Stellarium IntroductionTHESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE REPEATED IN THE STELLARIUM ASSIGNMENTS, BUT YOU SHOULD DO THIS BEFORE WE START THOSE ASSIGNMENTS. The first assignment is on Blackboard!Download the ProgramGo to Stellarium Site, and show them where to get the software for download.Stellarium software http://www.stellarium.org/ . You probably want the 32-bit version (not the 64-bit).Check the TextOpen the program and show them where the text is displayed.If the text does not display correctly, try opening it from your “Start” menu using the (fallback mode) option. Show them how to do this.IF you have to do that, then you will have to start the program that way every time.Stellarium Introduction 1The User ManualYou can also download the user manual, but that is not very helpful, given the simple things we want to do with it.It is accurate enough that you can use it to run a telescope with a motor and an attached GPS system!Set Your LocationChoose Terre Haute, IN (easiest to use the list).Set it as your default.You should only have to choose this ONCE for the semester. Unless told otherwise, all of our assignments assume that Terre Haute is the viewing location.Turning off the AtmosphereFrom the bottom panel, choose the atmosphere button (it looks like some clouds with the Sun behind them). It toggles the atmosphere off and on. Click it once, and you should now be able to see stars and planets and such, evenwith the Sun up!Stellarium Introduction 2Constellation Lines and LabelsWhile Stellarium shows us all of the stars, most of us do not know all of the constellations (not just the zodiac 12).From the bottom panel, turn on the left two options (Constellation Lines, and Constellation Labels).Time Control ButtonsYou are the Master of Time in the Universe!We would rather not be restricted to what we can see RIGHT NOW, especially since the Earth blocks at least half of the sky right now. In addition, with the planets and the Moon involved, we might be interested in where they will be on an upcoming night. Maybe you would like to know what you can see with your new telescope next weekend….or what you COULD have seen on the day you were born….So, using the time control buttons, move backward in time to yesterday: 8 pm (20:00), January 22, 2015. The time control buttons are in the bottom panel, far right.Note: you can stop time by choosing to go backward, but just once.Stellarium Introduction 3The Search FeatureMars and Jupiter are visible at this time of night. Most likely, you don’t know where to find them right off the topof your head. So, if you can’t locate them on your own, the Search Option will find them.The Search option is in the left panel, middle choice (looks like a magnifying glass)Just type in “Jupiter”, and Stellarium will rotate your viewso that you are looking right at it.Notice, as you type, options appear below the typing area.You can choose the first one in the list by choosing “enter,” and you can “toggle” to the next one in the list with the Tab key.Zoom OptionSelect Jupiter, and zoom in on it (mouse wheel controls zooming in and out). Your view will stay centered on Jupiter until you move it.Stellarium Introduction 4Center On ObjectIf you are simply looking at a spot in the sky, or you moved your point of view, then your view is fixed. If youchoose Jupiter, then move your view a tiny bit, and then watch Jupiter, it will move off of your screen. Have Stellarium “Center on the Object,” (hit the space bar, or use Bottom Panel, button with arrows pointing to the center).Zoom in far enough to see the moons of Jupiter. Notice that the moons are labeled, and their positions are accurately calculated. It even shows the ring around the planet. If you have a telescope, and you look at Jupiter right now, you would see those moons in those locations.If you speed up the time backwards, and you zoom in close enough, you can watch the planet rotate.Now, choose Mars. While centered on Mars, move the time forward to 8:30 pm (22:30). Notice that Mars drops below the horizon, but I still needed data on its moons...….Find Uranus, and zoom in on it. It is too faint to see without a telescope, but we can still find information about it.Stellarium Introduction 5Clear the EarthWhat if we want to see something, in its current location, but the Earth is in the way?? Get rid of the Earth!Use the bottom panel, button near the left that looks like ahill with trees on it.Choosing Your BackgroundThe view shown is NOT a real location in Terre Haute. You can change the setting for you and your telescope to anything you like. It will not affect the observations at all.Sky and Viewing OptionsLandscapeYou can choose additional landscapes from the link to landscapes on Stellarium.org.Stellarium Introduction 6Night ModeSometimes, the view on the screen is a little difficult to see, or the information is difficult to read. At times, it helps to try “night mode.” Bottom panel, near the center, looks like an eye but with a star as the pupil.This mode is meant to be used outside so your night vision is not disrupted.CometsStellarium also tracks some known comments (you can search for c/2006 PI, for example).PlanetoidsStellarium also tracks some “smaller” objects such as Eris, and also things that used to be called planets, like Pluto.Stellarium Introduction 7Useful Information ProvidedLocation in the Sky =RA/DE (right ascension and declination)RA/DE (right ascension and declination)Hour angle/DELocation in the sky (Az/Alt)PlanetsMagnitudeAbsolute MagnitudeDistance (AU)Apparent DiameterStarsMagnitudeAbsolute MagnitudeSpectral Type (HR Diagram)Distance (Light Years)ParallaxPeriod (for pulsing/variable stars)GalaxiesMagnitudeSize (degrees, minutes and seconds)Stellarium Introduction