Technical data

Chapter 5 Starmap 20
In addition to the Reverse switch, two there switches are provided to change the way the animation is handled. The
Lock Az/El changes the animation so that the current Azimuth and Elevation of the viewpoint is locked to the center of
the display. This method dramatically displays the apparent motion of stars against the sky.
The Trails switch, keeps the previous display from being cleared before the next is drawn. This is a great switch to use
to plot the retrograde motion of plates, or to chart occultations and transits.
You may also set the Autostar Suite time value to the time of the current animation step. This allows you to 'freeze' the
time of an event such as on occultation. At anytime during the animation you may click on the Update Current Time
button. This will copy the displayed time value from the Animation dialog box into the system time value, just as
though you had entered the time directly from the Set Time & Date function.
Viewpoint
The Viewpoint command allows you change the position in the sky, and in some cases the scale and orientation of the
Starmap display. When you select the Viewpoint command, you well get a sub-menu with additional commands. The
North, South, East, West and Zenith commands will change the set the viewpoint of the Starmap so that it will
appear as seen by an ground based observer looking in the indicated direction. The Starmap will be rotate so that
zenith is towards the top of the display and the Starmap scale will be set to a 90 degrees apparent field of view.
If you select the Custom View command, a dialog box allows you to set the current R.A. and Dec. values for the
center of the Starmap display. Once you have set the R.A. and DEC. fields, selecting OK will redraw the star map
with the requested position at the center of the display.
If you already know the coordinates of the object, merely enter the Right Ascension in hours, minutes and seconds, and
the Declination in degrees, minutes and seconds, then select the OK button. The Starmap will be redrawn with your
coordinates at the center of the screen.
If you select the Goto Current Zenith command, the R.A. and DEC. of the current zenith position at your location is
copied into the R.A. and DEC fields.
If you are currently connected to and LX200 or Autostar telescope, the Goto Telescope Coordinates button will copy
the telescopes current position into the R.A and DEC. fields.