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-altvstime SYSTEM "altvstime.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-calculator SYSTEM "calculator.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-details SYSTEM "details.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-whatsup SYSTEM "wut.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-scriptbuilder SYSTEM "scriptbuilder.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-solarsys SYSTEM "solarsys.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-jmoons SYSTEM "jmoons.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-observinglist SYSTEM "observinglist.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tool-fitsviewer SYSTEM "fitsviewer.docbook">
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<!ENTITY tools SYSTEM "tools.docbook">
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<!ENTITY utime SYSTEM "utime.docbook">
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<!ENTITY zenith SYSTEM "zenith.docbook">
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<!ENTITY % addindex "INCLUDE">
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<!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE"><!-- change language only here -->
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]>
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<book lang="&language;">
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<title>The &kstars; Handbook</title>
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<bookinfo>
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<authorgroup>
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<author>
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<firstname>Jason</firstname>
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<surname>Harris</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>&Jason.Harris.mail;</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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</author>
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<othercredit role="developer">
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<firstname>Heiko</firstname>
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<surname>Evermann</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>&Heiko.Evermann.mail;</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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<contrib>Core Developer</contrib>
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</othercredit>
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<othercredit role="developer">
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<firstname>Thomas</firstname>
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<surname>Kabelmann</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>&Thomas.Kabelmann.mail;</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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<contrib>Core Developer</contrib>
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</othercredit>
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<othercredit role="developer">
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<firstname>Pablo</firstname>
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<surname>de Vicente</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>&Pablo.de.Vicente.mail;</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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<contrib>Core Developer</contrib>
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</othercredit>
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<othercredit role="developer">
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<firstname>Jasem</firstname>
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<surname>Mutlaq</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>mutlaqja@ikarustech.com</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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<contrib>Core Developer</contrib>
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</othercredit>
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<othercredit role="developer">
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<firstname>Carsten</firstname>
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<surname>Niehaus</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>cniehaus@gmx.de</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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<contrib>Core Developer</contrib>
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</othercredit>
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<othercredit role="developer">
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<firstname>Mark</firstname>
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<surname>Holloman</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>&Mark.Holloman.mail;</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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<contrib>Core Developer</contrib>
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</othercredit>
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<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
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</authorgroup>
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<copyright>
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<year>2001</year><year>2002</year><year>2003</year>
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<holder>&Jason.Harris; and the &kstars; Team</holder>
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</copyright>
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<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>
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<date>2002-10-08</date>
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<releaseinfo>1.0</releaseinfo>
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<abstract>
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<para>
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&kstars; is a graphical desktop planetarium for &kde;. It depicts an
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accurate simulation of the night sky, including stars, constellations,
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star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, all planets, the Sun, the Moon,
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comets and asteroids. You can see the sky as it appears
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from any location on Earth, on any date. The user interface is highly
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intuitive and flexible; the display can be panned and zoomed with the
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mouse, and you can easily identify objects, and track their motion
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across the sky. &kstars; includes many powerful features, yet the
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interface is clean and simple, and fun to use.
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</para>
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</abstract>
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<keywordset>
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<keyword>KDE</keyword>
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<keyword>tdeedu</keyword>
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<keyword>Astronomy</keyword>
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<keyword>KStars</keyword>
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</keywordset>
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</bookinfo>
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<chapter id="introduction">
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<title>Introduction</title>
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<para>
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&kstars; lets you explore the night sky from
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the comfort of your computer chair. It provides an accurate graphical
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representation of the night sky for any date, from any location on
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Earth. The display includes 126,000 stars to 9th magnitude (well below
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the naked-eye limit), 13,000 deep-sky objects (Messier, NGC, and IC
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catalogs), all planets, the Sun and Moon, hundreds of comets and
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asteroids, the Milky Way, 88 constellations, and guide lines such as
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the <link linkend="ai-cequator">celestial equator</link>,
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the <link linkend="ai-horizon">horizon</link> and
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the <link linkend="ai-ecliptic">ecliptic</link>.
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</para>
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<para>
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However, &kstars; is more than a simple night-sky simulator. The
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display provides a compelling interface to a number of tools with
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which you can learn more about astronomy and the night sky. There is
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a context-sensitive <link linkend="popup-menu">popup menu</link>
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attached to each displayed object, which displays object-specific
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information and actions. Hundreds of objects provide links in their
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popup menus to informative web pages and beautiful images taken by the
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Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories.
