Simfish
Aug25-10, 02:23 AM
So basically I want to write some code in Python to project the movement of the moon and sun across the night sky. Basically, I need a projection such that the shape of the moon won't change as it moves in the sky (especially when it's near the horizon) - the objects have to look fairly good rather than ugly and distorted. My postdoc hypothesizes that a Lambert conformal projection (which preserves angles) would be the best projection to use. What are your thoughts?
She also suggested that I try out a variety of projections on planetarium software, although the planetarium software I've downloaded don't have a lot of projections to compare with (in particular, none of them have both a Lambert conformal and a stereographic projection). Is there planetarium software that allows you to experiment with a wide variety of projections? Would a stereographic projection work well (compared to a Lambert conformal projection?)
I think another key thing is this: what we're trying to plot should look more like a constellation map than like a view of the sky from a particular person's perspective.
She also suggested that I try out a variety of projections on planetarium software, although the planetarium software I've downloaded don't have a lot of projections to compare with (in particular, none of them have both a Lambert conformal and a stereographic projection). Is there planetarium software that allows you to experiment with a wide variety of projections? Would a stereographic projection work well (compared to a Lambert conformal projection?)
I think another key thing is this: what we're trying to plot should look more like a constellation map than like a view of the sky from a particular person's perspective.