Star Map

ideally suited to celestial navigators

Star Map
24" x 36" map of the stars in full color on very durable coated paper. Price includes rigid tube plus 30 labels and instructions for modification. No longer available from Starpath. National Geographic still sells them here.
$14.99 ...item# 1837

The map shows the north and south polar azimuthal projections with decorations of various stellar objects of interest to astronomers. We propose cutting this up to make a working tool for star gazing as discussed below. If you choose to do that modification, you would only be keeping the two center star disks and not the decorations and text around them.
This is the best star map we have seen for celestial navigation and for general star id and star gazing. It is both useful and attractive. We like it especially because the map projection is the identical one used for the round star maps that appear in the Nautical Almanac, although the border on this one is marked in right ascension as opposed to SHA which is used in celestial nav — but we fix that in the modification. It has more stars than the almanac version, is much easier to use, and is a joy to behold.

One side of the star map

For our own use underway, we modify it in the following way: we cut out the two circular maps and paste them back to back using glue stick. Then we label the circumference with sidereal hour angle in place of right ascension. To do this you can use the 30 yellow 1" labels we provide with the shippment. This has proved a very handy reference for quick star ID. We have used this thing folded and unfolded, wet and dry for more than 10 years and it still does the job.
Refer to the star maps in the Nautical Almanac to see how to mark the SHA labels along the edge. You can then have the labeled sandwich of maps laminated, or just cover them with clear Contact Paper used for shelf lining.

Click
Denebola
to see details
and instructions

Modified star map
Map cut and folded back to show both sides

Footnote:
"Polar azimuthal projection" is the type of map design used for the polar regions of the earth and sky. In this one, the north and south poles of the sky are in the centers of the two adjacent circles, with lines of sidereal hour angle (longitude) emanating out toward the circumference, which is the equator in this case. This is not a realistic look at the sky, except when looking toward the poles, but it does provide a very convenient way to locate unknown stars relative to known ones, and to identify its approximate SHA and declination for reference to the almanac.

6/23/08

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Star Map 24" x 36" map of the stars in full color on very durable coated paper. Price includes rigid tube plus 30 labels and instructions for modification. No longer available from Starpath. National Geographic still sells them here. $14.99 ...item# 1837
The map shows the north and south polar azimuthal projections with decorations of various stellar objects of interest to astronomers. We propose cutting this up to make a working tool for star gazing as discussed below. If you choose to do that modification, you would only be keeping the two center star disks and not the decorations and text around them. This is the best star map we have seen for celestial navigation and for general star id and star gazing. It is both useful and attractive. We like it especially because the map projection is the identical one used for the round star maps that appear in the Nautical Almanac, although the border on this one is marked in right ascension as opposed to SHA which is used in celestial nav — but we fix that in the modification. It has more stars than the almanac version, is much easier to use, and is a joy to behold.
	For our own use underway, we modify it in the following way: we cut out the two circular maps and paste them back to back using glue stick. Then we label the circumference with sidereal hour angle in place of right ascension. To do this you can use the 30 yellow 1" labels we provide with the shippment. This has proved a very handy reference for quick star ID. We have used this thing folded and unfolded, wet and dry for more than 10 years and it still does the job. Refer to the star maps in the Nautical Almanac to see how to mark the SHA labels along the edge. You can then have the labeled sandwich of maps laminated, or just cover them with clear Contact Paper used for shelf lining.
Click Denebola to see details and instructions	Map cut and folded back to show both sides
Footnote: "Polar azimuthal projection" is the type of map design used for the polar regions of the earth and sky. In this one, the north and south poles of the sky are in the centers of the two adjacent circles, with lines of sidereal hour angle (longitude) emanating out toward the circumference, which is the equator in this case. This is not a realistic look at the sky, except when looking toward the poles, but it does provide a very convenient way to locate unknown stars relative to known ones, and to identify its approximate SHA and declination for reference to the almanac.