The animation demonstrates the use of the maps in a tour of the sky. The galactic coordinate mapping works as a standalone image showing the edge-on view of our home galaxy, from the inside. The celestial coordinate mapping will be the more useful one for animation, since camera rotations in the software will correspond in a straightforward way to the right ascension and declination in astronomy references. The distortion of the stars in those parts of the map is just an effect of the projection. The oval shapes near the top and bottom of the star maps are not galaxies. They are designed for spherical mapping in animation software.

The maps are presented in plate carrée projections using either celestial (J2000 geocentric right ascension and declination) or galactic coordinates. The constellation figures also come from the IAU, although they're not official. The constellation boundaries are those established by the International Astronomical Union in 1930. This set of star maps was created by plotting the position, brightness, and color of just over 100 million stars from the Bright Star, Tycho-2, and UCAC3 star catalogs.

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