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</para><para>
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From an object's popup menu, you can open its <link
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linkend="tool-details">Detailed Information Window</link>, where
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you can examine positional data about the object, and query a huge
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treasury of online databases for professional-grade astronomical data
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and literature references about the object. You can even attach your
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own Internet links, images and text notes, making &kstars; a graphical
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front-end to your observing logs and your personal astronomical notebook.
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</para>
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<para>
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Our <link linkend="tool-calculator">Astrocalculator</link> tool
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provides direct access to many of the algorithms the program uses
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behind the scenes, including coordinate converters and time
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calculators. The <link linkend="tool-aavso">AAVSO Lightcurve
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Generator</link> tool will download a lightcurve for any of the 6000+
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variable stars monitored by the American Association of Variable Star
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Observers (AAVSO). The lightcurves are generated <quote>on the
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fly</quote> by querying the AAVSO server directly, ensuring that you
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have the very latest data points.
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</para>
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<para>
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You can plan an observing session using our <link
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linkend="tool-altvstime">Altitude vs. Time</link> tool, which will
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plot curves representing the Altitude as a function of time for any
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group of objects. If that is too much detail, we also provide a
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<link linkend="tool-whatsup">What's Up Tonight?</link> tool that
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summarizes the objects that you will be able to see from your location
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on any given night. You can add your favorite objects to the <link
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linkend="tool-observinglist">Observing List</link> tool, which
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provides convenient access to common actions for a list of objects.
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</para>
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<para>
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&kstars; also provides a <link linkend="tool-solarsys">Solar System
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Viewer</link>, which shows the current configuration of the major
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planets in our solar system. There is also a <link
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linkend="tool-jmoons">Jupiter Moons Tool</link> which shows the positions
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of Jupiter's four largest moons as a function of time.
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</para>
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<para>
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Our primary goal is to make &kstars; an interactive educational tool for
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learning about astronomy and the night sky. To this end, the &kstars;
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Handbook includes the <link linkend="astroinfo">AstroInfo
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Project</link>, a series of short, hyperlinked articles on astronomical
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topics that can be explored with &kstars;. In addition, &kstars;
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includes &DCOP; functions that allow you to <link
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linkend="tool-scriptbuilder">write complex scripts</link>, making &kstars;
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a powerful "demo engine" for classroom use or general illustration of
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astronomical topics.
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</para>
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<para>
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However, &kstars; is not just for students. You can control telescopes
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and cameras with &kstars;, using the elegant and powerful <link
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linkend="indi">INDI</link> protocol. &kstars; supports several popular
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telescopes including Meade's LX200 family and Celestron GPS. Several
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popular CCD cameras, webcams, and computerized focusers are also supported.
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Simple slew/track commands are integrated directly into the main window's
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popup menu, and the INDI Control Panel provides full access to all of
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your telescope's functions. Many of these actions can also be scripted
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through &kde;'s &DCOP; mechanism (our own <link
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linkend="tool-scriptbuilder">Script Builder</link> tool provides a simple
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point-and-click interface for these scripts). INDI's Client/Server
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architecture allows for seamless control of any number of <link
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linkend="indi-kstars-setup">local</link> or <link
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linkend="indi-remote-control">remote</link> telescopes using a single
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&kstars; session.
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</para>
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<para>
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We are very interested in your feedback; please report bugs or
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feature requests to the &kstars; development mailing list:
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<email>kstars-devel@kde.org</email>. You can also use
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the automated bug reporting tool, accessible from the Help menu.
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</para>
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</chapter>
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&quicktour; <!--A Quick Tour of KStars-->
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&config; <!--Configuring KStars-->
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&commands; <!--Command Reference-->
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&astroinfo; <!--AstroInfo Articles-->
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&tools; <!--KStars Tools-->
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&dumpmode; <!--Command-line image-dump mode-->
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&indi; <!-- INDI-->
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&faq; <!--Questions and Answers-->
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&credits; <!--Credits and License-->
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&install; <!--Installation-->
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<index id='doc-index'></index>
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<!-- For DocBook 4.2, remove the above line and use this instead
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&documentation.index;
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-->
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</book>
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