Nebulae
How to draw your own
Ok, this page contains the
exact steps you will need to create your own nebulae drawings.
In the Data | User-Defined
Data area choose the option "Snap to: Cursor Position"
as highlighted below. This way when you use a CONTROL+Left Mouse
Click anywhere on the display a line is drawn to the position. First you
must specify a starting position by placing an anchor.
CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse Click drops the anchor. Then just CONTROL+Left
Mouse click from there.
Initial settings
Data | Add User-Defined Data
Choose the correct settings
Choose the Data class: Lines/Polygons as shown
along with Object type: "Bright Nebula". Actually
you can make the lines ANY object type you want but Bright Nebula makes sense in this example.
The comment field is not necessary.
Pick a filename for your version of the drawings. Here
I chose the drive and folder "D:\my nebula.txt"
for the file.
This text file will be compiled into an SDB that will plot the lines you
have created.
First
you must pick a starting position before drawing the nebula. This is done by using
CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse Click
which creates an initial "Move To command" or anchor point to
begin.
Subsequent CONTROL+Left Mouse Clicks will then draw a line to the next point.
CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse Click
on the starting position.
It appears that
nothing has happened!
However, in the Data | User-Defined Data area you now have a "MOVE TO" command
with the coordinates of the Cursor Position. The Move To command is simply placing
the pen on the starting cursor position. If you don't start with a "Move To" you will
have lines connected that you don't intend to.
CONTROL+SHIFT+Left
Mouse Click on starting cursor position
Note: Command: MOVE TO and coordinates
The first position is stamped here but nothing shows
After placing your initial
anchor (Move To) next
CONTROL+Left Mouse Click on the
next positions. If you accidentally draw a line in the wrong place you
can remove the line by pressing F4 then try again. F4 will
continue to DELETE lines as long as you keep pressing it. That is you
can REMOVE as many lines as needed by pressing F4 over and over again.
M27 example
Drawing around nebula CONTROL+Left Mouse Click
F4 DELETES lines that are mistakes!
HINT: By having an
image in place to use as a guide you can simply draw around it. To place
an image you can use Image Link
to find a match.
NOTE: If you press F4 too many
times you will also remove the initial anchor you had created by using
the first
CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse Click.
If you have DELETED all of the entries in the User-Defined Data area
go back and start again!
So get it!? Keep
CONTROL+Left
Mouse Clicking on the area around
the nebula lifting the PEN (CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse click) where
needed. F4 DELETES lines you don't want. When you are
satisfied with the end result make sure you do a final
CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse Click on the very last star issuing a Move
To!
And finally the end result a compiled SDB.
1)
Setup the User-Defined Data (Data
| User-Defined Data)
section correctly
2) Find a good starting place to place an anchor
using
CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse Click creating a MOVE TO command
3) CONTROL+Left Mouse Click as you go and lines are connected
4) Use F4 to DELETE lines that are mistakes
5) Re-anchor the pen wherever necessary. CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse
Click
avoiding bad or unwanted lines.
When satisfied with the
drawing use the EXPORT button to save the data. You can also SAVE
the document file using File Save As BEFORE you DELETE the User-Defined
Data. I recommend saving a document for each constellation as you
go. Then you can add them all together into a single text file!
When Done Export the text file!
This Text file is then made into and SDB
Once you have your text file created it can then be
compiled into an
SDB. Use Data | Import and Browse your computer for the text
file and press Compile.
Data | Import
To Compile the text into an SDB
Then just compile the text file
into an SDB file.
Sample of what the text file looks
like. Note the use of a POLY BEG (anchor dropped at starting position
CONTROL+SHIFT+Left Mouse Click). The POLY END will be added for you when
completing the drawing steps.
;My M27 Example
;Copyright, Software Bisque, Inc.
