Is there a way of creating placemarks in Stellarium?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Beth Doodle
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the possibility of creating placemarks in Stellarium, a planetarium software, similar to features available in Google Earth. Participants explore the functionality of Stellarium regarding location marking, bookmarking star locations, and the limitations of these features.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants inquire whether Stellarium allows users to create custom placemarks similar to those in Google Earth.
  • One participant suggests that defining a location may not address the original question about bookmarking star locations.
  • A later reply clarifies that the original poster (OP) likely wants to bookmark star locations for easier access.
  • Another participant discovers that a keyboard shortcut (Shift+left click) can be used to add markers in Stellarium.
  • It is noted that there is currently no way to rename custom markers, which could limit their usefulness.
  • One participant expresses frustration with the limitations of Stellarium compared to paid software, suggesting that the open-source nature may contribute to these inadequacies.
  • A later post mentions that Stellarium has introduced a "bookmark" feature that allows marking and accessing objects, but still lacks the ability to rename bookmarks or add descriptive text.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying levels of understanding and frustration regarding the functionality of Stellarium. While some agree on the existence of a bookmarking feature, there is no consensus on its effectiveness or completeness, particularly regarding the inability to rename bookmarks.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the lack of renaming functionality for custom markers and bookmarks, as well as the potential for confusion regarding the original intent of the OP's question.

Who May Find This Useful

Users of Stellarium, astronomy enthusiasts, and individuals interested in software features related to location marking and bookmarking in astronomical applications.

Beth Doodle
Messages
20
Reaction score
5
I've found it very useful to be able to create your own placemarks in Google Earth and Sky. Is there a way to do something similar in Stellarium too?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Beth Doodle said:
I've found it very useful to be able to create your own placemarks in Google Earth and Sky. Is there a way to do something similar in Stellarium too?

you can define your location. if that isn't what you mean?? what do you mean ?Dave
 
davenn said:
you can define your location. if that isn't what you mean?? what do you mean ?
Dave
I sounds like the OP wanted to bookmark star locations in order to return to them more easily.
 
Borg said:
I sounds like the OP wanted to bookmark star locations in order to return to them more easily.
I have no idea mate, hence why I asked :smile:
it was very unclear
 
davenn said:
you can define your location. if that isn't what you mean?? what do you mean ?

Borg said:
I sounds like the OP wanted to bookmark star locations in order to return to them more easily.
Just as Borg says. Like these pins in Google Earth.

colsize.jpg
 

Attachments

  • colsize.jpg
    colsize.jpg
    41.9 KB · Views: 1,276
I just found the answer - there is a way.

I was fiddling around in Stellarium and wondered if there might be a keyboard shortcut to doing this so I began trying different various of using the CTRL, SHift, Alt, and the right and left mouse buttons. It turns out that Shift+left click will add a marker where the mouse pointer is.

As Emily Litella would say, "Never mind!" Gilda Radner from Saturday Night Live reference
 
BTW - FYI for anyone who may stumble across this in the future, I've also found out that there is currently no way to rename these custom markers. Therefore, unless a bunch of markers named Marker 1, Marker 2, Marker 3, etc. would be useful to you, using this not-ready-for-prime-time* feature won't be useful for you until it is fully developed in a future version.

*Yet another Saturday Night Live reference
 
Beth Doodle said:
BTW - FYI for anyone who may stumble across this in the future, I've also found out that there is currently no way to rename these custom markers. Therefore, unless a bunch of markers named Marker 1, Marker 2, Marker 3, etc. would be useful to you, using this not-ready-for-prime-time* feature won't be useful for you until it is fully developed in a future version.

*Yet another Saturday Night Live reference
This is what you get when people are reluctant to spend 'proper money' on software. When you buy Excel or Photoshop there are very few of these little annoyances but astronomers are so used to free and open source stuff that they seem to put up with all sorts of inadequacies. I guess there just isn't the market for it to be developed.
I have been struggling with Nebulosity and what it actually does is far superior to its interface. Stark Labs are very friendly and give lots of free advice but they couldn't pay themselves enough to give it a Photoshop standard interface.
Strange when you think of the thousands of quids that astrophotographers and even visual astronomers are prepared to pay for their hardware.
I just shelled out for a Photoshop subscription so I have put my money where my mouth is. It really is great to use.
 
This is admittedly a necropost (sorry), but in case anybody is still interested, here is the answer:

Stellarium now has a "bookmark" feature that allows you to easily mark and access objects and locations of interest.

To enable the bookmark icon on the lower tool strip, go to:
Configuration ==> Extras (tab) ==> Bookmarks (checkbox)

Once the Booksmarks checkbox is checked, a new icon will appear on the bottom (lower) toolstrip. The icon looks like a 5-pointed star on a pennant/banner/flag. Clicking on the icon opens the bookmarks window.

From there you can add a booksmark corresponding to your currently selected object (or delete existing ones). You can Go To a bookmark, essentially selecting it as your new selected tarket. You can also "highlight bookmarks," which gives them the same sort of functionality as the pins in Google Earth, such as the OP was inquiring about.

Unfortunately, I don't see a way to rename them or add any descriptive text to bookmarks. But at least they're there.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Likes   Reactions: socraticmethead, jim mcnamara and sophiecentaur

Similar threads

  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
5K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
  • · Replies 49 ·
2
Replies
49
Views
12K
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
2K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
4K