GSoC/GCI Archive
Google Summer of Code 2012 KDE

Make KStars more usable to beginner astronomers by adding “What's Interesting...” feature to KStars and by making “Star Hopping” feature user-configurable.

by Samikshan Bairagya for KDE

Often beginner astronomers of KStars open up KStars, look around a bit, but then can't figure out what to do next. This project aims to make KStars more beginner friendly through a new feature called "What's Interesting..." This feature will consist of a QML based easy-to-use user interface that will suggest sky objects currently visible in the sky taking into account the equipment-wise and location-wise limitations/availability of the user. The user's experience level and interest in astronomy will also be taken into account, thus providing the beginner/intermediate user a more personalised experience. Also this project aims to make the star hopping feature of KStars more usable by giving the user the option to specify equipment and location conditions.