Object Detail

Whenever you select an object in the Catalog, Solar System, or Sky Map form you get a Detail form showing more information for this object.

The displayed information depends on the selected object. For some objects you can even get more information with the up/down arrows. The possible fields are:

Rise, Trans, Set: The local time when the object is rising, transiting, or setting. These times are chosen that they show the transit nearest to the currently selected time. So if you choose a time late in the evening it is normal that all times are on the morning of the following day.
A '+' or '-' sign denotes the following or preceding day, a small circle denotes daylight savings time. When the object is circum polar 'CirPl' is displayed, when it is never above horizon 'NvrUp'.
RA, Dec: The Right Ascension an Declination fields show the current position of the object in celestial coordinates.
Alt, Az: Altitude and Azimuth fields show current position of the moon in local coordinates. An Azimuth of 0 degrees means North.
IllF: The percentage of the moon or planet that is illuminated.
Age: How far along the moon is in the current cycle. When the age is 0%, a new lunar cycle has begun. The moon is full when it's age is 50%.
Magnitude: The brightness of the object in visual magnitude. The magnitude is scaled logarithmically, a magnitude below 0 is very bright, a magnitudes above 4 are visible with the naked eye only in a clear night.
Phase: The phase angle is the angle Sun-Planet-Earth.
Size: The visual size of an objects in minutes
Dist: The distance of a planets in astronomical units (AU). One AU is the mean distance Earth-Sun.

(Note that all information is in the context of the currently selected location, date and time. See the Options panel for information on setting this information.)

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