Basic Options

Chart Magnification: By default, the chart displays an area approximately 60° wide. Using a higher magnification gives you a smaller displayed area, in inverse proportion to the magnification. For example, a magnification of 6 gives you about a 10° field of view.

Chart Size: This is the width of the chart in pixels. The Distant Worlds Star Mapper will automatically choose an appropriate height (normally 3/4 the width). The default value, 600, is appropriate for common 1024x768 displays.

Chart Magnitude Limit: Specify the apparent magnitude of the faintest stars to show. Larger values give more details (fainter stars), but also take longer to plot.

Magnitude Display Limit: Stars brighter than this will have their names printed in orange text next to the star symbols. If you select "Display extra star info", these labels will include the star's magnitude and distance from the viewing point.

Distance Display Limit:: Stars closer to the viewing point than this value will be labeled in green text, similarly to the stars brighter than the Magnitude Display Limit.

Display Extra Star Info: If you select "yes", stars closer than the Distance Display Limit or brighter than the Magnitude Display Limit will show both their names and a summary of their magnitude and distance information. If you select "no", only the names will appear.

Locations:

You need to specify two locations to get a chart. One location is your "viewing point" -- the point in space you're viewing the sky from. The second location is your "look-to point" -- the point in space that the chart centers on.

For each location, you can choose one of three types of points:

1. The Sun: With the Sun as a viewing point, you'll see the night sky as seen from Earth. From a remote location, choosing the Sun as the "look-to" point forces the Mapper to center the chart on the Sun.
2. Choose Star From List: You can choose any star in the drop-down menu provided. The stars are a selection of bright stars, nearby stars, and stars with well-know proper names. If you choose a star as your "view-from" point, you'll see the sky as seen from that star, rather than from near the Sun.
3. Coordinates: This is a little more advanced. With this option, you specify the position of a point in space using coordinates centered on the Sun. You'll need to know, or figure out, the equatorial coordinates (right ascension and declination) of your point, as well as how far away from Earth it is. The buttons below the "Distance" field let you specify whether the distance from Earth is in light years (l.y.) or in parsecs.