A celestial map from the 17th century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit.

A star chart is a map of the night sky. They are used to identify and locate astronomical objects such as stars, constellations and galaxies. They have been used for human navigation since time immemorial. A planisphere is a type of star chart. Note that a star chart differs from an astronomical catalog which is a listing or tabulation of astronomical objects for a particular purpose. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 548 pixelsFull resolution (1804 × 1236 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 548 pixelsFull resolution (1804 × 1236 pixel, file size: 3. ... Amateur astronomy, often called back yard astronomy, is a hobby whose participants enjoy observing celestial objects. ... Astronomical objects are significant physical entities, associations or structures which current science has confirmed to exist in space. ... STARS can mean: Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society Special Tactics And Rescue Service, a fictional task force that appears in Capcoms Resident Evil video game franchise. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Galaxy (disambiguation). ... Table of geography, hydrography, and navigation, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... A planisphere consists of a circular star chart attached at the center of the starchart to an opaque overlay that has a clear roundish window (or cutout hole) that is free to rotate about the pivot point. ... An astronomical catalog or catalogue is a list or tabulation of astronomical objects, typically grouped together because they share a common type, morphology, origin, means of detection, or method of discovery. ...

See also

• List of constellations by area
• Lists of astronomical objects
• List of stars by constellation
• Asterism (astronomy)
• Astrology
• Star atlas
• Stellar cartography
• Timeline of astronomical maps, catalogs, and surveys
• Magnitude (astronomy)

Here is a list of the 88 modern constellations by their area in the sky, measured in square degrees. ... This is a partial list of the various lists of astronomical objects which either exist, or should exist, in Wikipedia. ... Stars are listed in the appropriate lists for the constellation, as follows: // Sixth magnitude stars or brighter (V < 6. ... In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars seen in Earths sky which is not an official constellation. ... Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). ... A Star Atlas is a variant of the traditional geographic atlas, ie. ... In astronomy, a term used to refer to the mapping of stars, nebula, and other interstellar phonomena. ... Timeline of astronomical maps, catalogs and surveys 1800 BC - Babylonian star catalog 350 BC - Shin Shens star catalog has almost 800 entries 300 BC - star catalog of Timocharis of Alexandria 134 BC - Hipparchus makes a detailed star map ca. ... In science, magnitude refers to the numerical size of something: see orders of magnitude. ...

External links

• SFA Star Charts - very nice free star charts
• An online guide to using a star chart
• An online star chart
• The world's earliest manuscript Star Chart from Dunhuang on the Silk Road
• Monthly sky maps for every location on Earth