The STK default installation includes two star catalogs: Hipparcos 2 and Bright Star v5. Hipparcos 2 is the default star catalog in STK. It contains 117955 stars with visual magnitudes from -1.44 to 14.08.
Additional star catalogs are available on the STK Data Disc (
available on the Support Downloads page).
If you retrieve a catalog from the STK Data Disc, you should place it in the STK installation folder under
Program Data, in the location specified below. You need to create a new file to contain the catalog file (*.sdmb). Also, you will have to restart STK before the new star catalog becomes available.
STK Installation Location: C:\ProgramData\AGI\STK 12\Databases\Star CatalogsIn addition to the star catalogs, two celestial imagery backgrounds are available. These are also on the STK Data Disc. You cannot use the celestial imagery backgrounds for analysis purposes (EOIR).
Catalogs included in the installation: Hipparcos 2, Bright Star XX
Additional available catalogs: Hipparcos 1, Tycho 1, Tycho 2
Bright Star v5: 9096 stars with visual magnitudes from -1.46 to 7.96
Hipparcos 2 (Default): 117955 stars with visual magnitudes from -1.44 to 14.08 (updated)
Hipparcos 1: 117955 stars with visual magnitudes from -1.44 to 14.08
Tycho 1: 1,058,332 stars with visual magnitudes from -1.44 to 15.2
Tycho 2: 2,539,914 stars with visual magnitudes from 1.83462 to 15.3735
To load a new star collection:
- Go to the scenario properties page.
- Under the Basic – Database page, change the database type to “Star” and click the “Create…” button.
- In the Create a Star Collection dialog box, use Select a Catalog to choose a star catalog.
- You can use constraints to limit the stars loaded into STK.
- After selecting the catalog and constraints, click “Generate Collection Information” followed by “Save Collection”.
- You can now close the window and apply the changes.
