Hi, I just wanted to share an experimental personal project that I started. I like to use my photos to study star atlases and the idea dawned on me that I can use my own photos to generate my own custom star charts. Basically, I open the photo in GIMP and then create a second white chart layer. I set the opacity of the chart layer to 50% and then draw the principal stars in GIMP over the photographic stars in the photo layer, along with objects of interest. Afterwards, I adjust the opacity of the chart layer to 100% and export to PNG, TIF and JPG formats. Finally, I import the image in LibreOffice and do some basic labelling before exporting to PDF format. I'm posting my first try here. In further charts, I would like to add image scale, direction and star magnitudes. Sure, I could use a planetarium program to print charts, but this project has a certain do-it-yourself satisfaction level. I intend to use these charts for visual observing. Here's the reference image that I used and the resulting charts from this process. Steven 
Leo  |
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Another example, this time a simple constellation chart based on this image: 
Scorpius |
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I tried another method, basically negating an image with some processing to bring out stars and applying basic labels. Here's the result.  |
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UPDATE: I downloaded my data and found solved images that saves me a lot of time. I used the data to create a customized star chart of the galactic centre and Cygnus Star Cloud. Here's PDF files with the unlabelled and labelled images: Galactic Centre Finder Chart.pdfCygnus Star Cloud Finder Chart.pdfHere's the rest of the charts that I have created so far, fully manually: Antares Finder Chart.pdfEta Cygni Finder Chart.pdfGamma Cygni Finder Chart.pdfM31 and R Andromedae Finder Chart.pdfM65 and M66 Finder Charts.pdfNGC 7000 Finder Chart.pdfVirgo Cluster Finder Chart.pdf |
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UPDATE: Here are some new custom charts that I created from my photos. "B" charts are for binocular observers, "R" charts are reversed for observers using refracting telescopes. For Newtonians, just flip the "B" charts upside down: M44 Finder Chart.pdfNGC 4565 and NGC 4725 Finder Chart.pdfNGC 7331 Finder Chart.pdf |
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UPDATE: I have resumed making charts out of my photos. Here are a few new ones and revisions. I have found LibreOffice Draw and GIMP to be excellent software for creating these. I am particularly proud of my Eta Cygni / Cygnus X-1 Finder Chart. I added comparison stars for variable star estimates for that one. I look forward to doing more charts like it. R Leonis Finder Chart.pdfNGC 6992 and NGC 6960 Finder Chart.pdfEta Cygni Finder Chart (2).pdf
Eta Cygni / Cygnus X-1 Finder Chart |
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