# Command Reference

## Menu Commands

### File Menu

&Ctrl;N File New Window

  Open another &kstars; window

&Ctrl;W File Close Window

  Close &kstars; window

&Ctrl;D File Download Data...

  Open the Download Extra Data tool

&Ctrl;O File Open FITS...

  Open a FITS image in the FITS Editor tool

&Ctrl;I File Save Sky Image...

  Create image on disk from current display

&Ctrl;R File Run Script...

  Run the specified KStars script

&Ctrl;P File Print...

  Send the current sky map to the printer (or to a PostScript/PDF file)

&Ctrl;Q File Quit

  Quit &kstars;

### Time Menu

&Ctrl;E Time Set Time to Now

  Sync time to system clock

&Ctrl;S Time Set Time...

  Set time and date

Time Start/Stop Clock

  Toggle whether time passes

### Pointing Menu

Z Pointing Zenith

  Centre the display at the Zenith point (straight up)

N Pointing North

  Centre the display above the North point on the horizon

E Pointing East

  Centre the display above the East point on the horizon

S Pointing South

  Centre the display above the South point on the horizon

W Pointing West

  Centre the display above the West point on the horizon

&Ctrl;M Pointing Set Focus Manually...

  Centre the display on specific sky coordinates

&Ctrl;F Pointing Find Object

  Locate an object by name using the Find Object Window

&Ctrl;T Pointing Engage/Stop Tracking

  Toggle tracking on/off. While tracking, the display will remain centred on the current position or object.

### View Menu

+ View Zoom in

  Zooms view in

- View Zoom out

  Zooms view out

&Ctrl;Z View Default Zoom

  Restore the default Zoom setting

&Ctrl;&Shift;Z View Zoom to Angular Size...

  Zoom to specified field-of-view angle

&Ctrl;&Shift;F View Full Screen Mode

  Toggle full-screen mode

Space View Horizontal/Equatorial Coordinates

  Toggle between the Horizontal and Equatorial Coordinate Systems

### Devices Menu

Devices Telescope Wizard...

  Opens the Telescope Wizard, which provides a step-by-step guide to help you connect to your telescope and control it with &kstars;.

Devices Capture Image Sequence...

  Acquire images from a CCD camera or webcam device

Devices Device Manager

  Opens up the device manager, which allows you to start/shutdown device drivers and connect to remote INDI servers.

Devices INDI Control Panel

  Opens up INDI Control Panel, which allows you to control all the features supported by a device.

Devices Configure INDI

  Opens up a dialogue to configure INDI-related features such as automatic device updates.

### Tools Menu

&Ctrl;C Tools Calculator...

  Opens the AstroCalculator Tool, which provides full access to many of the mathematical functions used by &kstars;.

&Ctrl;V Tools AAVSO Light Curves...

  Opens the AAVSO Light Curve Generator Tool, which allows you to download a light curve for any variable star from the American Association of Variable Star Observers.

&Ctrl;A Tools Altitude vs. Time...

  Opens the Altitude vs. Time Tool, which can plot curves representing the altitude of any object as a function of time. This is useful for planning observing sessions.

&Ctrl;U Tools What's Up Tonight...

  Opens the What's Up Tonight Tool, which presents a summary of the objects which are observable from your location on a given date.

&Ctrl;B Tools Script Builder...

  Opens the Script Builder Tool, which provides a GUI interface for building &kstars; DCOP scripts.

&Ctrl;Y Tools Solar System...

  Opens the Solar System Viewer, which displays an overhead view of the solar system on the current simulation date.

&Ctrl;J Tools Jupiter's Moons...

  Opens the Jupiter Moons Tool, which displays the positions of Jupiter's four brightest moons as a function of time.

### Settings Menu

Settings Info Boxes Hide/Show Info Boxes

  Toggle display of all three Info Boxes

Settings Info Boxes Hide/Show Time

  Toggle display of the Time Info Box

Settings Info Boxes Hide/Show Focus

  Toggle display of the Focus Info Box

Settings Info Boxes Hide/Show Location

  Toggle display of the Location Info Box

Settings Toolbars Hide/Show Main Toolbar

  Toggle display of the Main Toolbar

Settings Toolbars Hide/Show View Toolbar

  Toggle display of the View Toolbar

Settings Statusbar Hide/Show Statusbar

  Toggle display of the Statusbar

Settings Statusbar Hide/Show Az/Alt field

  Toggle display of the mouse cursor's horizontal coordinates in the statusbar

Settings Statusbar Hide/Show RA/Dec field

  Toggle display of the mouse cursor's horizontal coordinates in the statusbar

Settings Colour Schemes

  This submenu contains all of the defined colour schemes, including your custom schemes. Select any item to set that colour scheme.

Settings FOV Symbols

  This submenu lists the available field-of-view (FOV) Symbols. The FOV Symbol is drawn at the centre of the display. You may choose from the list of predefined symbols (No symbol, 7x35 Binoculars, One degree, or HST WFPC2), or you may define your own symbols (or modify existing symbols) using the Edit FOV symbols... item.

&Ctrl;G Settings Set Geographic Location...

  Select a new geographic location

Settings Configure &kstars;...

  Modify configuration options

### Help Menu

&help.menu.documentation;

### Popup Menu

The right click popup menu is context-sensitive, meaning its content varies depending on what kind of object you click on. We list all possible popup menu items here, with the relevant object type [in brackets].

