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Star Atlas
TOUR THE NIGHT SKY

The interactive Star Atlas lets you pan around and zoom into the 24 full-color maps originally published in Astronomy's Atlas of the Stars. These charts show you constellation stick figures and official boundaries, 1,000 deep-sky objects — such as star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies — and 45,000 stars down to magnitude 8.0.

The atlas divides the sky into five map sets: North Polar (Maps 1 through 3); North Equatorial (Maps 4 through 9); Equatorial Region (Maps 10 through 15); South Equatorial (Maps 16 through 21); and South Polar (Maps 22 through 24). Charts in each group progress in right ascension (the celestial equivalent of longitude), and adjoining maps overlap.

To access Star Atlas, you must be an Astronomy subscriber and have Adobe's Flash Player installed; you can download it here. The atlas will open in a new browser window. You can navigate the sky either by using the map index below or by clicking on the buttons bordering each chart.

Not a magazine subscriber? Check out Map 1 to see what you're missing!

The Queen's clusters
Map 1: North Polar 1
Cassiopeia to Ursa Major
Realm of the nebulae
Map 13: Equatorial Region 4
Virgo to Ophiuchus
The Bear's realm
Map 2: North Polar 2
Ursa Major to Draco
Globular central
Map 14: Equatorial Region 5
Serpens Caput to Aquila
Celestial sampler
Map 3: North Polar 3
Draco to Cassiopeia
Swimming with stars
Map 15: Equatorial Region 6
Aquila to Pisces
The Princess' sky
Map 4: North Equatorial 1
Pegasus to Taurus
The sky's Furnace
Map 16: South Equatorial 1
Sculptor to Caelum
All around Auriga
Map 5: North Equatorial 2
Perseus to Cancer
South of the Dog Star
Map 17: South Equatorial 2
Fornax to Pyxis
Winter galaxies
Map 6: North Equatorial 3
Gemini to Coma Berenices
Spring's Water Snake
Map 18: South Equatorial 3
Canis Major to Centaurus
Bright galaxies
Map 7: North Equatorial 4
Ursa Major to Hercules
Wolf and Centaur
Map 19: South Equatorial 4
Hydra to Scorpius
A showpiece globular
Map 8: North Equatorial 5
Boötes to Cygnus
Our galaxy's heart
Map 20: South Equatorial 5
Libra to Microscopium
Flying with the Swan
Map 9: North Equatorial 6
Lyra to Andromeda
Southern galaxies
Map 21: South Equatorial 6
Sagittarius to Sculptor
An ocean of galaxies
Map 10: Equatorial Region 1
Pisces to Eridanus
Clouds of Magellan
Map 22: South Polar 1
Eridanus to Centaurus
Nights of the Hunter
Map 11: Equatorial Region 2
Eridanus to Hydra
Southern jewels
Map 23: South Polar 2
Vela to Telescopium
The Lion's galaxies
Map 12: Equatorial Region 3
Canis Minor to Virgo
Faint southern stars
Map 24: South Polar 3
Corona Australis to Horologium
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