#3 Picture links to Messier Objects on Skychart

[Anonymous]

Mr. Bronger:
Would it be feasable to have links to the Messier
Objects in your Skychart that would open up thumbnails
or larger pictures of the Galaxy or other Messier
Object that is selected? This would be helpful to
those of us who are not familiar with astronomy.
I am only a recreational user of these charts but I
have wished that such a feature would exist so that I
could see an instant picture of what is referenced
rather than just a number so that I would know
instantly what part of the sky to look for an object I
have seen on refdesk.com (Astronomy Picture of the day)
I have gone to that sight since 1999 and have been
entranced by the pictures and references I have found
on that website. It is a source of constant
edification about astronomy and Astrophysics, and I go
there almost daily to see what is new in Astronomy.
It is there where I found the link to your Software
sight on Sourceforge.net, through wikipedia.org,
another site I have grown to like.
Not being a programmer I can only surmise that a JAVA
script might be a useful for such an effort. Is this a
feasible effort for anyone?

VR,

rlschind@cox.net

[Torsten Bronger]

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user_id=442234

I think that in principle it is possible to embed such
links. However, we're talking about PDF documents, so I
don't think it would be a good idea. I suspect that you
have the bitmaps in mind. Bitmaps cannot contain links to
anything but it is possible that PP3 generates HTTP maps.

On the other hand, I don't see how this helps you in finding
objects that you've seen on APOTD. Besides, it is not very
simple to do, and at the moment, I don't have time for
working on PP3.