New post
3

Creating asterisms in Starry Night 6.4.3

Originally from ticket #2916.

I need help... I am attempting to (re)create a set of asterisms within the Starry Night application, however I am a bit confused as to how this process works. I understand the manual's proper procedure to this task, but what I do NOT understand is how to connect the lines from star to star. I know it sounds probably easier done than said, but please explain in more detail how this is accomplished.

8 comments

  • 0
    Avatar
    mr esnaashari

    the same problem exists for me too? to be specific the only missing info for drawing the lines is the code given to the star. for example the code for star Mu Aquarii as recorded in the existing files is "Star=567d0c65a3c80917ec03610be1e5c117c1a40145ffb1007000008586 Mu Aquarii", BUT where shall we get this code for other stars.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith
    If you want to create Aterisms files, just use the same format we have there, but omit the alphanumerics before the star name.
    One thing that you need to be sure of is to use the EXACT name, as shown in our "Info" pane, for the star you want to use. If you don't, it won't find the star correctly.
    Hope that helps.
  • 0
    Avatar
    mr esnaashari

    Dear Keiron Smith

    Thanks to you all the problems are solved. this is the coolest thing i always needed and words can not express my gratitude to you. thanks a thousand times again.

  • 0
    Avatar
    David Terrazas

    There is no reference anywhere to your answered quested.  Ticket #2916 has been deleted.  I have no idea what the format is

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Custom Asterisms (page 178 in the USer's Guide):


    Different cultures see the stars in different ways, joining them together to form recognizable patterns. Each one of these patterns is called an asterism. While today, the stick figures for the 88 "official" constellations are the best-known set of asterisms, many other sets exist. Even for the 88 "official" constellations, there is more than one way to draw the stick figures. Starry Night makes it possible for you to create your own set of custom asterisms. To create a new set of asterisms, you need to create a plain text file in the proper format, and save this file in your “Starry Night\Sky Data\Asterisms” folder (on the Macintosh, you will need to Ctrl-click on the Starry Night application icon and choose Show Package Contents, then open the “Resources” folder to view the “Sky Data” folder). The next time you run Starry Night, open the Options pane and expand the Constellations layer. Open the Constellation Options dialog box. Your new set of asterisms will be listed alongside the other sets of stick figures.  To see the format for an asterism file, open the text file "Oriental Moon Stations.txt" in your “Starry Night\Sky Data\Asterisms” folder . This is the exact file which Starry Night uses to render the Oriental moon station set of stick figures onscreen. The format is quite straightforward. You need to specify a name for your new set of asterisms (for example, "Oriental Moon Stations"). For each asterism in this set, you need to enter the asterism's name, the approximate position in the sky of the asterism's centre, and each of the lines between stars that define the shape and size of this asterism.

     

    Following the above, open an asterisms file in your Starry Night program, and see the proper format - which will look like this:

    Star=567d0c65a3c80917ec03610be1e5c117c1a40145ffb1007000008586 Mu Aquarii


    Does that help?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Robert Maraschin

    Dear Keiron and contributors,

    The responses to the above questions make the creation of an asterism file almost intuitive once a sample file is viewed. The are many unanswered issues: 1) the files have lead statements before the line definitions - what do they mean and what should they be for a custom asterism file...2) One response states that the alphanumeric string before the HIP number can be eliminated, provided the EXACT star name (in the info panel) is used to specify the star -- ie.. Epsilon2a Lyrae (spaces? no spaces?)  3) my asterism file is going to be a modification of the Rey's stick figures. The Reys text file is wide - wider than 2x my wide monitor screen - which makes it difficult to work with. Wil the file run if I cut and reposition statements sequentially to make a file whose width I can see on my monitor in one view? Can I introduce line spaces between line instructions to organize the file and make it easy to follow?  4) where do these code numbers for stars originate?

    I have currently made a modified asterism test file for the constellation Lyra by isolating and modifying the Lyra line instructions and using the same lead statements as the Reys file, but it is not recognized in my stick finger menu or in the "View Constellations" menu, so I'm doing something wrong. I need a little guidance here.

    It sure would be easier to make asterism files graphically by selecting stars in sequence. Is that not possible somehow?  If I have to change 6 to 10 constellation figures in the Reys file, most of which are much more complex than Lyra, it's going to be a long tedious job - especially operating blindly.  Help someone..please.

    Thanks.

    Ps: An step-by-step example file would really be helpful.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Hi Robert,

    You can use lines like this:

    <SN_VALUE name="11_AsterismLine_1" value="Line,HIP23040,HIP23522">

    … it'll work. Note that the "star=" is omitted in this case.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    New KB article is here!

    Fun with Asterism in Starry Night software

    https://simcur.zendesk.com/entries/68325114-Fun-with-Asterisms-in-Starry-Night-software

Please sign in to leave a comment.