Function Repository Resource:

ConstellationChart

Source Notebook

Visualize the constellations and the stars contained within their boundaries

Contributed by: Jeff Bryant

ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][const]

generates a chart of the specified constellation const.

Details and Options

The const should be one of the 88 official IAU-recognized constellations represented as an entity or a string that can be interpreted as one of those constellation entities.
Results are oriented with north being up.
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"] has the same options as ListPlot, with the following additions and changes:
"BoundaryLineStyle"boundary line style
"GridStyle"grid style
"HighlightedRegionStyle"Opacity[0]highlighted region style
"LineArtStyle"line art style
"MagnitudeLimit"5magnitude limit
"MagnitudeScalingFunction"(Max[0,0.02 -0.0023#1]&)magnitude scaling function
"MaskRegionStyle"mask region style
"StarLabels"Automaticstar labels
"StarStyle"star style
"MagnitudeLimit" can be set to All to generate a chart that contains all available stars in the specified constellation.

Examples

Basic Examples (2) 

Visualize the constellation Orion, its boundaries, line art, and the stars it contains:

In[1]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Orion"]]
Out[1]=

Interpret the specified string as a constellation entity:

In[2]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"]["Scorpius"]
Out[2]=

Scope (2) 

Supported constellations include Northern Hemisphere constellations, like Ursa Major:

In[3]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "UrsaMajor"]]
Out[3]=

Southern Hemisphere constellations like Crux are also supported:

In[4]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Crux"]]
Out[4]=

Options (18) 

BoundaryLineStyle (2) 

The boundary line style can be changed:

In[5]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Equuleus"], "BoundaryLineStyle" -> Green]
Out[5]=

The boundary line can also be turned off:

In[6]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Equuleus"], "BoundaryLineStyle" -> None]
Out[6]=

GridStyle (2) 

The style of the equatorial coordinate grid can be changed:

In[7]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Bootes"], "GridStyle" -> Magenta]
Out[7]=

The equatorial coordinate grid can also be turned off:

In[8]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Bootes"], "GridStyle" -> None]
Out[8]=

HighlightedRegionStyle (2) 

The style of the highlighted region can be changed:

In[9]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Scutum"], "HighlightedRegionStyle" -> LightYellow]
Out[9]=

The highlighted region can also be turned off:

In[10]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Scutum"], "HighlightedRegionStyle" -> None]
Out[10]=

LineArtStyle (2) 

The style of line art can be changed:

In[11]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Pegasus"], "LineArtStyle" -> Red]
Out[11]=

Line art can also be turned off:

In[12]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Pegasus"], "LineArtStyle" -> None]
Out[12]=

MagnitudeLimit (3) 

Fainter stars can be seen by changing the magnitude limit:

In[13]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Ophiuchus"], "MagnitudeLimit" -> 8]
Out[13]=

Constellations like Sagittarius have many faint stars due to being in the direction of the galactic center:

In[14]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Sagittarius"], "MagnitudeLimit" -> All]
Out[14]=

Constellations like Coma Berenices have relatively fewer stars due to being observed far from the galactic plane:

In[15]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "ComaBerenices"], "MagnitudeLimit" -> All]
Out[15]=

MagnitudeScalingFunction (1) 

Provide a different scaling function for stars based on apparent magnitude:

In[16]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Gemini"], "MagnitudeScalingFunction" -> (Max[0, 0.1 - 0.02*#] &)]
Out[16]=

MaskRegionStyle (2) 

The style of the outer mask region can be changed:

In[17]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Lyra"], "MaskRegionStyle" -> LightOrange]
Out[17]=

The outer mask region can also be removed:

In[18]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Lyra"], "MaskRegionStyle" -> None]
Out[18]=

PlotRange (1) 

Zooming into a specific area of a constellation region can be done using PlotRange, such as this view of the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus:

In[19]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Taurus"], "MagnitudeLimit" -> 8, PlotRange -> {{.17, .21}, {.125, .145}}, "MagnitudeScalingFunction" -> (Max[0, 0.03 - 0.0023*#] &), LabelStyle -> Brown]
Out[19]=

StarLabels (1) 

Label the eight brightest stars:

In[20]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Cassiopeia"], "StarLabels" -> 8]
Out[20]=

StarStyle (2) 

The style of the stars can be changed:

In[21]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Lepus"], "StarStyle" -> Black]
Out[21]=

Stars can also be turned off:

In[22]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Lepus"], "StarStyle" -> None]
Out[22]=

Properties and Relations (2) 

ConstellationChart can accept any of the 88 official IAU-recognized constellations found in the "Constellation" entity type:

In[23]:=
EntityValue["Constellation", "Entities"]
Out[23]=

The current location of a given constellation in your local sky can be found using the resource function SkyChart:

In[24]:=
ResourceFunction["SkyChart"][
 "HighlightedConstellations" -> {Entity["Constellation", "UrsaMajor"]}]
Out[24]=

Additional properties of constellations can be found using the entity framework:

In[25]:=
Entity["Constellation", "UrsaMajor"]["Dataset"]
Out[25]=

The "Constellation" entity type provides the "ConstellationGraphic" property with similar results to ConstellationChart, but ConstellationChart provides options for customizing the results more easily:

In[26]:=
Entity["Constellation", "UrsaMajor"]["ConstellationGraphic"]
Out[26]=

Neat Examples (2) 

The constellation Serpens is made up of two disjoint regions:

In[27]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"]["Serpens"]
Out[27]=

Create a darker themed result:

In[28]:=
ResourceFunction["ConstellationChart"][
 Entity["Constellation", "Sagittarius"], "MagnitudeLimit" -> 6.5, "BoundaryLineStyle" -> Directive[Dashing[{0, Tiny}], RGBColor[1, .8, 0]], "MaskRegionStyle" -> Black, "StarStyle" -> White, "HighlightedRegionStyle" -> Darker[Blue, .7], "GridStyle" -> Darker[Blue, .2]]
Out[28]=

Version History

  • 1.0.1 – 05 August 2022
  • 1.0.0 – 07 July 2021

Related Resources

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