{"id":1789860,"date":"2020-12-22T19:41:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T00:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1789860"},"modified":"2020-12-22T19:41:09","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T00:41:09","slug":"the-closest-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/12\/the-closest-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"The Closest Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gruze.org\/galaxymap\/10pc\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1789861\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/12\/the-closest-stars\/galaxy-map-closest-stars\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1520,1520\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"galaxy-map-closest-stars\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars-300x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars-1024x1024.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1789861\" src=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"760\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars-940x940.jpg 940w, https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/galaxy-map-closest-stars.jpg 1520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gruze.org\/galaxymap\/10pc\/\">The Closest Stars<\/a> is the latest astronomical map produced as part of Kevin Jardine\u2019s long-running <a href=\"https:\/\/galaxymap.org\">Galaxy Map<\/a> project: it shows stars within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of our solar system. (Earlier maps covered much more territory: <a href=\"http:\/\/gruze.org\/galaxymap\/map_2020\/\">this map<\/a> goes out to 6,000 pc.)<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s fascinating, and has a lot of interesting information, but there\u2019s a problem. Like all maps, it reduces three dimensions to a flat plane; as such it distorts the distance of stars that are substantially above or below the galactic plane but not very far away on the x or y axis. Take <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Beta_Comae_Berenices\">Beta Comae Berenices<\/a>: it\u2019s 9.18 pc away and as such should be at the edge of the map, but because it\u2019s 9.18 pc away on the z axis, at nearly a right angle to the plane, it appears on the map as one of the closest stars. The distance above or below the plane is marked in parentheses, but that\u2019s not enough: a label can\u2019t compensate for a misleading position on the map. On the smaller-scale maps this isn\u2019t as much of an issue, because the galaxy is more or less a disk or a lens, but within a 10-pc radius? This isn\u2019t the right projection for the job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Closest Stars is the latest astronomical map produced as part of Kevin Jardine\u2019s long-running Galaxy Map project: it shows stars within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of our solar system. (Earlier maps covered much&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/12\/the-closest-stars\/\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1500,1501],"class_list":["post-1789860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-astronomy","tag-galaxy","tag-milky-way","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1787769,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/09\/mapping-star-wars\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789860,"position":0},"title":"Mapping Star Wars","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"20 September 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"From a certain point of view, The Force Awakens is the story of how a rare and valuable map was kept out of the hands of an unscrupulous and extremely motivated collector. While a map served as the MacGuffin of Episode 7, maps of the Star Wars universe have been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Imaginary Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/imaginary-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Star Wars: The Force Awakens (screenshot)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/the-force-awakens-map-1024x547.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/the-force-awakens-map-1024x547.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/the-force-awakens-map-1024x547.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/the-force-awakens-map-1024x547.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1844984,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/09\/how-maps-lie\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789860,"position":1},"title":"How Maps Lie","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"25 September 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/1qnTKEuWrbg Last week Andrew Middleton (he of The Map Center) gave a presentation at the Dickinson Memorial Library in Northfield, Massachusetts. Titled \u201cHow Maps Lie,\u201d it\u2019s the kind of introductory talk that can never be done too much: about what maps actually do, and the distance that can exist between\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cartography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1787884,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/10\/world-of-maps-turns-25\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789860,"position":2},"title":"World of Maps Turns 25","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"4 October 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"My local map store\u2014or at least the one closest to me\u2014is World of Maps in Ottawa. Unlike other map stores whose closings I\u2019ve had to cover here, it\u2019s still a going concern: an Ottawa community newspaper, the\u00a0Kitchissippi Times, marks World of Maps\u2019s 25th year in business.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Industry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Industry","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/industry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"World of Maps (27 Nov 2017)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_5710-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_5710-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_5710-1024x682.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_5710-1024x682.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2832,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/09\/mapping-star-trek\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789860,"position":3},"title":"Mapping Star Trek","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"15 September 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This month marks\u00a0Star Trek\u2019s 50th anniversary, so I thought it might be worth it to put together a little post about maps in\u00a0Star Trek.\u00a0This proved to be more fraught\u00a0a subject than I expected. There are a lot of maps of the\u00a0Star Trek universe out there by divers hands, some more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Movies and Television&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Movies and Television","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/movies-and-television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/st-dimension-150x112.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/st-dimension-150x112.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/st-dimension-150x112.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/st-dimension-150x112.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/st-dimension-150x112.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/st-dimension-150x112.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1843023,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-map-updated\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789860,"position":4},"title":"Star Wars Galaxy Map Updated","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"25 June 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"starwars.com Jason Fry reports: \u201cVery happy to share that we\u2019ve restored the cartography page on starwars.com that was originally developed for The Essential Atlas. You\u2019ll find a revised galaxy map (based on the wonderful 2021 Star Wars Celebration poster map and designed by DK) and a new appendix of star\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Imaginary Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/imaginary-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5783,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2014\/06\/finding-longitude\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789860,"position":5},"title":"Finding Longitude","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"16 June 2014","format":"link","excerpt":"Major map exhibitions are frequently accompanied by lavishly illustrated books: London: A Life in Maps and the Magnificent Maps exhibitions had their eponymous books (London: A Life in Maps and Magnificent Maps), and the Chicago Festival of Maps was accompanied by Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. No surprise,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Navigation&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Navigation","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/navigation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1789860"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1789869,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789860\/revisions\/1789869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1789860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1789860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1789860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}