1. Simulation Curriculum Corp.
  2. Community
  3. Starry Night 6 | User Support
New post
0

A few simple questions:

Originally from ticket #4780.

Now I have a few simple questions:

1. If I adjust my horizon to be straight - horizontal, the sky is only about
2/3 of my screen height (horizon is about at 1/3 from the bottom). How can I
move the horizon completely down (and still be straight i.e. not bent) in
order to have the full height of screen available for the sky?

 

2. Sometimes the horizon suddenly gets “round” and looks like a circle,
which is not practical at all. After some further operation it suddenly gets
straight and horizontal again. How can I avoid that this happens, and what’s
wrong with my manipulation?

 

3. Can I show the mutual movements of selected planets over a period of time
and simultaneously stop the daily movement of the sky? For instance fix
Venus on the screen and watch Mercury move relative to Venus over a month or
a year (i.e. Venus stays centred on screen)?

 

4. I have tried to look at the solar system from high above the sun. I can
see the planets (as dots) moving around the sun. But can I stop the sky
moving, while the planets keep moving (similar to point 3 above)? Can I see
the planets in different colours? Can I see the orbits (instead of planets
as dots) and in colours? Etc.

 

5. If I choose “Planets” I wish to see planets only and no "Minor Planets"
like Ceres. Possible?

 

Thank you for taking your ime for my questions!

Date Votes

12 comments

  • 0
    Avatar
    Marko Kudjerski

    Hello,

    I'll attempt to answer all of your questions here:

    1. Horizon bends as you look up since your perspective changes. If we kept it flat it wouldn't be a proper representation of the sky and the view thus resulting in an inaccurate simulation of reality.

    2. I am not sure what you mean by "looks like a circle". Perhaps you zoomed out too much? If you zoom out such that your field of view is large everything will become more "circular".

    3. You could right click on an object that you wish to center and choose "Center". Now if you run time really fast the object will remain in the middle and everything else will move.

    4. I am not sure what you mean by "stop the sky moving". You could do the same as for 3 above and center on the sun or another object such that it would stay fixed in the middle of the screen.

    5. You could actually select individual planets that you wish to see right from Find tab on the left. Note that before you search or if the search is empty, "Find" results will contain lists of Solar System objects. You can click on the checkboxes right next to their names and have them be selected on screen, have their orbit highlighted, etc.

    Clear skies!

  • 0
    Avatar
    E Markun

    Hello Marko, 


    I like this kind of discussion, point by point. Thank you very much. 
    Here is my response (in red clor), added to each one of your points:

     
    1. Horizon bends as you look up since your perspective changes. If we kept 
    it flat it wouldn't be a proper representation of the sky and the view thus 
    resulting in an inaccurate simulation of reality. - Yes of course. But 
    the view of the sky is more limited in this way (i.e. fewer degrees in 
    declination). Even if the sky would be distorted, I wouldn’t mind. In your 
    previous version Starry Night this was better. Can I now change it or not 
    (in a controlled way)?

    2. I am not sure what you mean by "looks like a circle". Perhaps you zoomed 
    out too much? If you zoom out such that your field of view is large 
    everything will become more "circular". - I understand tha 
    "officially” I cannot zoom out more than 100x52 degree, isn’t it? -- In the 
    described situation however I have indeed a zoom of (for example) 191x170 
    degree: The horizon is very much bent, while the rest of the circular 
    picture is formed by the sky. Today I managed to reproduce it by clicking 
    forth and back several times on “Find” tab on the left and sometimes 
    horizontally moving the whole side pane with the mouse. Each click results 
    in zooming out more, finally reaching 191x170. (screen shot attached)

    3. You could right click on an object that you wish to centre and choose 
    "Centre". Now if you run time really fast the object will remain in the 
    middle and everything else will move. - Yes this works fine now. When I move 
    the sky stepwise day by day, it is what I wanted. But again, the view is 
    quite limited (as explained in question 2 above. The planets (except the 
    centred one) move out of my screen very quickly with zoom 100X52.

