Starplot Update
Hey All,
I realize I haven't released a new version of Starplot in awhile, so I wanted to send an update on the project.
I got busy with moving to a new home for a couple months, so I wasn't able to make much progress on Starplot then, but I'm back in the swing of things now and making a lot of progress with the SVG backend. That's probably still a few months away from getting released, but it'll bring a ton of great features and benefits:
- Near-instant plotting in SVG for most plots
- Much smaller SVG files
- SVG files that are much easier to open and edit in vector graphics applications (e.g. Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, Inkscape)
- Allows us to remove Starplot's two biggest dependencies: Matplotlib and Cartopy
- Will make it much easier to build interactive plots (that'll probably happen next year, but this new SVG backend will make it possible)
- Will make it easier to add animation support (probably in 2027+)
My goal is to have this out by the end of the year. I'm trying to avoid changes to the public API as part of this, but I'm also cleaning up a few things along the way.
Stay tuned, and thanks for your patience and continued support for Starplot! If there's anything you'd like to see supported in the SVG backend, please let me know.
✨ Showcase
@enzodbspace created this awesome tool to help draw outlines of sky objects. See his how-to guide for an example of how to use it with Starplot.
I can't wait to use this to build outlines for a few objects that don't have good outline data (e.g. Sagittarius star cloud).
🙋 Help Wanted
Want to help make Starplot better? Here are a few things we need help with right now:
- Anything on our roadmap. If you're interested in helping with any of these, let me know, and I'd be happy to help you get started with contributing (setting up your environment, etc).
- Check for errors on the Gaia DR3 catalog builder
- Adding more language translations - details here
- Creating more catalog builders
Read more about contributing here ↗️
💙 Show your support for Starplot
- All Sky Map - made with Starplot!
- Starplot stickers
Happy Starplotting!
Steve Berardi
