Starmap Main > Stars in SF
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* Stars in Science Fiction

Fans of Star Trek:TNG's The Best Of Both Worlds will be interested in the location of Wolf 359 (Gliese 406), which is, by the way, the third closest star to the sun. The planet Vulcan has been mentioned as being located at Epsilon Eridani (Gliese 144), or at 40 Eridani (Gliese 166). But for a more in-depth discussion of the location of Vulcan, click here. Here is a map of the Star Trek galaxy.
Babylon 5 has also been located at Epsilon Eridani. But for a more in-depth discussion of the location of Babylon 5, click here. And click here and here to see Cmd Ivanova with her starmap.

In DUNE, Paul's home planet of Caladan was at Delta Pavonis (Gliese 780). Ecaz was Alpha Centauri B (Gliese 559), Richese was Epsilon Eridani (Gliese 144), Giedi Prime was 36 Ophiuchi (Gliese 663), and Dune itself is Canopus. Andrew Hobson has crafted some nice starmaps of the Dune universe. The Central Planets. The region around Old Earth. A map of the Zensunni Wandering. He also has the star data in an Excel Spreadsheet, based upon the work of Joseph Daniels.
The hapless crew of Lost In Space were headed for Alpha Centauri (Gliese 559). They had plenty of company, once it became commonly know among SF authors that Alpha Centauri is the closest star to the sun. Fans of Scholastic Book Services will remember Robert Silverberg's REVOLT ON ALPHA C. Leigh Brackett's ALPHA CENTAURI - OR DIE!, Mary Russell's THE SPARROW, A. E. van Vogt's FAR CENTAURUS, Charles Pelligrino's FLYING TO VAHALLA, the list goes on and on.
Here are a series of maps of Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth novels.
UFO buffs believe that the infamous Betty Hill starmap reveals the alien's home planet at Zeta 1 and Zeta 2 Reticuli (Gliese 136, 138).
Robert Forward's THE FLIGHT OF THE DRAGONFLY takes place at Barnard's Star (Gliese 699), as does Jack Williamson's THE LEGION OF SPACE.
The star currently believed to be the closest one with the best chance of having a human habitable planet is Tau Ceti (Gliese 71).
The intrepid crew of FORBIDDEN PLANET visited Altair (Gliese 768).
Larry Niven's KNOWN SPACE series is just chock-full of real stars. Wunderland is Alpha Centauri (Gliese 559), Home is Epsilon Indi (Gliese 845), Plateau is Tau Ceti (Gliese 71), Jinx is Sirius A (Gliese 244), We Made It is Procyon A (Gliese 280), Down is L5 1668, Silvereyes is Beta Hydri, Canyon is p Eridani A, Gummidgy is Fomalhaut, and Margrave is 27 Serpens. In his MAN/KZIN wars franchise universe, BD+50°1725 (Gliese 380) is a Kzinti colony star. Charles Oines also pointed out to me that the same reference noted 61 Ursae Majoris as the Kzinti Homeworld.
Among Hal Clement's works, MISSION OF GRAVITY's Mesklin is at 61 Cygni (Gliese 820), STARLIGHT's Dhrann is at Lalande 21185 (Gliese 411), CLOSE TO CRITICAL's Tenebra is Altair (Gliese 768) and Dromm is Eta Cassiopeae (Gliese 34).
