STAR Atlas:PRO frequently asked questions - FAQs


What is the setting �Display DSS Image Outlines� and how do I use it ?

When STAR Atlas:PRO downloads an image from the Palomar Digitized Sky Survey (see FAQHow do I download Digitised Sky Survey (DSS) pictures of objects that interest me and make them the size that is best for me?�)  it leaves an outline of the area covered by the DSS image on the star chart. All the viewer then has to do, is to right-click on the dotted outline to re-display the DSS image. The outline of each DSS image is only displayed when the option Display DSS Image Outlines is enabled.

To see this outline and understand what this setting does, the viewer needs to have previously downloaded a picture associated with the desktop. 

To see what this command does: -

1. Open Star Atlas: PRO.
2. Click [Locate] on the main menu.
3. Then find an object which has a picture previously downloaded.
4. Enlarge the item on the screen by changing the [Field of View] setting to about 2 degrees as set out in �When Should I Use the Field of View Command?�
5. When this object is satisfactorily in view on the screen �
6. Click on [Chart Prefs] on the main menu.
7. Next identify [Digitised Sky Survey Images], (centre at the bottom), and then find the small square under that entitled [Display DSS Image Outlines].
8. If this box is checked (there is a tick in it) then uncheck it or vice versa.
9. Finally, Click [Redraw] (bottom right) and this will return the viewer to the desktop with the image described above still in view.  If the square DSS image outline had previously been visible, it would have now disappeared and vice versa.

As you can see, having this outline on the desktop can make finding previous objects of interest much easier to find, but the outlines do tend to clutter the desktop if there are a number of them.  You now have a choice as to whether to use this outline and how to go about it.

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