Star Charts On The Cheap Page 4-
I have to thank my friend Vic Stryker (the Star Geezer) for this site. While this site is very simple, in that it provides you with views of constellations or different parts of the sky (and not of planets or other Solar System objects), it is unique. When you arrive at the page, you find a set of controls that aren't too difficult.
The user has two main options as to how to view; automatic and manual. Since this is not going to be a forum on using right ascension and declination for locating celestial bodies, we'll use automatic. In the above example, I selected Cassiopeia. You can type in a title for the chart, and for projection type, I recommend Sansons (which is its default). This takes you to a preview page where you can see how the chart turned out. By clicking on the preview, you are presented with the full image.
Again, if you are planning on printing it out, select PNG B&W.
A better option, though, is to select PDF. This produces a great looking chart.
What's special about the Starchart Map Server site, however, is the ability to use text only browsers (such as Lynx). I opened Terminal on OS X and then used Telnet and Lynx to get to the site. Surprisingly, the interface was rather usable.
Selecting a target was still fairly easy.
Make certain, however, that you select ASCII; obviously, graphics aren't going to show up in a text only browser. This is the chart it produced.
Not great, but still recognizable as Cassiopeia.
Final Thoughts on the Starchart Map Server
The word here is simple. No planets, no comets, nothing but constellations. For many, that is probably all you need. But the fact that this site can be accessed via Telnet and text browsers makes it especially helpful (if not rating high on the "geek cool" scale).
Wrapping It All Up...
These online star chart sites are very useful to the beginner. They allow the first timer to produce basic (and in some cases complex) maps that they can customize. The user has the ability to control how the chart should look in most cases. And you certainly can't beat the price.
This page assembled with TextEdit on Macintosh OS X version 10.4.6... believe it or not.