Unit conversion
\[1\,\mathrm{ly}=63{,}241.077\,\mathrm{AU}=9.4607\times 10^{12}\,\mathrm{km}\]
Distances shown in multiple units are converted from fixed constants, so scale labels are mathematically traceable.
Galaxy charts
Milky Way satellites and nearby solar systems.
Separate study charts for satellite galaxies around the Milky Way and the local stellar neighborhood around our Solar System, with approximate light-year, AU, and kilometer scales.
Drag to rotate. Wheel to zoom. Chart labels show approximate distance scale.
Choose A Chart
Two scales that should not be mixed
Milky Way Satellite Galaxies
Dwarf galaxies and Magellanic companions orbiting or interacting with the Milky Way, shown in thousands of light-years.
Nearby Solar Systems
The local stellar neighborhood around the Sun, shown in light-years, AU, and kilometers.
Deep SkyMap
Use the SkyMap for target directions, galaxy groups, black holes, and named sky objects.
Mathematical model
Astronomical scale-map model
Galaxy, void, and universe-scale charts use explicit distance conversions and scale mappings. They are schematic maps whose coordinates come from light-year, parsec, AU, or kilometer values.
Display scale
\[x_{\mathrm{display}}=s\log\!\left(1+\frac{d}{d_0}\right)\]
Very large ranges may use a logarithmic or compressed map so nearby and distant objects can coexist. The compression is stated rather than hidden.
Volume approximation
\[V=\frac{4\pi R^3}{3}\]
Void and shell comparisons use spherical approximations where appropriate. The page labels this as an approximation, not an observed boundary mesh.
Verification standard: the rendered object must be reproducible from stated equations, catalog parameters, or explicit geometric transforms. Visual reference images may inform presentation only; they are not the source of orbital positions, field vectors, accretion-disk gradients, timing, or engineering layout.
Limitations: browser scenes may use bounded scale, compressed distances, simplified two-body dynamics, schematic transfer curves, or educational approximations where full numerical ephemerides, CFD, finite-element models, or general-relativistic ray tracing are outside the page scope. Those simplifications are part of the model contract, not hidden image-based construction.