Wil Tirion is the world's foremost stellar cartographer. His major works include Sky Atlas 2000.0, Bright Star Atlas 2000.0, The Cambridge Star Atlas and (with others) Uranometria 2000.0.
A former rock-and-roll singer (!) and an accomplished graphic artist, Wil Tirion has held an interest in astronomy, and especially star maps, almost all his life. In 1977 at the age of 34, he began work on his first complete star atlas, consisting of five large maps that covered the celestial sphere to magnitude 6.5. First published in the Encyclopedia of Astronomy (edited by Colin Ronan), his atlas was published separately in 1981 by the British Astronomical Association (B.A.A.) under the title B.A.A. Star Charts 1950.0.
Later, still pursuing stellar cartography as a hobby, he began work on a much more ambitious atlas which included stars to the eighth magnitude. When Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press published Sky Atlas 2000.0 in 1981, it immediately became a worldwide standard with its vast improvements over existing atlases of the time. Wil immediately began getting requests from other publishers to do star maps and atlases, and in 1983 he was able to quit his job as a graphic artist and designer to become a full-time uranographer, or stellar cartographer.
Over the years Wil has made many beautiful star maps for several atlases and scores of books, magazines and other resources. As the field of stellar cartography has changed so has Wil's methods. His old drawing table has been replaced by a Power Mac G4 with a 22" display, and he uses several applications, primarily Adobe Illustrator, to develop and update his stunning celestial maps.
Vital Statistics
Awards
Some Publications (search Amazon.com for more, or visit wil-tirion.com for a complete list)
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Here is a tiny sample from Wil Tirion's Sky Atlas 2000.0, Second Edition showing a portion of a well-known and beloved constellation. Double stars, variables, clusters, galaxies, nebulae, and the subtle contours of the Milky Way (plotted at four brightness levels) are all represented clearly and beautifully at once. Note that each star (81,321 are plotted) is represented with a dot sized in exact proportion to its magnitude, with no binning. This is just one hallmark of Tirion's work that has helped make him the foremost stellar cartographer in the world.
Click here for a larger version of this image, or here for a larger (2.7 megabyte!) sample of which this image is just a small portion.
Of course, if you already own the Sky Atlas 2000.0 you don't have to bother, do you?
