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54 lines
1.9 KiB
54 lines
1.9 KiB
15 years ago
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<sect1 id="tool-solarsys">
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<title>Solar System Viewer</title>
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<indexterm><primary>Tools</primary>
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<secondary>Solar System Viewer</secondary>
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</indexterm>
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<screenshot>
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<screeninfo>
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The Solar System Viewer
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</screeninfo>
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<mediaobject>
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<imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="solarsystem.png" format="PNG"/>
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</imageobject>
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<textobject>
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<phrase>Solar System Viewer</phrase>
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</textobject>
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</mediaobject>
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</screenshot>
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<para>
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This tool displays a model of our solar system as seen from
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above. The Sun is drawn as a yellow dot in the center of the
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plot, and the orbits of the planets are drawn as ellipses with
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the correct shapes and orientations. The current position
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of each planet along its orbit is drawn as a colored dot, along
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with a name label. The display can be zoomed in and out with
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the <keycap>+</keycap> and <keycap>-</keycap> keys, and the
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display can be recentered with the arrow keys, or by
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double-clicking anywhere in the window with the mouse. You can
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also center on a planet with the <keycap>0–9</keycap> keys
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(<keycap>0</keycap> is the Sun; <keycap>9</keycap> is Pluto).
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If you center on a planet, it will be tracked as time passes in
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the tool.
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</para>
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<para>
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The Solar System Viewer has its own clock, independent of the
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clock in the main &kstars; window. There is a timestep control
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widget here, similar to the one in the main window's toolbar.
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However, this control defaults to a timestep of 1 day (so that
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the motions of the planets can be seen), and it starts out with
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the clock paused when the tool is opened.
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</para>
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<note>
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<para>
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The current model used for Pluto's orbit is only good for dates
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within about 100 years of the present date. If you let the Solar
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System clock advance beyond this range, you will see Pluto behave
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very strangely! We are aware of this issue, and will try to
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improve Pluto's orbit model soon.
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</para>
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</note>
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</sect1>
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