# Journal standard for plotting section of skymap?

I'm a physics graduate student hoping to plot ~10°x10° sections of the sky in right ascension and declination (eventually I will want to plot points on this section at appropriate locations given RA and Dec, preferably in Python). I've seen square plots on the order of arcseconds, where curvature has a small effect, but that won't apply to these larger plots. I'm not familiar with astronomy journals or a module which aids in this sort of plotting.

Is there a commonly accepted method for displaying intermediate-sized sections of a sky-map? How is it implemented?

• The sky is curved, paper is flat. You have to decide on some projection or other and then execute the transformation. Is that all you are asking about? Oct 22 '16 at 15:36
• I'm imagining a square-ish plot with appropriately curved edges, depending on declination range. The problem is that I have no example of what is actually used, and if it is used, I have no idea how it is implemented.
– Sam
Oct 22 '16 at 16:06
• Any projection used to map the Earth's surface should work with minimal modifications. Try looking through those.
– user21
Oct 22 '16 at 16:38
• "physics graduate student" it's remarkable you're not familiar with ordinary projections dude! Oct 22 '16 at 21:16
• @JoeBlow Somehow I got through a physics bachelors degree without learning this... and so did everyone I graduated with... and so did everyone in my current program.
– Sam
Oct 23 '16 at 2:58

I don't think there's a journal standard for this. An easy and commonly used method is to plot latitude $\delta$ versus longitude $\alpha$, where the aspect ratio is scaled by $\mbox{cos}(\delta_0)$ so the projection is orthonormal at the image center $(\alpha_0, \delta_0)$. Depending on your region size and on $|\delta_0|$, this may or may not come out looking distorted. You might be able to pick a coordinate system (i.e. equatorial or galactic) where the latitude is never large enough to give major distortion.
• If the chart is < 10$^\circ$ wide and $|\delta_0|$ < 60$^\circ$, an equirectangular projection as in the first paragraph is fine. If the chart is between 60$^\circ$ and 180$^\circ$ wide, the stereographic projection gives better results than the gnomonic. Oct 27 '16 at 15:38