Bodies List
The Bodies list is the checkbox list of celestial bodies a study includes. Checking a body adds it to the study's output; unchecking it takes the body out. Restricting a study to the bodies you care about keeps the ephemeris readable and the generation fast.
The list appears in two arrangements:
- A single list headed Bodies on the six standard and graphic ephemeris studies.
- A pair of lists headed Inner Bodies (the aspecting set) and Outer Bodies (the aspected set) on the three aspect ephemeris studies, side by side on the Inner & Outer Bodies tab.
Body rows are disabled once a completed generation locks the study. Expanding and collapsing groups stays available while the study is locked, because that is view state rather than configuration.
How the List Is Organized
Bodies are filed under collapsible classification group header rows: Diurnal Angles, Planets, Barycenters, Lunar Axis, Asteroids, Centaurs, and Uranians. A group header appears only when the list holds at least one body of that classification, which is why a heliocentric list shows fewer groups than a geocentric one.
Within each group the bodies are ordered by orbital speed, fastest first, which is why the geocentric Planets group reads Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, and so on rather than alphabetically or by distance.
A group opens by default when it holds a body that is checked. When nothing at all is checked, only Planets starts open.
Group header rows are never checked and never form part of a selection. Right-clicking a group header row does nothing; the context menu opens only on a body row.
Include a Body in the Study
To add a body to the study's output, or take it out again:
- Click the body's checkbox.
A body that was unchecked joins the study, a body that was checked leaves it, and Cygnus marks the workspace as changed. The body's group must be open for its row to be visible.
Open a Body Classification Group
To show the bodies filed under a classification header, or hide them again to shorten the list:
- Click the group's header row.
The header's chevron rotates and the group's body rows appear beneath it. Clicking an open group's header removes those rows again. Clicking the chevron is the same gesture as clicking the row, and with the header focused you can press Space, Enter, Right, or Left instead.
Select the Highlighted Bodies
When you want to check several bodies at once rather than clicking each checkbox in turn:
-
Select one or more body rows in the Bodies list.
tipShift-click the last row of a range to extend the highlight to every row between it and the row you clicked first.
-
Right-click one of the highlighted rows and select Select in the context menu.
Every highlighted body is checked and joins the study's output. The highlight clears as the menu closes.
Deselect the Highlighted Bodies
To take several bodies out of the study's output at once:
-
Select one or more body rows in the Bodies list.
tipShift-click the last row of a range to extend the highlight to every row between it and the row you clicked first.
-
Right-click one of the highlighted rows and select Deselect in the context menu.
Every highlighted body is unchecked and leaves the study's output.
Clear Every Body Selection
Use this to empty the whole list before building a new selection.
- Right-click any body row in the Bodies list to open the context menu.
- Click Clear All in the context menu.
Every body in the list is unchecked, including bodies hidden inside closed groups, because the command acts on the whole list rather than on the highlighted rows.
The Bodies List Context Menu
Right-clicking a body row opens this menu. The upper half acts on the selection, and the lower half holds the preset commands documented in Bodies List Presets.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Select | Check every highlighted body row. |
| Deselect | Uncheck every highlighted body row. |
| Clear All | Uncheck every body in the list, whether or not it is highlighted. |
| Presets | Open the submenu of saved body selections for this list. |
| New Preset | Save the list's current selection under a name you supply. |
| Clear Default | Unset the preset that new studies start from. |
The whole menu is disabled while the study is locked.
Which Bodies Are Available
Two catalogs exist, chosen by the study's coordinate origin. Geocentric and topocentric studies share the same Earth-frame catalog; heliocentric studies use their own.
Earth-Frame Catalog
Geocentric and topocentric studies offer all 33 bodies under all seven groups.
| Group | Bodies |
|---|---|
| Diurnal Angles | Ascendant, Medium Coeli, Descendant, Imum Coeli |
| Planets | Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto |
| Barycenters | Tenet |
| Lunar Axis | Lunar Apogee, Mean Apogee, North Node, Mean Node |
| Asteroids | Vesta, Juno, Ceres, Pallas |
| Centaurs | Chiron, Pholus |
| Uranians | Cupido, Hades, Zeus, Kronos, Apollon, Admetos, Vulkanus, Poseidon |
On a geocentric or topocentric aspect study the Inner Bodies list offers all 33 of these, while the Outer Bodies list omits the four Diurnal Angles and offers the remaining 29. An angle such as the Ascendant can therefore take part in an aspect pair only as the aspecting (inner) member.
Heliocentric Catalog
Heliocentric studies offer 24 bodies under five groups. There is no Diurnal Angles group and no Lunar Axis group, because both are Earth-frame concepts.
| Group | Bodies |
|---|---|
| Planets | Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto |
| Barycenters | Tenet |
| Asteroids | Vesta, Juno, Ceres, Pallas |
| Centaurs | Chiron, Pholus |
| Uranians | Cupido, Hades, Zeus, Kronos, Apollon, Admetos, Vulkanus, Poseidon |
The Sun and the Moon are absent from this catalog: the Sun is the center of the coordinate system, and the Moon is an Earth satellite. Earth appears in their place as an orbiting body. On a heliocentric aspect study the Inner Bodies and Outer Bodies lists both offer the same 24 bodies.
Tenet, the only entry in the Barycenters group, is the planetary barycenter: the gravitational center of all the planets excluding the Sun.