SFA Star Charts

SFA Star Charts

Notes about the Free Printable PDF Charts from the SFA Observatory

The SFA Star Charts are printable PDF files.
For best results you may want to try these printing instructions for the PDF files.
To view and print these star charts you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
These charts were made using Microsoft Excel with Visual Basic macros that resize and label the dots. Many students contibuted to this project that took years to complete.
These charts use public domain data distributed by the Astronomical Data Center at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
The author, Dan Bruton, is a professor at Stephen F. Austin State University and works at the SFA Observatory. He has written a short article about these start charts.
There are download statistics available from 2002 to present.
Don Carona from the Texas A&M Observatory has created an excellent SFA Chart Viewer program based on these star charts.

Want to make your own star chart?
If so, you may find these simple data resources to be helpful.

Chart 1: Celestial North Pole Region
Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cassiopeia, etc.
RA: 0^h to 24^h DEC: +30^o to +90^o

Chart 2: Celestial Equator and Ecliptic Region
Leo, Gemini, Orion, Canis Major, etc.
RA: 0^h to 12^h DEC: -60^o to +60^o
Chart 3:Celestial Equator and Ecliptic Region
Pegasus, Hercules, Scorpius, Virgo, etc.
RA: 12^h to 24^h DEC: -60^o to +60^o

Chart 4: Celestial South Pole Region
Centaurus, Crux, Carina, Pheonix, etc.
RA: 0^h to 24^h DEC: -30^o to -90^o

		Chart 1: Celestial North Pole Region Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cassiopeia, etc. RA: 0^h to 24^h DEC: +30^o to +90^o
Chart 2: Celestial Equator and Ecliptic Region Leo, Gemini, Orion, Canis Major, etc. RA: 0^h to 12^h DEC: -60^o to +60^o		Chart 3:Celestial Equator and Ecliptic Region Pegasus, Hercules, Scorpius, Virgo, etc. RA: 12^h to 24^h DEC: -60^o to +60^o
		Chart 4: Celestial South Pole Region Centaurus, Crux, Carina, Pheonix, etc. RA: 0^h to 24^h DEC: -30^o to -90^o