Objects in the Sky

KStars displays thousands of celestial objects: stars, planets, comets, asteroids, clusters, nebulae and galaxies. By default, stars are drawn as white circles with a colored border that simulates the star's real color. Planets are drawn as colored dots at low zoom levels, but as an actual image of the planet as you zoom in. Deep-sky objects (clusters, nebulae and galaxies) are drawn with symbols color-coded to indicate the catalog to which they belong (Messier, NGC or IC). Most Messier objects are drawn as real images on the map at higher zoom levels. Deep-sky objects with extra image or information links available are drawn with a special color (red by default). Clicking on an object will identify it in the status bar. Double clicking will recenter the display on the object and begin tracking the object (so that it will remain centered as time passes). Right clicking an object opens a popup menu with more options.

The Popup Menu

Here is an example of the right click popup menu, for the Orion Nebula:


Popup Menu for M 42

The appearance of the popup menu depends somewhat on the kind of object you right click on, but the basic structure is listed below. You can get more detailed information about the popup menu.

The top section contains information labels (which are not selectable). The top one to three labels display the object's name(s) and object type. The next three labels show the object's rise, transit, and set times.

The middle section contains items for performing actions on the object, such as Center and Track, Details... (which opens the object's Detailed Information Dialog), Add Label, and Add/Remove Trail (only for Solar System bodies).

The bottom section contains links to images and/or informative webpages about the selected object. If you know of an additional URL with information or an image of the object, you can add a custom link to the object's popup menu using the Add Link... item.

Finding Objects

You can search for named objects using the Find Object window, which can be opened by clicking on the search icon in the toolbar, by selecting Find Object... from the Focus menu, or by pressing Ctrl+F. The Find Object window is shown below:


Find Object Window

The window contains a list of all the named objects that KStars is aware of. Many of the objects only have a numeric catalog name (for example, NGC 3077), but some objects have a common name as well (for example, Whirlpool Galaxy). You can filter the list by name and by object type. To filter by name, enter a string in the edit box at the top of the window; the list will then only contain names which start with that string. To filter by type, select a type from the combo box at the bottom of the window.

Highlight the desired object in the list, and press Ok. The display will center on the object. Note that if the object is below the horizon, the program will warn you that you may not see anything except the ground (you can make the ground invisible in the Display Options window, or by pressing the Ground button in the View toolbar).

KStars will automatically begin tracking on an object whenever one is centered in the display, either by using the Find Object window, by double-clicking on it, or by selecting Center and Track from its right-click popup menu. You can disengage tracking by panning the display, pressing the Lock icon in the Main toolbar, or selecting Track Object from the Focus menu.