You can locate objects in the sky by their name. Use Ctrl+F, the "Focus->Find Object" menu item, or the "Find" Toolbar button.

To change your Geographic Location, use Ctrl+G, the "Settings->Set Geographic Location..." menu item, or the "globe" Toolbar button.

You can Track an object, so it will always be centered in the display.
Use Ctrl+T, the "Focus->Track Object" menu item, or the "lock" Toolbar button. You can also simply center the object by double-clicking on it or selecting "Center and Track" from the object's popup menu.

The KStars Handbook includes the AstroInfo Project, a series of informative articles about Astronomy.

There are three on-screen "Info Boxes" which show data related to the time/date, your geographic location, and the current central position on the sky (the focus). You can drag these boxes with the mouse, and "shade" them by double-clicking them to show more (or less) information. You can hide them altogether in the Settings->Info Boxes menu.

KStars has a full-screen mode; you can toggle this mode using the "fullscreen" toolbar button, or by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F.

The N,S,E,W keys will point the display at the North, South, East and West points on the Horizon. The Z key will point the display at the Zenith.

The 0-9 keys will center the display on one of the major solar system bodies. 0 centers on the Sun, 3 centers on the Moon; the rest are the eight planets, in order of their distance from the Sun.

Click and Drag with the mouse to slew the skymap to a new position on the sky.

Double-click with the mouse to center the display on the location of the mouse cursor. If you double-click on an object, KStars will automatically begin tracking it.

The status bar displays the current sky coordinates of the mouse cursor, in both Equatorial and Horizontal coordinate systems.

The display can be zoomed in or out by spinning your mouse's scroll wheel, or by dragging the mouse up or down with the middle mouse button pressed. You can also use the +/- keys, or the "Zoom In"/"Zoom Out" items in the toolbar and in the View menu. The Zoom Level can be set manually using the "Zoom to Angular Size" item in the View menu (Shift+Ctrl+Z), and you can set it graphically by holding down the Ctrl button while dragging the mouse to define a rectangle for the new window boundaries.

You can manually set the coordinates of the central Focus point. Press Ctrl+M, or use the "Focus->Set Focus Manually..." menu item, and enter the desired coordinates in the popup window.

To switch between Equatorial and Horizontal coordinate systems, use the "View->Coordinates" menu item, or press the spacebar.

To set the Time and Date, type Ctrl+S, use the "Time->Set Time" menu item, or press the "time" toolbar button. Note that dates in KStars can be very remote; you can use any year between -50,000 and +50,000.

You can use Ctrl+E or the "Time->Set Time to Now" menu item to synchronize the simulation clock with your CPU clock.

The Spin Box in the Toolbar allows you to adjust the time step used by the KStars clock; setting it to "1.0 sec" provides "real time". Note: negative values make time run backwards.

You can stop and start the clock with the "Play/Pause" button in the Toolbar, or with the "Time->Stop/Start Clock" menu item.

You can advance the simulation clock forward or backward by a single time step by pressing the ">" or "<" keys.

When you click your mouse in the map, the object in the sky nearest the mouse cursor is identified in the status bar.

When you hold the mouse cursor still for a moment, the nearest object will be identified by a temporary name label that automatically fades out when you move the mouse again.

Right-click with the mouse to open a popup menu of detailed options for a particular object, including links to images and information on the Internet.

The deep-sky objects with a special color (the default is Red) have extra URL links available in their popup menu.

By default, stars in KStars are displayed with realistic colors. A star's color depends on its temperature; cooler stars are red, while hotter stars are blue.

If you want the very latest orbital information for asteroids and comets (including recently-discovered objects), check the "Download Data" tool ("File|Download Data" or Ctrl+D) frequently for updated ephemerides.

The Details window provides a large amount of information on any object in the sky, including coordinates, rise/set times, internet links, and your own custom notes. Access the Details window through the popup menu, or by clicking on an object and then pressing "D".