    4. I am not sure what you mean by "stop the sky moving". You could do the 
    same as for 3 above and center on the sun or another object such that it 
    would stay fixed in the middle of the screen. - Yes, this works more or 
    less: Orbits in colors, planets moving (stars switched off), etc. But I have 
    an inclined view of the orbits. Can I see the orbits plane vertically from 
    above?

    5. You could actually select individual planets that you wish to see right 
    from Find tab on the left. Note that before you search or if the search is 
    empty, "Find" results will contain lists of Solar System objects. You can 
    click on the checkboxes right next to their names and have them be selected 
    on screen, have their orbit highlighted, etc. - It works, but for instance 
    the minor planets Eris, Makemake, Haumea cannot be switched off?

  • 0
    Avatar
    E Markun

    Please see file attachment to support my clarification




    120321 Circular sky.docx
  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Hi Enrico,

    2 & 3: The fisheye view seen in your attached image is an artifact of the Enthusiast program's design.  The program is not intended to give you such a wide field of view.  The maximum, as you said "officially" is 100x52 degree.  A wider field of view of 191x 133 is reserved for Starry Night Pro and Pro Plus.

    4:  To view the planet orbits form above look in:

    Favorites ---> Solar System ---> Inner planets ---> Inner Solar System

    Favorites ---> Solar System ---> Outer planets ---> Outer Solar System

  • 0
    Avatar
    E Markun

    Hi Keiron.

    Thanks for your reply. I understand what you say. Of course I must accept the "Enthusiast" program as it is, and it clearly has more functions than the previous program “Backyard”. However – if I may say so - “Backyard” was a more careful design, especially if you consider that I found many more details, which I find not so satisfactory in the “Enthusiast” as compared to “Backyard”.

    Anyway, thank you very much for your support!

    Kind regards Enrico

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Hi Enrico,


    You are not alone.  There are other loyal Starry Night users that have also stated they preferred Backyard over Enthusiast.  Unfortunately, as software programs evolve, certain design/functions/features are changed in a way not favoured by those users who were already happy with its current form.  Sometimes, you don't even know what you liked best about the program until its changed, and expected function/form is suddenly gone.  I think all software companies struggle with this issue.  There is a need to evolve and change, to be competitive in the market, but, it also entails compromise, trade offs, etc.  Also, i think the change form Backyard to Enthusiast 6 is probably really big.  Whereas, if one had purchased all the upgrades along the way, the transition would have been smoother.  That all said, I want you to be happy with the program.  If you are not happy with Enthusiast, I can help you purchase an upgrade to Pro or Pro  Plus - they have more features, functions, databases, etc, but the design will be the same.  If upgrading appeals to you let me know and we'll figure it out.

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bbush

    I have a question: How can I keep the information about an object from obscuring the object on the screen itself? For instance, if I try to view a picture of the moon enlarged, the info almost completely blocks out the image when you use the mouse pointer to locate a specific area on the lunar surface.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Thank you for the question!  Please look in File ---> Preferences ---> Cursor Tracking (HUD) <--- in here check the option for "Show info in upper left corner of the screen".

  • 0
    Avatar
    Kathy Kellam

    I'm new to enthusiast.  When I set my home lat/long I'm standing in the middle of a lake.  How do I change it to a land/horizon?

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Kathy Kellam

    I'm new to enthusiast.  When I set my home lat/long I'm standing in the middle of a lake.  How do I change it to a land/horizon?

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Vincent J. Cozza

    Other Starry Night Enthusiast v.7 defects, in using Macintosh:  

    1. There is no menu listed to Return to the previous full sky screen, after viewing a specific star.  

    2.  After you select in View menu, White sky, to print a screen shot, you try to get back to the normal black sky screen.  But, what you get is a deepening pink, not only in the Starry Night Enthusiast v.7 screen, but also in your whole Desktop part of the screen. You have to Quit SNE v.7 to get out of that Pink screen.  

    Vince

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Hi Vincent, 

    Please submit a ticket with any bugs found in V7.

Please sign in to leave a comment.