12.0 Displaying Stars

Use the Show pop-up menu to display stars as images or icons. The images shown are dependent on both the star's magnitude and on Limiting magnitude (see Filter dialod and the Sky window).
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To label stars with their names or numbers click the Labels check-box and select a label type from the Labels pop-up menu. Note that not all stars have proper names.
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To display stars from a specific star catalog only, select a catalog name from the Restrict display pop-up menu.
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 12.1 Filtering stars by magnitude
RedShift is pre-set to display stars with magnitudes between -2 and 8 (dimmer stars have higher magnitude values).

In the Stars filter dialog use the Magnitude slider to filter which stars are displayed (based on their magnitude). Note that the Magnitude slider lets you set both upper and lower limits on magnitude. Use the Labelled slider to filter which of the displayed stars are labeled.
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 12.2 Filtering stars by luminosity
To distinguish whether a star is a giant, a dwarf, or lies on the main sequence, astronomers assign stars a luminosity class.

In the Stars filter dialog use the Luminosity slider to filter which stars are displayed (based on their luminosity). Note that the Luminosity slider lets you set both upper and lower limits on luminosity.
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 12.2 Filtering stars by spectral type
A star's spectral type can be used as a filter. For example you may wish to display only cool stars or only F-type stars. A star's spectrum relates directly to its mass, temperature, brightness and age. Cool stars appear reddish; hotter stars look bluish.


In the Stars filter dialog use the Spectral type slider to filter which stars are displayed (based on their spectral type). Note that the Spectral type slider lets you set both upper and lower limits on spectral type.

 

RedShift shows the spectral type of a star in the color of its image. To alter the extent to which the colors of stars are emphasized, adjust the Saturation slider.
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