1<sect1 id="tool-solarsys">
2<title>Solar System Viewer</title>
3<indexterm><primary>Tools</primary>
4<secondary>Solar System Viewer</secondary>
5</indexterm>
6
7<screenshot>
8<screeninfo>
9The Solar System Viewer
10</screeninfo>
11<mediaobject>
12  <imageobject>
13    <imagedata fileref="solarsystem.png" format="PNG"/>
14  </imageobject>
15  <textobject>
16    <phrase>Solar System Viewer</phrase>
17  </textobject>
18</mediaobject>
19</screenshot>
20
21<para>
22This tool displays a model of our solar system as seen from
23above.  The Sun is drawn as a yellow dot in the center of the
24plot, and the orbits of the planets are drawn as ellipses with
25the correct shapes and orientations.  The current position
26of each planet along its orbit is drawn as a colored dot, along
27with a name label.  The display can be zoomed in and out with
28the <keycap>+</keycap> and <keycap>-</keycap> keys, and the
29display can be recentered with the arrow keys, or by
30double-clicking anywhere in the window with the mouse.  You can
31also center on a planet with the <keycap>0</keycap>&ndash;<keycap>9</keycap> keys
32(<keycap>0</keycap> is the Sun; <keycap>9</keycap> is Pluto).
33If you center on a planet, it will be tracked as time passes in
34the tool.
35</para>
36<para>
37The Solar System Viewer has its own clock, independent of the
38clock in the main &kstars; window.  There is a timestep control
39widget here, similar to the one in the main window's toolbar.
40However, this control defaults to a timestep of 1 day (so that
41the motions of the planets can be seen), and it starts out with
42the clock paused when the tool is opened. You may set the date to now
43by pressing the <guibutton>Today</guibutton> button.
44</para>
45<note>
46<para>
47The current model used for Pluto's orbit is only good for dates
48within about 100 years of the present date.  If you let the Solar
49System clock advance beyond this range, you will see Pluto behave
50very strangely!  We are aware of this issue, and will try to
51improve Pluto's orbit model soon.
52</para>
53</note>
54</sect1>
55