User`s guide

Working With Files 149
Multiple Windows
One of the most useful features of Starry
Night is its ability to have multiple
functional windows open at the same time.
This opens up many exciting possibilities
for the user. For example, you can view an
event from several different locations at
the same time, or view the same object at
several different times. Choose
File->New from the menu to open a new
window.
Synching Time in Multiple Windows: You
can synchronize the time and the rate of
time flow between multiple windows, by
clicking the arrow to the right of the date
and time in the toolbar, and choosing
Synchronize Times In All Windows
from the dropbox. The next example will
show you the power of this feature.
Example: Simultaneously viewing a
solar eclipse from Earth, the Moon,
and the Sun
Multiple windows are an excellent way to
view the geometry of our solar system that
is responsible for eclipses. In this exercise,
we will examine a total solar eclipse
simultaneously from three viewpoints:
Earth, the Moon, and the Sun.
1 Open the file you made earlier called
“
Eclipse from Munich” using the
File->Open command. After you have
opened this file, don’t start time moving
forward, but leave it at 12:32.
2 Open a new window by choosing
File->New, then choose File->Save and
name the file “
Eclipse from Moon”.
3 Adjust this window’s size and position
onscreen so that you can see it and the
“
Eclipse from Munich” window
that you previously created.
4In the “
Eclipse from Moon”
window, open the
Find pane, and type in a
search for the Moon. Open the contextual
menu for the Moon and select
Go There.
You should now be hovering above the
Moon.
Open the contextual menu for the
Moon by right-clicking (Ctrl-click on the
Mac) on it and select
Go There (Surface
latitude...).
Your viewing location is now
the surface of the Moon.
5Open the
Find pane and do a search
for Earth, then double-click on the entry for
Earth to centre on it.
6Choose
File->New to open a new
window. Choose
File->Save to save this
file as “
Eclipse from Sun”.
7 Adjust this window’s size and position
so that you can see all three Starry Night
windows.
8In the “
Eclipse From Sun”
window, open the
Find pane, and type in a
search for the Sun. Open the contextual
menu for the Sun and select
Go There.
Open the contextual menu for the Sun by
right-clicking (Ctrl-click on the Mac) on it
and select
Go There (Surface
latitude...).
Your viewing location is now
the surface of the Sun.
9 Still in this window, open the
Find pane
and do a search for Earth, then
double-click on the entry for Earth to
centre on it.
10 Now return to the “
Eclipse From
Munich
” window and synchronize time in
all three windows by choosing
Synchronize Times In All Windows from