C. J. Cherryh's DOWNBELOW STATION et al have lots of real stars. Pell (Downbelow Station) is Tau Ceti (Gliese 71), Viking Station is at Epsilon Eridani (Gliese 144), Bryant's Star is 61 Cygni (Gliese 820), Cyteen is BD+01°4774 and Mariner Station is at Van Maanan's Star (Gliese 35). Go here for a more complete list of the stars in the various Cherryh novels.
Gordon R. Dickson's "Childe Cycle" (more commonly known as the "Dorsai series") has many actual stars. Alpha Centauri A (Gliese 559) has Cassida, and Alpha Centauri B has Newton. Dunnin's World is around Altair (Gliese 768). Harmony and Association orbit Epsilon Eridani (Gliese 144). Procyon (Gliese 280) is home to Mara, Kultis, Ste. Marie, Zombri, and Coby. Sirius (Gliese 244) has Oriente, Freiland, and New Earth. And Tau Ceti (Gliese 71) is home to Ceta, of course. (Thanks to Russel Martin for this list). And Erynus tells me that the Dorsai home planet orbits Fomalhaut.
In Robert Heinlein's FRIDAY, Outpost is DM-54°5466 (Gliese 534.1), Botany Bay is DM-44°9181 (Gliese 540.3), The Realm is DM-51°8206 (Gliese 550), Proxima is Alpha Centauri A (Gliese 559A), Forest is DM-48°9494 (Gliese 570.1), Fiddler's Green is Nu (2) Lupi (Gliese 582), Midway is DM+47°9926 (Gliese 582.1) and Halcyon is DM-49°9653 (Gliese 587).
Here are the star maps printed in the novel: Earth sky view map, top view map, side view map.
Hard-SF writer and real-world astronomer Gregory Bendford wrote the classic "Galactic Core" series of novels. There is a nice star map in the second novel: Across the Sea of Suns, you will find it here.
Dr. Robert Forward's novel TimeMaster has a small star map, you will find it here.
In Walter Jon Williams's Voice of the Whirlwind, Sheol is Wolf 294 (Gliese 251), Archangel is Ross 47 (Gliese 213), and Terminus is Ross 986 (Gliese 268).
In Buzz Aldrin & John Barnes ENCOUNTER WITH TIBER, the planet Tiber is around Alpha Centauri A.
The Sierra computer game ALIEN LEGACY takes place at Beta Caeli (Gliese 176.1).
In Isaac Asimov's FOUNDATION series, Baleyworld (latter Comporellon) is around Epsilon Eridani (Gliese 144), Aurora is Tau Ceti (Gliese 71), and Alpha ( aka New Earth) is around Alpha Centauri (Gliese 559). ( Thanks to Alberto Monteiro for this list )
Here is a map of the Foundation universe here, unfortuately it is in the Thai language.
H. P. Lovecraft's stories about the Cthulhu Mythos mention several stars, such as Betelgeuse, Fomalhaut, Aldeberan, Polaris, and Algol.
In BARBARELLA, her mission was to investigate the disappearance of Duran Duran at Tau Ceti.
The novels of Alastair Reynolds (Revelation Space et al) feature the planet Yellowstone around Epsilon Eridani, Sky's Edge around 61 Cygni A, and Resurgam around Delta Pavonis. Here is a map of the Revelation Space novels.
Here is a map of Jerry Pournelle's CoDominion universe.
Here is a map of the Farscape universe.
Here are some maps of the Star Wars galaxy.
Here are maps of the Outsider universe.
Here is a map of the Orion's Arm Universe.
Here is a map of the Terran Empire from the Star Hero RPG.
For the Traveller RPG are The Traveller Map and the Interactive Atlas of the Imperium.
Here is a map of the Zaon RPG galaxy.
Here are some maps I have created so you can plot your own science fiction universe.
