Installing Stellarium
choco install stellarium
Apparently, there is no script directory in the
user data directory after installing Stellarium. So, create it manually:
new-item -type directory $env:appdata/Stellarium/scripts
After installing Stellarium
Useful (imho) keyboard shortcuts
A complete list of keyboard shortcut keys is displayed when pressing F1.
F7 seems to allow assign different shortcut keys to different actions.
Show/hide
The following keys toggle the display of specific objects or ideas in the sky (or on Earth)
d, p, s, g | deep sky objects, planets, stars, ground |
v and r, resp. | labels and arts of constellations, resp. |
e and z, resp. | Equatorial or azimutal grid, resp. |
. , and h, resp. | Equator, ecliptic, horizon line, resp. |
alt-p toggles if planet and their moon names are shown. It seems to correspond to the
script API function
SolarSystem.setFlagLabels.
shift-t toggles the display of planet (and moons? minor bodies?) trails.
Time related
7 | stop time |
8 | travel to now |
[, ] | backward, forward a week |
j, l | move backwards, forwards (can be pressed multiple times to increase speed.) |
k | move forward? |
= , alt+= | forward a solar day, sidereal day |
Function keys
F1 | Help |
F2 | Configuration |
F3 | Search window (also ctrl+f) |
F4 | Sky and viewing options |
F5 | Enter Date/time (where it is almost impossible to enter a date or time with the keyboard!) |
F6 | Location |
F11 | Full Screen on/off |
F12 | Script console |
Misc
Apparently, there is no default keyboard shortcut to show the
ecliptical grid. However, a button can be configured to be displayed which shows that grid, see
additional buttons under
Configuration -> Extras. (Configuration is opened with the shortcut key
F2).
TODO
A selected object is deselected with ctrl-space.
Modifying keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts can be modifed in the
config.ini file in the
[shortcuts] section. The following example assigns
j to the resume script action. Because this key is assigned to
decrease time speed by default,
actionDecrease_Time_Speed needs to be set to
"" explicitly.
It is unclear to me what the "" after the J stands for or is needed for.
[shortcuts]
…
actionDecrease_Time_Speed = ""
actionResume_Script = J ""
…
Note, in the keyboard shortcut assignment dialog (F7), Resume script execution (actionResume_Script) is found under Date and Time.
TODO
Can return be assigned to actionResume_Script:
actionResume_Script = Return
Placing the observer anywhere in the Solar System
It seems that is not possible to place the observer at an arbitrary place in the Solar System (or any other location for that matter) with Stellarium.
This feature seems possible with
Celestia, another open source software.