So, I am finally in a position to make this public:
This project has started as my "lockdown" project for 2020 and 2021, and since then has been lingering on the back burner, until I could finally finish it. Besides from having the opportunity, the main motivation was what I perceive as a change of typographical convention in contemporary stellar atlasses, something that, at least in my opinion, has led to an increasing visual blandness in those works over the 20th century (which, I acknowledge, may make it much easier to actually work with those modern atlasses).
The design draws strong typographical inspiration from the "Tabulae Caelestes" by Schurig/G\"otz (first edition 1886, last edition 1973), which already drew such inspiration from earlier works, such as the "Vorstellung der Gestirne" by J.~E.~Bode (1782, see
https://www.lsw.uni-...e/index2_e.html ) and ultimately the "Atlas Coelestis" by Flamsteed (1729, see
https://www.rct.uk/c...atlas-coelestis ). The University of Latvia has very nice scans of the 1909 edition of the
Tabulae on their pages, although one panel seems missing: https://www.lu.lv/en...debess-atlants/
Later editions also included a lunar map, which I, however, have no intention to add.
I deliver two versions, one in the original and traditional order and orientiation, suitable for the Northern hemisphere. Since I am based in
Chile, however, I found it useful to add some modifications and re-ordering to create a Southern hemisphere version: Firstly, the polar plates are re-ordered such that the Southern pole comes first; secondly, the equatorial sequence of plates has been rotated by 180
degrees, as seen by an observer south of the equator; and thirdly the origin for the equatorial sequence has been changed from the
traditional Northern spring equinoctial point in Pisces to the Southern one, in Virgo. To my knowledge, this is the only celestial
atlas that makes such adaptations for the convenience of Southern hemisphere observers.
I have been using the maps of the original "Tabulae Caelestes" for a
number of purposes:
- Naked eye orientation in parts of the sky without prominent
constellations.
- Getting a general idea where objects of interest are in the sky.
- Rough observation planning (what is accessible when in the night).
- Orientation in the night/on sky for wide-field astrophotography.
You can find the project on overleaf here: https://www.overleaf...nbqjfhkk#63ad64
There are the final charts, but as well all the LaTeX source code and a readme file (though it won't compile on overleaf). Here is an album with previews:
