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Astronomical All-Sky MapsThis gallery contains astronomical images of the entire sky in a generalized projection suitable for use in computer graphics work.
Projection and Coordinate SystemAll maps in this gallery are presented in a "plate carée" projection, more generally known as a "rectangular" or "linear" projection. Latitude is evenly spaced along the X direction, longitude along the Y. This projection show substantial distortion towards the top and bottom, but is relatively undistorted along the equator. It is ideally suited for image mapping onto a sphere, making them easily usable as sky backdrops in 3D animation and planetarium projections. With appropriate software they may be reprojected to any other desired system. These maps are presented in Galactic coordinates, chosen so the center of the Milky Way galaxy (in the constellation of Sagitarius) is centered in the image. All maps are aligned with each other so features in one directly correspond to features in another.
Typical Applications and Proper UsageEach of these projections represents the sky as seen from the Earth, and thus their proper orientation depends on the intended usage. For planetarium projections, the maps should be usable as-is in such packages as Digi-Dome as they reflect the appearance from inside the dome. If these maps are being used for 3D graphics packages, they may require an additional step. Often in 3D packages such as Lightwave, Maya, etc. background environments are mapped onto a skydome that is much larger than the scene. These images should map perfectly using the "spherical" option. However, since this kind of mapping is done from the outside of the sphere, the view from within will appear reversed. Therefore the image maps shoud be flipped horizontally before being applied as a texture map for a skydome. If there is doubt, just do a test render and compare any distinctive features with the image itself to make sure one is not flipped with respect to the other. Appropriate credit lines are provided on each image download page. If possible, we would appreciate notification if these images are used in productions.
Maps
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