  • Gl     StarName    Spec DistPC   (X,Y,Z)           (Xg,Yg,Zg)     Lum
  • 34A    ETA CAS      G3V  5.94 (3.1,0.6,5.0)      (3.2,5.0,-0.5)   1.34
  • 35     VAN MAANEN2  DZ7  4.33 (4.2,0.9,0.4)      (-1.2,2.0,-3.7)  0.0002
  • 71     TAU CET     G8Vp  3.50 (3.0,1.4,-1.0)     (-1.0,0.1,-3.4)  0.45
  • 136    ZET(1) RET   G2V 10.68 (3.2,3.7,-9.5)     (1.2,-7.2,-7.8)  0.63
  • 138    ZET(2) RET   G1V 11.42 (3.4,4.0,-10.2)    (1.2,-7.7,-8.4)  0.96
  • 144    EPS ERI      K2V  3.27 (2.0,2.6,-0.6)     (-2.1,-0.6,-2.4) 0.31
  • 166A   OMI(2) ERI  K1Ve  4.81 (2.2,4.3,-0.7)     (-3.6,-1.4,-3.0) 0.36
  • 213    ROSS 47       M4  6.00 (0.5,5.8,1.3)      (-5.8,-1.4,-1.0) 0.01
  • 244A   ALF CMA      A1V  2.63 (-0.5,2.5,-0.8)    (-1.8,-1.9,-0.4)23.55
  • 251    WOLF 294     dM4  5.76 (-1.1,4.7,3.2)     (-5.6,-0.3,1.5)  0.003
  • 268    ROSS 986  M4.5Ve  6.08 (-1.4,4.6,3.8)     (-5.7,0.1,2.1)   0.0009
  • 280A   ALF CMI    F5IV+  3.50 (-1.4,3.2,0.3)     (-2.8,-1.9,0.8)  7.87
  • 380    BD+50°1725  K2Ve  4.69 (-2.7,1.4,3.6)     (-2.8,0.7,3.7)   0.05
  • 406    WOLF 359      M6  2.39 (-2.3,0.7,0.3)     (-0.6,-1.2,2.0)  0.00002
  • 411    DM+36°2147  M2Ve  2.52 (-2.0,0.5,1.5)     (-1.0,-0.1,2.3)  0.01
  • 534.1A ETA BOO      G8V 11.49 (-5.9,-3.2,-9.4)   (7.7,-8.4,1.4)   0.48
  • 540.3  CD-44°9181   G4V 20.8  (-12.4,-8.1,-14.7) (15.0,-13.4,5.52)1.18
  • 550    THE BOO      G5V 33.3  (-16.7,-12.2,-26.2)(24.4,-22.2,4.7) 0.75
  • 559A   ALF CEN      G2V  1.34 (-0.5,-0.4,-1.2)   (1.0,-0.9,-0.0)  1.61
  • 570.1  CD-48°9494   G5V 16.13 (-7.7,-7.4,-12.1)  (12.8,-9.5,2.5)  0.69
  • 582    NU(2) LUP    G2V 15.85 (-6.9,-8.1,-11.8)  (13.2,-8.5,2.0)  1.26
  • 582.1A CD-47°9926  G5VJ 17.83 (-7.7,-9.2,-13.2)  (14.9,-9.5,2.4)  0.15
  • 587    CP-49°8137   G5V 25.00 (-10.1,-12.6,-19.1)(20.9,-13.5,2.3) 0.48
  • 663A   36 OPH      K1Ve  5.33 (-1.0,-4.7,-2.4)   (5.3,-0.2,0.6)   0.24
  • 699    BARNARD'S ST M5V  1.83 (-0.0,-1.8,0.2)    (1.5,0.9,0.4)    0.0005
  • 768    ALF AQL    A7IV+  4.98 (2.2,-4.4,0.8)     (3.3,3.6,-0.8)  11.07
  • 780    DEL PAV      G8V  5.71 (1.2,-2.0,-5.2)    (4.2,-2.4,-3.1)  1.12
  • 820A   61 CYG      K5Ve  3.46 (2.0,-1.9,2.2)     (0.5,3.4,-0.4)   0.09
  • 845    EPS IND     K5Ve  3.46 (1.6,-1.0,-2.9)    (2.1,-0.9,-2.6)  0.15
  •        Canopus     A9II 70    (-4.29, 43.25, 55.52) (-10.43,-62.88,-30.06)
    •  More complete lists are available below, as are instructions on using them to plot a starmap on graph paper. Don't let the abbreviations throw you. ALP CMA is Alpha Canis Majoris, which is the official astronomical name of Sirius.

     If you need some quick astronomical info about stars in general, check out the SCI.ASTRO Faq. Lots of answers to your frequently asked questions.
     
     

    Starmaps in the movies have been conspicuous by their absence. There is a nice scene of the "Stellar Cartography" room in Star Trek: Generations, all done with holograms. The mission control room of the movie Stargate has a nice mapping set up. And there is a version of the mapping "tank" in the Japanese anime movie Lensman. 

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