Keyboard Commands¶

Navigation Keys¶

Arrow Keys

Use the arrow keys to pan the display. Holding down the Shift key doubles the scrolling speed.

+ / -

Zoom In/Out.

Ctrl + Z

Restore the default Zoom setting.

Ctrl + Shift + Z

Zoom to specified field-of-view angle.

0–9

Center Display on a major Solar System body:

0: Sun

1: Mercury

2: Venus

3: Moon

4: Mars

5: Jupiter

6: Saturn

7: Uranus

8: Neptune

9: Pluto

Z

Center the display at the Zenith Point (straight up).

N

Center the display above the North point on the horizon.

E

Center the display above the East point on the horizon.

S

Center the display above the South point on the horizon.

W

Center the display above the West point on the horizon.

Ctrl + T

Toggle tracking mode.

<

Advance the simulation clock backwards by one time step.

>

Advance the simulation clock forwards by one time step.

Menu Shortcuts¶

Ctrl + N: Download extra data.
Ctrl + O: Open a FITS image in the FITS Editor.
Ctrl + I: Export sky image to a file.
Ctrl + L: Run a KStars Observation Planner.
Ctrl + Shift + P: Open the Imaging Planner tool.
Ctrl + R: Run a KStars D-Bus script.
Ctrl + P: Print the current sky map.
Ctrl + Q: Quit KStars.
Ctrl + E: Sync the simulation clock with the current system time.
Ctrl + S: Set the simulation clock to a specified Time and Date.
Ctrl + Shift + F: Toggle full-screen mode.
Ctrl + 0: Define equipment (telescope, eyepiece, lens and filter) characteristics for observation logs.
Ctrl + 1: Add a new observer item for your observation logs.
Space: Toggle between the Horizontal and Equatorial Coordinate Systems.
F1: Open the KStars Handbook.
F5: Switch sky chart view to the Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection.
F6: Switch sky chart view to the azimuthal equidistant projection.
F7: Switch sky chart view to the orthographic projection.
F8: Switch sky chart view to the equirectangular projection.
F9: Switch sky chart view to the stereographic projection.
F10: Switch sky chart view to the gnomonic projection.

Actions for the Selected Object¶

Each of the following keystrokes performs an action on the selected object. The selected object is the last object which was clicked on (identified in the status bar). Alternatively, if you hold down the Shift key, then the action is performed on the centered object instead.

C: Center and Track on the selected object.
D: Open the Details window for the selected object.
L: Toggle a name label for the selected object.
O: Add the selected object to the observing list.
P: Open the selected object’s popup menu.
T: Toggle a trail on the selected object (solar system bodies only).

Tools Shortcuts¶

Ctrl + F: Open the Find Object window, for specifying a sky object on which to center.
Ctrl + M: Open the Set Coordinates Manually tool, for specifying RA/Dec or Az/Alt coordinates on which to center. The tool defaults to J2000 epoch for the RA/Dec.
[: Start an Angular Distance measurement at the current mouse cursor position. The angular distance between start and end points is displayed at the endpoint.
Ctrl + G: Open the Set Geographic Location window.
Ctrl + C: Open the AstroCalculator.
Ctrl + A: Open the Altitude vs. Time tool.
Ctrl + U: Open the What’s up Tonight? tool.
Ctrl + W: Open the “What’s Interesting” tool.
Ctrl + B: Open the Script Builder tool.
Ctrl + Y: Open the Solar System Viewer.
Ctrl + J: Open the Jupiter Moons tool.