Constellation

Constellation turns your text into a star chart. The pen strokes become a figure of stars joined by thin lines, drawn the way an astronomy plate draws Orion or Cassiopeia, with faint dust stars around it.

How it works

Stars are placed along each stroke, more of them on tight curves, with fixed stars at the stroke ends and sharpest bends, where a real figure would have them. Like a real sky, most stars are faint and a few are bright, and their colours follow star temperatures, mostly warm with a few blue-white. About one in twelve of the brighter stars is a double star, its companion slowly orbiting. The chart lines taper and stop just short of each star. As the pen passes, each star flashes white and cools to its colour; at rest they twinkle while a slow wave of brightness runs along the figure.

Settings

• Stars sets how many stars sit along the strokes.
• Brightness brightens the stars and reveals more of the faint dust stars.
• Temperature shifts the whole population cooler or hotter.
• Chart lines sets how visible the joining lines are; Line colour colours them.
• Twinkle sets the scintillation; Highlight / tint adds a pulse on the lines and a tint on the stars.
• Seed picks a different sky.

Use it for

• Space, astronomy and planetarium scenes
• Elegant night-sky title cards
• Zodiac and stargazing themes