User`s guide

Adding Your Own Data 175
Modifying Images and Models
It is possible to replace any of the built-in
images and models in Starry Night with
images or models of your own. The
images you can replace fall into two
categories: objects in our solar system, and
deep space objects in the “Messier” and
“Bright Objects” databases. The models
you can replace fall only into the solar
system category.
Solar System Objects: To modify the
image or model of any object in our solar
system, right-click on the object (Ctrl-
click on the Mac) to open its contextual
menu. Choose Edit Surface Image/
Model... from the menu.
The dialog box that opens has exactly the
same controls as the Surface Image/Model
tab in the Orbit Editor, which you use to
add surface images and models for new
solar system objects. See “Surface/Model
Tab” on page 166 for information on these
controls.
For some objects in our solar system, such
as the Moon, Earth and Mars, you have an
option of planetary textures. To select a
default texture for an object, use the
dropbox above the Add Image button.
Messier and Bright NGC Objects: You can
modify any of the images in Starry Night’s
“Messier” and “Bright NGC Objects”
database of deep space objects by
performing the following steps (see
“Messier Objects
” on page 82 and
“Bright NGC Objects
” on page 82 if you
have forgotten which objects are included
in these databases):
1 Right-click (Ctrl-click on the Mac) on
the object whose image you want to
replace.
2 Choose Edit Image from the object’s
contextual menu.
3 Press the Clear Image button to clear
the existing image.
4 Press the From File button to select an
image from your hard drive, or the
From DSS button to download an
image from the Digitized Sky Survey.
5 Position and size your image correctly
using the Image Editor’s controls.
6 Click Save.
Note: Use caution when replacing these
images. Once you replace an image, you
cannot return to the original image
without reinstalling Starry Night.