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event; if you set Guide to show, for example, a lunar occultation, and the background turns bright blue, you can reasonably expect not to see that event. Finally, there are two check-boxes for "Show Ground" and "Horizon Objects". The first causes the "ground" to be shown in a solid color. Again, this can be useful for determining if an event is visible; if you turn "Show Ground" on, and the event in question is in the "ground" area, you know you won't be able to see it. With "Horizon Objects" turned on, Guide displays a few objects at the horizon such as trees, houses, cars, streetlights, and so forth. This can provide a certain sense of scale. It's also possible to rearrange these objects and add new ones; see the instructions in the files HORIZON.DAT and OBJECTS.DAT for details. Some people have done this in order to get a "horizon" that matches their actual observing site. This helps in planning observations (you can get a better idea when the moon will rise from behind a certain hill) and in orienting yourself properly. (Unfortunately, figuring out the azimuth to the objects in question can be a bit of a challenge. You can use a compass, or you can observe a star pass over an object at a given time, then use Guide to determine the altitude/azimuth of the star at that time.) By default, the background is white in Chart mode and black in Normal Color mode, and the ground is a brownish-red color. However, three buttons are provided in the dialog box to adjust this. Each is a blank rectangle showing the color in question; click on one, and you get a color selection box. 8: SETTINGS MENU The Settings menu lets you set such details as your position on the earth (latitude, longitude and altitude), epoch, printer, and so forth. The Settings menu looks like this: Location Time Dialog Enter Time Level 3: 45 degrees Scope control Level Language Margins menu Formats TLE=bright.tle Projection Toolbar In the Location dialog (page 34), you can select your
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