Plots the local stellar neighborhood based on distance and apparent magnitude from the sun using Plotly for visualation.
- Uses star data from the HYG 4.2 database, available from astronexus.com.
- Converts right ascension (ra), declination (dec), and estimated distance (dis in parsecs) into Cartesian coordinates (X, Y, Z).
- Plot variables include:
- DIST_MAX - maximum distance from the sun in parsecs
- MAG_MIN - minimum magnitude i.e. brightness of the star in the sky (defaults to apparent magnitude)
- GLOBE_MAX - Plotted size of the brightest star*
- GLOBE_MIN - Plotted size of the dimmest star*
- CONSTELLATION - Optionally can plot stars based on constellation *Plotted size variation follows a log scale
- Each star's plot color is based on its approximate B-V color.
- Optionally plots the galactic plane and orientation to the galactic center.
- Plot all stars' apparent magnitudes from the perspective of a new reference star:
- With each star's cartesian coordinates, the distance from the star to any reference point can be calculated
- Then taking each star's absolute magnitude, apparent magnitude, and distance from sol, the star's apparent magnitude at the new reference point can be calculated and plotted
- Augment or replace the HYG stellar catalog with some subset of the Gaia catalog (how large of a set depends on my next computer)