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).
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 was such a useful book for learning 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!