From ce599e4f9f94b4eb00c1b5edb85bce5431ab3df2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: toma Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:56:58 +0000 Subject: Copy the KDE 3.5 branch to branches/trinity for new KDE 3.5 features. BUG:215923 git-svn-id: svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/trinity/kdeedu@1054174 283d02a7-25f6-0310-bc7c-ecb5cbfe19da --- doc/kstars/index.docbook | 299 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 299 insertions(+) create mode 100644 doc/kstars/index.docbook (limited to 'doc/kstars/index.docbook') diff --git a/doc/kstars/index.docbook b/doc/kstars/index.docbook new file mode 100644 index 00000000..14ac543c --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/kstars/index.docbook @@ -0,0 +1,299 @@ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +]> + + +The &kstars; Handbook + + + + +Jason +Harris + +
&Jason.Harris.mail;
+ + + + +Heiko +Evermann + +
&Heiko.Evermann.mail;
+ +Core Developer + + + +Thomas +Kabelmann + +
&Thomas.Kabelmann.mail;
+ +Core Developer + + + +Pablo +de Vicente + +
&Pablo.de.Vicente.mail;
+ +Core Developer + + + +Jasem +Mutlaq + +
mutlaqja@ikarustech.com
+ +Core Developer + + + +Carsten +Niehaus + +
cniehaus@gmx.de
+ +Core Developer + + + +Mark +Holloman + +
&Mark.Holloman.mail;
+ +Core Developer + + + + + +200120022003 +&Jason.Harris; and the &kstars; Team + + +&FDLNotice; + +2002-10-08 +1.0 + + + +&kstars; is a graphical desktop planetarium for &kde;. It depicts an +accurate simulation of the night sky, including stars, constellations, +star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, all planets, the Sun, the Moon, +comets and asteroids. You can see the sky as it appears +from any location on Earth, on any date. The user interface is highly +intuitive and flexible; the display can be panned and zoomed with the +mouse, and you can easily identify objects, and track their motion +across the sky. &kstars; includes many powerful features, yet the +interface is clean and simple, and fun to use. + + + + +KDE +kdeedu +Astronomy +KStars + + + + + +Introduction + + +&kstars; lets you explore the night sky from +the comfort of your computer chair. It provides an accurate graphical +representation of the night sky for any date, from any location on +Earth. The display includes 126,000 stars to 9th magnitude (well below +the naked-eye limit), 13,000 deep-sky objects (Messier, NGC, and IC +catalogs), all planets, the Sun and Moon, hundreds of comets and +asteroids, the Milky Way, 88 constellations, and guide lines such as +the celestial equator, +the horizon and +the ecliptic. + + +However, &kstars; is more than a simple night-sky simulator. The +display provides a compelling interface to a number of tools with +which you can learn more about astronomy and the night sky. There is +a context-sensitive popup menu +attached to each displayed object, which displays object-specific +information and actions. Hundreds of objects provide links in their +popup menus to informative web pages and beautiful images taken by the +Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories. + +From an object's popup menu, you can open its Detailed Information Window, where +you can examine positional data about the object, and query a huge +treasury of online databases for professional-grade astronomical data +and literature references about the object. You can even attach your +own Internet links, images and text notes, making &kstars; a graphical +front-end to your observing logs and your personal astronomical notebook. + + +Our Astrocalculator tool +provides direct access to many of the algorithms the program uses +behind the scenes, including coordinate converters and time +calculators. The AAVSO Lightcurve +Generator tool will download a lightcurve for any of the 6000+ +variable stars monitored by the American Association of Variable Star +Observers (AAVSO). The lightcurves are generated on the +fly by querying the AAVSO server directly, ensuring that you +have the very latest data points. + + +You can plan an observing session using our Altitude vs. Time tool, which will +plot curves representing the Altitude as a function of time for any +group of objects. If that is too much detail, we also provide a +What's Up Tonight? tool that +summarizes the objects that you will be able to see from your location +on any given night. You can add your favorite objects to the Observing List tool, which +provides convenient access to common actions for a list of objects. + + +&kstars; also provides a Solar System +Viewer, which shows the current configuration of the major +planets in our solar system. There is also a Jupiter Moons Tool which shows the positions +of Jupiter's four largest moons as a function of time. + + +Our primary goal is to make &kstars; an interactive educational tool for +learning about astronomy and the night sky. To this end, the &kstars; +Handbook includes the AstroInfo +Project, a series of short, hyperlinked articles on astronomical +topics that can be explored with &kstars;. In addition, &kstars; +includes &DCOP; functions that allow you to write complex scripts, making &kstars; +a powerful "demo engine" for classroom use or general illustration of +astronomical topics. + + +However, &kstars; is not just for students. You can control telescopes +and cameras with &kstars;, using the elegant and powerful INDI protocol. &kstars; supports several popular +telescopes including Meade's LX200 family and Celestron GPS. Several +popular CCD cameras, webcams, and computerized focusers are also supported. +Simple slew/track commands are integrated directly into the main window's +popup menu, and the INDI Control Panel provides full access to all of +your telescope's functions. Many of these actions can also be scripted +through &kde;'s &DCOP; mechanism (our own Script Builder tool provides a simple +point-and-click interface for these scripts). INDI's Client/Server +architecture allows for seamless control of any number of local or remote telescopes using a single +&kstars; session. + + +We are very interested in your feedback; please report bugs or +feature requests to the &kstars; development mailing list: +kstars-devel@kde.org. You can also use +the automated bug reporting tool, accessible from the Help menu. + + + +&quicktour; +&config; +&commands; +&astroinfo; +&tools; +&dumpmode; +&indi; +&faq; +&credits; +&install; + + + + + + + -- cgit v1.2.1