It's cool. I don't fully grok it...but it's cool.
M
I wanted to see if I could get some opinions about this star chart before I finish it. It is designed like an elevation map. The thicker the line the higher the elevation. The z elevation is from +20 to -20 light-years. It shows all star systems within 26 light-years of Earth that that has at least a K class star mass in it.
It's cool. I don't fully grok it...but it's cool.
M
I love it. Really clever concept....should it be circular though?
I started making the elevation lines circular. But, because some stars are close together I would have had to make oval and pie section shapes to get around everything. I felt it looked better using rectangular shapes.
But perhaps you might be interested in doing one that way. I think we could use some more star charts around here.
Why not color coded? With thin/thick lines, the information is there, but hard to read.
Venus Public Transit, Map Of Ceres, Jack Vance's Ports Of Call & Lurulu ... why do I only have 3 maps here?
I plan to add more elevation levels numbers in various areas to make them hopefully more clearer. I could have done colors as well, perhaps going from red to blue, but I wanted the stars to stand out from the elevation lines. I thought this looked good although I also considered grayscale.
Like fantasy maps, star charts can be done in many different styles.
Very interesting idea. I like it!
Visit the Zhodani Base!
It's an approach I've not seen before to render this type of 3D information. I'm not partial to it, but it is the first new way I've seen to represent 3D data in 2D in a long, long time.
“Maps encourage boldness. They're like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible.”
-Mark Jenkins
I like it. Totally original and easy to understand. Much better than your first star chart.
One thing I would suggest is finding some way to make z=0 stand out. Perhaps you should colour the contour lines on that plane red or (or some other colour that makes it more visible the centre).
Last edited by euio; 12-03-2009 at 08:22 PM.
One of those Alternate Earth History people.