About
Starplot is a Python library for creating star charts and maps. It lets you create zenith plots that show the whole sky from a time/place, map plots that show more detail of an area, and optic plots that simulate the field of view from a particular optic (e.g. telescope, binoculars, or a camera).
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Note from the author...
Like many amateur astronomers, when I first started looking up at the sky through a scope I bought the wonderful book Turn Left at Orion, and it really helped me learn how to find stuff in the sky. The thing that helped me the most were all the finder charts that show an object in various ways: first a general overview of where the object is in the sky (useful for finding the object with your naked eye), and then vector drawings of what the object looks like through a medium/high power scope (including any transformations to the image from mirrors in the scope). These really helped me confirm I found the object.
After finding most of the sky objects in Turn Left at Orion, I tried finding another book or software that would create those finder charts in the book for any spot in the sky, but I couldn't find anything. That was my main motivation for creating Starplot.
I also just really love any kind of map of the stars, including more abstract/artistic types of maps. So, one of my goals with Starplot is to make it customizable for many different purposes.
Starplot is still very much a work in progress, so I appreciate any feedback! Please feel free to contact me or open an issue on the GitHub repo.
Thanks!