Observing Tools
Taki's Star Atlas
to Japanese/“ú–{Œê‚Ö
Written by Toshimi Taki
January 1, 2005
February 5, 2005
October 5, 2005
April 10, 2013
March 27, 2016
1. Introduction
My favorite star atlas had been "Norton's Star Atlas (Epoch 1950)". I liked its large scale (3.2mm/degree), wide field covering and small distortion. I can not find favorite star atlases in epoch 2000. I don't like "Norton's 2000" because the maps can not be opened flatly. I am using "Wil Tirion's Bright Star Atlas" but its scale is rather small (2.7mm/degree) and distortion is not small.
I decided to make a new star atlas for myself. I intended to make a better star atlas than existing star atlases. Following features will be realized.
(1) Large scale
(2) Wide coverage with small distortion
(3) Large overlap
Amateur astronomers will welcome the new star atlas.
Taki's Star Atlas was introduced in June 2005 issue of Sky & Telescope. ("Books & Beyond," Sky & Telescope, June 2005, p.103)
Mr. Mauro Amparore in Italy kindly added constellation lines and other improvements to the charts. I uploaded the improved version with the file names starting with "c". Mauro, thank you for your contribution!
Dr. Sky C Murphy, a member of Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society and Astronomical Society of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, kindly added constellation lines based on H. A. Rey's popular book, "The Stars, A New Way to See Them." He also added popular star names. I uploaded this version with file names starting with "cr". I appreciate his effort.
I will welcome your comments or suggestions for improvement. Please send e-mail to
Toshimi Taki.
2. Specification
(1) Projection: Modified Transverse Mercator Projection
(2) Number of Charts: 12
(3) Scale: 3mm/degree
(4) Map Size: A3
(5) Magnitude of Faintest Star: 6.50
(6) Multiple Stars: Minimum separation 0.5 arcsec
(7) Variable Stars: Maximum magnitude 6.5, Minimum amplitude 0.4
(8) More than 500 Deep Sky Objects
- Galaxies: Magnitude up to 10.0
- Open Clusters: Magnitude up to 7.0
- Globular Clusters: Magnitude up to 10.0
- Planetary Nebulae: Magnitude up to 11.0
- Bright Nebulae
- Dark Nebulae
- Supernova Remnant
- Objects in Caldwell catalog are labeled.
3. Database
All the necessary data are available via Internet.
[1] D. Hoffleit, W. H. Warren Jr., "The Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Preliminary Version)," Astronomical Data Center, NSSDC/ADC (1991)
[2] D. Hoffleit, M. Saladyga and P. Wlasuk, "A Supplement to the Bright Star Catalogue," Yale University Obs. (1983)
[3] A. C. Davenhall and S. K. Leggett, "A Catalogue of Constellation Boundary Data," (1990)
--> There are some errors in the data.
[4] "Saguaro Astronomy Club Database," Version 7.2, (2000)
[5] "Charles Messier's Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters"
[6] Patrick Moore and the Editors of Sky & Telescope, "The Caldwell Catalog: 109 Deep-Sky Delights for Backyard Observers," (1995)
4. Files
All files are in pdf format and ppt format.
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Chart ID Right Ascension Declination File Name
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1N 0h to 4h +90 to -20 1n_050115.pdf in A3 size (675KB)
c_1n_050115.pdf in A3 size (904KB)
cr_1n_050115.pdf in A3 size (2807KB)
1n_050115.ppt in A3 size (2406KB)
1S 0h to 4h +20 to -90 1s_050129.pdf in A3 size (717KB)
c_1s_050129.pdf in A3 size (937KB)
cr_1s_050129.pdf in A3 size (2539KB)
1s_050129.ppt in A3 size (2188KB)
2N 4h to 8h +90 to -20 2n_050108.pdf in A3 size (758KB)
c_2n_050108.pdf in A3 size (1063KB)
cr_2n_050108.pdf in A3 size (3072KB)
2n_050108.ppt in A3 size (2535KB)
2S 4h to 8h +20 to -90 2s_050205.pdf in A3 size (894KB)
c_2s_050205.pdf in A3 size (1124KB)
cr_2s_050205.pdf in A3 size (3610KB)
2s_050205.ppt in A3 size (2704KB)
3N 8h to 12h +90 to -20 3n_050126.pdf in A3 size (666KB)
c_3n_050126.pdf in A3 size (932KB)
cr_3n_050126.pdf in A3 size (2631KB)
3n_050126.ppt in A3 size (2225KB)
3S 8h to 12h +20 to -90 3s_050108.pdf in A3 size (858KB)
c_3s_050108.pdf in A3 size (1117KB)
cr_3s_050108.pdf in A3 size (3542KB)
3s_050108.ppt in A3 size (2601KB)
4N 12h to 16h +90 to -20 4n_050126.pdf in A3 size (603KB)
c_4n_050126.pdf in A3 size (792KB)
cr_4n_050126.pdf in A3 size (2412KB)
4n_050126.ppt in A3 size (739KB)
4S 12h to 16h +20 to -90 4s_050120.pdf in A3 size (791KB)
c_4s_050120.pdf in A3 size (1023KB)
cr_4s_050120.pdf in A3 size (3432KB)
4s_050120.ppt in A3 size (875KB)
5N 16h to 20h +90 to -20 5n_050629.pdf in A3 size (229KB)
c_5n_050629.pdf in A3 size (479KB)
cr_5n_050629.pdf in A3 size (785KB)
5n_050126.ppt in A3 size (861KB)
5S 16h to 20h +20 to -90 5s_050626.pdf in A3 size (246KB)
c_5s_050626.pdf in A3 size (517KB)
cr_5s_050626.pdf in A3 size (889KB)
5s_050122.ppt in A3 size (914KB)
6N 20h to 24h +90 to -20 6n_050619.pdf in A3 size (715KB)
c_6n_050619.pdf in A3 size (914KB)
cr_6n_050619.pdf in A3 size (3096KB)
6n_050619.ppt in A3 size (844KB)
6S 20h to 24h +20 to -90 6s_050129.pdf in A3 size (745KB)
c_6s_050129.pdf in A3 size (877KB)
cr_6s_050129.pdf in A3 size (2851KB)
6s_050129.ppt in A3 size (786KB)
Additional 11h40m to 12h40m +5 to +35 coma_virgo_050619.pdf in A3 size (224KB)
coma_virgo_050619.ppt in A3 size (529KB)
Additional 12h10m to 12h50m +10 to +16 virgo_050205.pdf in A4 size (73KB)
virgo_050205.ppt in A4 size (145KB)
Symbols and Abbreviations symbols_050203.pdf (147KB)
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5. Idea for Handy Map
(1) Prepare a sheet of cardboard with a little larger size than A4.
(2) Fold a pair of a northern map and a southern map in two.
(3) Glue the lower half of the northern map on the cardboard.
(4) Glue the upper half of the southern map on the opposite side of the cardboard.
An example of the completed handy maps is shown in the photographs below.
