I’ve never needed to add new space objects to Stellarium. There was no serious reason for me. Stellarium already have many of them in database. However, a need arise some time a go. I was hurry to learn how to add a new space object to the local Stellarium base, making small notes and procedures how to do this.
I always wanted to take pictures of a comet and the opportunity arise – The comet C / 2019 Y4 (ATLAS). At that time when I took photos of ATLAS, it was forecast that ATLAS would be a very promising phenomenon in the sky. When you read these words, it probably has already split on parts and turn to comet fog or completely disappeared. However, at the time I was taking pictures, I made some notes, one of them was a short procedure how to add a new object to Stellarium. The procedure below.
You will need Stellarium version 0.18 minimum and internet access.
Run Stellarium and go to Configuration Window (F2 key).
Click the Plugins tab. On the left from the list at the bottom, click on Solar System Editor and enable the Load at startup option.
Close the window and restart Stellarium.
Go to Configuration Window (F2) → Plugins → Solar System Editor and click the configure plugin button.
Go to the Solar System tab and click Import orbital elements in MPC format …
Click on the Lists tab, enable Comets. In the Select the source section, enable Download a list of objects from the Internet. Click on the drop-down list and select MPCORB: comets. Click on Get orbital elements.
In the Import Data window, enter the searched comet in the text field, C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). Select the object and click Add objects.
Close all configuration windows.
Go to object search and click the magnifying glass – Search window (F3)
In the search field, enter C/2019 Y4. The search engine will complete the rest of the entry itself. Click the magnifying glass.
The program will set the sky on comet its own.
Done
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