[Kstars-devel] hello from a naked-eye observer

[Jason Harris]

Hi Milton,

mph wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am a new member of this list, as well as a newbie in learning the in's and 
> out's of open source, kde, and proper mailing list etiquette.  (please let me 
> know if I am using this forum incorrectly)  
Welcome!

> I am interested in astronomical myth.  I would be like to be able to display 
> other constellation patterns besides the one in clines.dat. (i.e. switch 
> between IAU constellations currently in clines.dat and traditional patterns 
> from other cultures from an alternative clines.dat I would create).  In fact, 
> I would like the ability to display other graphics (like line drawings) 
> superimposed on the sky.  Then, I could display images like those from the 
> Uranometria on the sky and even print them.  In terms of other cultures, I 
> would pair the ability of displaying different constellations along with the 
> ability to display different names for stars (Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, etc.)  
> 
Displaying alternate constellation lines should be easy to implement; 
you just have to follow the file format of clines.dat when making the 
new file.  I can help you understand the format if it isn't clear.  Then 
we just need to add code to let the user choose which set to use, which 
is trivial.

Alternate star names will require a bit more coding, but not much.  In 
short, if you submit these data files to the list, we'll be happy to add 
these features to the program.

> Is anyone else interested in these types of features?  
Yes, someone has already expressed interest in the "drawing" form of 
constellations on the sky.  Hopefully they will speak up and you two can 
work together.  This form will be a little difficult, because the 
drawings will need to be distorted to match the curve of the sky.  This 
may be computationally expensive for bitmap dawings, so it might be 
easier if they were in some kind of vector format.  Still in that case, 
I don't really know how we would accomplish the distortion.  So, it 
might be wise to start with only one constellation drawing and we can 
use that to try to figure out the distortion.

This would take a pretty big effort to get coded, so let's only proceed 
if everyone is very sure that they will be able to follow through.

> Unfortunately, they 
> could potentially require a significant shift in the data formats.  Is this 
> the proper place to send this, or am I supposed to be using the kde 
> bug-tracker?
> 
Sure, the list is fine for discussions like this, especially since you 
are offering to help. :)

regards,
Jason