You can attach a name label to any object in the sky. Toggle the label in the popup menu, or by clicking on the object and then pressing "L".

The KStars Astrocalculator (Ctrl+C) gives you direct access to many of the calculations that KStars does behind-the-scenes.

The AAVSO Light Curve Generator tool (Ctrl+V) connects to a server at the American Association of Variable Star Observers, and constructs a lightcurve for any of the 6000+ variable stars that they monitor on a daily basis.

The Altitude vs. Time tool (Ctrl+A) will plot altitude curves for any group of objects that you select. This is a great tool for planning observing sessions.

With the What's Up Tonight? tool (Ctrl+U), you can tell at a glance what objects will be visible from your location on a given night.

The Observing List tool (Ctrl+L) gives you easy access to a selected group of objects. Add objects to the list through the popup menu, or by clicking on the object, and pressing "O".

The ScriptBuilder tool allows you to construct complex DCOP scripts using a simple GUI. The scripts can be played back later from the command line, or from within KStars.

The Solar System Viewer tool (Ctrl+Y) shows an overhead view of the solar system, showing the positions of the major planets for the current simulation date.

The Jupiter Moons tool (Ctrl+J) shows the relative positions of Jupiter's four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), as seen from Earth, and as a function of time.

You can export the sky image to a file using the "Save Sky Image" item in the File menu, or by pressing Ctrl+I. In addition, you can run KStars from a command prompt with the "--dump" argument to save a sky image to disk without even opening the program window. This can be used to generate dynamic wallpaper for your KDE desktop.

To add your own custom Object Catalogs, select "Add Catalog" from the Catalogs tab in the KStars Configuration window. See the Handbook for instructions on formatting your catalog file.

To add your own custom image/information URLs to any object, select "Add Link..." from the object's popup menu.

You can adjust dozens of display options by clicking the "configure" Toolbar button, or selecting the "Settings->Configure KStars..." menu item.

The on-screen Info Boxes can be hidden or shown using the "Settings->Info Boxes" menu.

The Toolbars can be hidden or shown using the "Settings->Toolbars" menu.

You can hide either the Ra/Dec or Az/Alt coordinate fields in the statusbar, or hide the stausbar completely, using the Settings|Statusbar menu.

You can easily switch between predefined color schemes by selecting the scheme from the "Settings->Color Schemes" menu.

You can define your own Geographic Locations. Fill in the required fields in the "Change Location" Dialog and then press the "Add to List" button. Your Locations will be available in all future sessions.

You can define your own Color Schemes. Adjust the colors in the Configuration Window's "Colors" Tab, and then press the "Save Current Colors" button. Your Color Scheme will appear in the list in all future sessions.

You can construct your own field-of-view (FOV) symbols, using the FOV Editor under the Tools menu. You can set the angular size, the shape, and the color of your new symbols.

The Advanced tab of the KStars Configuration window allows you to fine-tune the behavior of KStars. You can specify whether to correct for atmospheric refraction, and whether to use animated slewing. You can also specify which objects are hidden while the display is in motion.

KStars displays 126,000 stars, 13,000 deep-sky objects, 88 constellations, all planets, the Sun, the Moon, thousands of comets and asteroids, and the Milky Way.

The line in the sky that the Sun and all the Planets seem to follow is called the Ecliptic.

Object positions in KStars include the effects of precession, nutation, aberration, atmospheric refraction, and light travel time (for planets).

The nearest star to the Sun is Rigel Kentaurus (alpha Centauri). The brightest star in the sky is Sirius (alpha Canis Majoris).

The large group of galaxies between Leo, Virgo and Coma Berenices is called the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies.

The large group of clusters and nebulae near the south celestial pole are objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a dwarf galaxy in orbit around the Milky Way.

The Messier Catalog is a list of 110 of the brightest non-stellar objects in the sky. It includes such famous objects as the Orion Nebula (M 42), the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31), and the Pleiades (M 45).