<p>I used <strong>GAIA DR3</strong> data to plot <strong>cartesian coordinates of stars around a planet</strong>. However, I am having trouble creating star chart.</p>
<p>At first the idea came to my mind was that I would visualize the half of the sphere of stars around the planet from a far away position. But constellation drawn from far away position wasn't the same(distorted badly) from the observation point on the planet. This is obvious since drawing constellations in a 2d plane doesn't indicate the proper 3d positions of stars. [The following image explains the problem]</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/CbMiANKrm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/CbMiANKrm.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/v5jDXuo7m.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/v5jDXuo7m.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Is the problem I'm facing is normal for star charts? If not how can I
approach on making a star chart from 3d coordinates of stars?</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-27T19:46:15.963Z
It's impossible to map a sphere onto a plane without some distortion. There are numerous [map projections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection) with various properties. Some are conformal: they preserve angles, which helps to preserve shapes, but areas are distorted. It's a bit easier if you're only projecting part of the celestial sphere. A couple of useful projection types (that  are fairly easy to compute) are [stereographic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereographic_projection_in_cartography) & the closely related [gnomonic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomonic_projection)
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-27T20:04:26.253Z
The stereographic projection is generally the most commonly used projection for star charts.
Greg Miller
<star><star-catalogues>
How to make a star chart from cartesian coordinates of stars?
Shromi
# How to make a star chart from cartesian coordinates of stars?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-27)

I used **GAIA DR3** data to plot **cartesian coordinates of stars around a planet**. However, I am having trouble creating star chart.

At first the idea came to my mind was that I would visualize the half of the sphere of stars around the planet from a far away position. But constellation drawn from far away position wasn't the same(distorted badly) from the observation point on the planet. This is obvious since drawing constellations in a 2d plane doesn't indicate the proper 3d positions of stars. [The following image explains the problem]

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/CbMiANKrm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/CbMiANKrm.png) [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/v5jDXuo7m.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/v5jDXuo7m.png)

> Is the problem I'm facing is normal for star charts? If not how can I
> approach on making a star chart from 3d coordinates of stars?

**Tags:** star, star-catalogues
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's impossible to map a sphere onto a plane without some distortion. There are numerous [map projections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection) with various properties. Some are conformal: they preserve angles, which helps to preserve shapes, but areas are distorted. It's a bit easier if you're only projecting part of the celestial sphere. A couple of useful projection types (that  are fairly easy to compute) are [stereographic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereographic_projection_in_cartography) & the closely related [gnomonic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomonic_projection)  
> **username_2**: The stereographic projection is generally the most commonly used projection for star charts.  

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## 0 answers