[All]

  Identification and type: The top one to three lines are devoted to the name(s) of the object and its type. For stars, the Spectral Type is also shown here.

[All]

  Rise, Transit and Set times for the object on the current simulation date are shown on the next three lines.

[All]

  Centre and Track: Centre the display on this location, and engage tracking. Equivalent to double-clicking.

[All]

  Angular Distance To...: Enter "angular distance mode". In this mode, a dotted line is drawn from the first target object to the current mouse position. When you invoke the popup menu of a second object, this item will read Compute Angular Distance. Selecting this item will display the angular distance between the two objects in the statusbar. You can press the Esc key to exit angular distance mode without measuring an angle.

[All]

  Details: Open the Object Details window for this object.

[All]

  Attach Label: Attach a permanent name label to the object. If the object already has a label attached, this item will read Remove Label.

[All]

  Show ... Image: download an image of the object from the internet, and display it in the Image Viewer tool. The "..." text is replaced by a short description of the image's source. An object may have multiple image links available in its popup menu.

[All]

  ... Page: Display a webpage about the object in your default web browser. The "..." text is replaced by a short description of the page. An object may have multiple web links available in its popup menu.

[All Named Objects]

  Add Link...: This allows you to add your own custom links to the popup menu of any object. It opens a small window in which you enter the &URL; of the link, and the text you want to appear in the popup menu. There is also a pair of radio buttons which allow you to specify whether the &URL; is an image or an HTML document, so &kstars; knows whether to launch the web browser or the image viewer. You can use this to add links to files on your local disk, so this feature could be used to attach observing logs or other custom information to objects in &kstars;. Your custom links are automatically loaded whenever &kstars; starts up, and they are stored in the folder `~/.kde/share/apps/kstars/`, in files `myimage_url.dat` and `myinfo_url.dat`. If you build an extensive list of custom links, consider submitting them to us, we would like to include them in the next version of &kstars;!

## Keyboard Commands

### Navigation Keys

Arrow Keys

  Use the arrow keys to pan the display. Holding down the &Shift; key doubles the scrolling speed.

+ / -

  Zoom In/Out

&Ctrl;Z

  Restore the default Zoom setting

&Ctrl;&Shift;Z

  Zoom to specified field-of-view angle

0–9

  Center Display on a major Solar System body:

  - 0: Sun

  - 1: Mercury

  - 2: Venus

  - 3: Moon

  - 4: Mars

  - 5: Jupiter

  - 6: Saturn

  - 7: Uranus

  - 8: Neptune

  - 9: Pluto

Z

  Centre the display at the Zenith Point (straight up)

N

  Centre the display above the North point on the horizon

E

  Centre the display above the East point on the horizon

S

  Centre the display above the South point on the horizon

W

  Centre the display above the West point on the horizon

&Ctrl;F

  Open the Find Object window, for specifying a sky object on which to centre

&Ctrl;M

  Open the Set Manual Focus tool, for specifying RA/Dec or Az/Alt coordinates on which to centre

&Ctrl;T

  Toggle tracking mode

<

  Advance the simulation clock backwards by one time step

>

  Advance the simulation clock forwards by one time step

### Menu Shortcuts

&Ctrl;N

  Open a new &kstars; window

&Ctrl;W

  Close a &kstars; window

&Ctrl;D

  Download extra data

&Ctrl;O

  Open a FITS image in the FITS Editor

&Ctrl;I

  Export sky image to a file

&Ctrl;R

  Run a &kstars; DCOP script

&Ctrl;P

  Print the current sky map

&Ctrl;Q

  Quit &kstars;

&Ctrl;E

  Sync the simulation clock with the current system time

&Ctrl;S

  Set the simulation clock to a specified Time and Date

&Ctrl;&Shift;F

  Toggle full-screen mode

Space

  Toggle between the Horizontal and Equatorial Coordinate Systems

F1

  Open the &kstars; Handbook

### Opening Tools

&Ctrl;G

  Open the Set Geographic Location window

&Ctrl;C

  Open the AstroCalculator

&Ctrl;V

  Open the AAVSO Lightcurve Generator

&Ctrl;A

  Open the Altitude vs. Time tool

&Ctrl;U

  Open the What's Up Tonight? tool

&Ctrl;B

  Open the Script Builder tool

&Ctrl;Y

  Open the Solar System Viewer

&Ctrl;J

  Open the Jupiter Moons tool

## Mouse Commands

Moving the mouse

  The sky coordinates (RA/Dec and Az/Alt) of the mouse cursor are updated in the status bar

"Hovering" the mouse

  A temporary name label is attached to the object nearest to the mouse cursor.

Left-clicking

  The object nearest the mouse click is identified in the status bar.

Double-clicking

  Centre and track on the location or object nearest the mouse click. Double-clicking on an Info Box will shade it to show/hide extra information.

Right-clicking

  Open the popup menu for the location or object nearest the mouse cursor.

Scrolling the mouse wheel

  Zoom the display in or out. If you do not have a mouse wheel, you can hold the middle mouse button and drag vertically.

Click-and-dragging

  Dragging the sky map

    Pan the display, following the drag motion.

  &Ctrl;+dragging the sky map

    Define a rectangle in the map. When the mouse button is released, the display is zoomed in to match the field-of-view to the bounds of the rectangle.

  Dragging an Info Box

    The Info Box is repositioned in the map. Info Boxes will stick to window edges, so that they remain on the edge when the window is resized.