User`s guide

Adding Your Own Data 171
Basic Fields: For every object in your
database, you can enter the following
information fields: catalogue number,
catalogue kind, magnitude, kind, right
ascension, declination, and name. See the
"NGC-IC.txt" file to learn the meanings
of each of these fields. The magnitude and
name fields are optional - if an object does
not have a known value for one or both of
these fields, just leave the field blank. The
other fields are mandatory.
Optional Fields: You can add up to 8
additional information fields for your
database. These fields will then appear in
Starry Night’s Info pane for every object
in your database. Different databases will
have different information fields. Certain
optional field labels have specific
meanings, and are actually used by Starry
Night when it draws your object onscreen.
For example, Starry Night can use the
optional field "Diameter" to draw your
object a specific size. See the "NGC-
IC.txt" file for more details.
Object Symbols: For each type of object in
your database, Starry Night can show a
different symbol onscreen, in the colour of
your choice. For example, a database of
galaxies might be represented onscreen
with yellow symbols to mark spiral
galaxies, and red symbols to mark
elliptical galaxies. Yellow triangles might
mark barred spiral galaxies, while yellow
circles mark unbarred spiral galaxies. You
can use Starry Night's built-in symbols, or
you can create your own symbols.
User Images
Starry Night lets you add images of any
area of the night sky. You can use your
own images, or download them from the
Digitized Sky Survey or any other Internet
site.
Note: This section covers adding images
for objects that do not already have an
image in Starry Night. To modify the
images of objects that already have images
(planets, moons, Messier objects, etc.), see
“Modifying Images and Models
” on
page 175.
Adding Your Own Images: You can add
any image on your computer’s hard drive
to Starry Night. If you want to add an
image from an Internet site, first save this
image to your hard drive. Once the image
that you want to add to Starry Night is on
your hard drive, follow these steps:
1 Right-click (Ctrl-click on the Mac) on
the object or area of the sky where you
want to add your image. For example,
assume you want to add an image of
the globular cluster NGC 5466. You
would first find NGC 5466 onscreen,
and then right-click (Ctrl-click on the
Mac) on it.
Tip: It is also possible to add images that
cover more than one object, for example, a
wide-field image that includes several
galaxies and nebulae. Just right-click
(Ctrl-click on the Mac) on any of the
objects that appear in the image, and
choose Add Image from the object’s
contextual menu. You can then use the