Re: Star Maps

>On Tue, 12 Oct 1999, Nyrath the nearly wise wrote:
>basically, Kohonen mapping can be used to 'flatten' a set of points in
3
>dimensions to a set of points in 2 dimensions such that the distance
>relations between them are more or less preserved. it can't be used to
>make a real 2d map (where measured distance is proportional to real
>distance), but it can be used to lay out points on a chart in such a
way
>that jump paths (which are to nearby stars) will tend to be to nearby
>points.
 
An alternative might be to do a direct planar projection, but
to label or otherwise mark lines between stars with their distances
(in parsecs, LY, jumps or jump-factors, etc.). That would require
only minor changes to a projection program (or perhaps none!).
 
- Sam
________________________________________
Samuel Reynolds
Spinward Stars: http://www.spinwardstars.com/
Reynolds Virtual Workshop: http://www.primenet.com/~reynol
reynol@primenet.com
samuel_reynolds@csgsystems.com