>LABEL 1,30
>ALIAS 19,35
>RAHOURS 37,47
>DECDEGREES 49,60
>CATALOG CLASS=LINES
>LOADMEMORY
>IDENTIFIER User-Defined Data
>OBJECT TYPE 15
1 POLY BEG Cursor position 19.99742176 22.70135164 30.00
2 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99743049 22.70469562 30.00
3 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99742189 22.70588996 30.00
4 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99739604 22.70720383 30.00
5 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99731840 22.70851798 30.00
6 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99725804 22.71066804 30.00
7 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99718906 22.71317643 30.00
8 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99707692 22.71592389 30.00
9 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99703385 22.71890985 30.00
10 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99696486 22.72141821 30.00
11 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99699079 22.72297067 30.00
12 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99699948 22.72488150 30.00
13 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99693907 22.72559838 30.00
14 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99688732 22.72715121 30.00
15 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99685284 22.72942054 30.00
16 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99680108 22.73061508 30.00
17 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99677523 22.73252608 30.00
18 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99668894 22.73407906 30.00
19 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99660267 22.73646804 30.00
20 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99654228 22.73837918 30.00
21 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99648189 22.74017088 30.00
22 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99644741 22.74220133 30.00
23 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99640428 22.74411239 30.00
24 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99637843 22.74614280 30.00
25 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99630077 22.74829284 30.00
26 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99612812 22.74936839 30.00
27 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99600729 22.75127971 30.00
28 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99591235 22.75319092 30.00
29 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99587785 22.75534077 30.00
30 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99565341 22.75784953 30.00
31 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99534264 22.76203046 30.00
32 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99524671 22.76263472 30.00
33 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99481113 22.76544745 30.00
34 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99437553 22.76745656 30.00
35 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99382375 22.76866212 30.00
36 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99341716 22.76826056 30.00
37 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99309771 22.76846133 30.00
38 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99273469 22.76846107 30.00
39 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99242976 22.76685400 30.00
40 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99216841 22.76504604 30.00
41 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99166024 22.76163071 30.00
42 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99125374 22.75761281 30.00
43 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99086179 22.75319306 30.00
44 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99045537 22.74776883 30.00
45 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.98983130 22.73892905 30.00
46 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.98994752 22.73611787 30.00
47 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99057176 22.73632147 30.00
48 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99060084 22.73411236 30.00
49 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99058638 22.73109971 30.00
50 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99047031 22.72828749 30.00
51 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99015106 22.72366681 30.00
52 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99029652 22.71061291 30.00
53 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99052890 22.70358452 30.00
54 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99079023 22.69936791 30.00
55 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99106605 22.69535208 30.00
56 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99121126 22.69093408 30.00
57 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99138546 22.68711866 30.00
58 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99163223 22.68229918 30.00
59 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99200957 22.67908659 30.00
60 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99243042 22.67507051 30.00
61 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99276419 22.67205831 30.00
62 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99409913 22.66623394 30.00
63 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99536161 22.67406435 30.00
64 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99559382 22.67647375 30.00
65 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99595666 22.67988682 30.00
66 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99621792 22.68289843 30.00
67 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99649373 22.68671324 30.00
68 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99668250 22.69113087 30.00
69 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99668261 22.69595101 30.00
70 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99661012 22.69896392 30.00
71 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99614571 22.70017088 30.00
72 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99637804 22.70519094 30.00
73 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99663941 22.71021078 30.00
74 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99675562 22.71422703 30.00
75 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99704584 22.71121303 30.00
76 POLY POINT Cursor position 19.99720536 22.70599039 30.00
77 POLY END Cursor position 19.99742222 22.70158333 30.00
By using the commands PEN
COLOR and BRUSH COLOR you can specify the line color and the fill color.
Here is a blue setting for both. The value of the R G and B is a number
between 0 and 255. The higher the number the brighter the intensity of
the color. The following is a slightly dimmer Blue example.
PEN COLOR R=0 G=0 B=64
BRUSH COLOR R=0 G=0 B=64
Can I draw something more
than just lines? You bet. Consider the following examples.
Drawing of the Veil Nebula
region in Cygnus done by me.
Wow, 25,000
points, nearly a full day of drawing!
Not for the faint at heart ;)
found in the Veil.txt file
Trifid Nebula
found in Bright Nebulae.txt
Horse Head Nebula
found in the Dark Nebulae.txt file
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