This is a huge poster, three feet wide and two feet high. It displays the entire sky, in two hemispheres (we like to call them the “Orion-centered” and the “Ophiuchus-centered” halves of the universe).
- The abundance of detail includes:
- 1,300 stars, colored for their spectral types, and with their names and Greek letters.
- About 120 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, including all those in the famous Messier list.
- Constellation boundaries and form-lines.
- The guide-lines of the sky: right ascension and declination, the ecliptic, the galactic equator.
- Points such as the ecliptic poles, the galactic center, and the galactic outward and forward directions.
- Three sample horizons, helping to relate the celestial sphere to the sky you can see.
The Milky Way is intricately mapped in six levels of brightness.
The explanatory text is thorough, amounting to an introduction to astronomy.
The map is finely printed on strong, high-quality glossy paper, which brings out its rich colors.
We regret that we are not able at this time to offer gift wrapping or to insert special notes in the shipment.
The map is printed in the U.S.A. It can be shipped to other countries, but shipping charges will be higher and in some countries there may be import charges.
The region around our galaxy’s center.
Cancer and Gemini, with the ecliptic running through them.
The wriggly little constellation of the Lizard; and the direction toward which we are hurtling in our journey around the galaxy, following far behind the amazing supergiant star Deneb.