---
name: "plot-constellations"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "astrometry.net"
version: "0.97+dfsg-2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/plot-constellations"
---

# plot-constellations(1)

Annotates images with constellations etc.

## NAME

plot-constellations - Annotates images with constellations etc.

## SYNOPSIS

plot-constellations  **-w** *file* \| **-L** \| **-o** *file*

## DESCRIPTION

Annotates images with constellations, bright stars, Messier/NGC objects, Henry Draper catalog stars, etc.

## OPTIONS

- **-w** *file*

  WCS input file

- **-L**

  just list the items in the field

- **-o** *file*

  image output file; "-" for stdout

-

  - **-p**

  write PPM output - default is PNG (\[**-i** *PPM input file*\] OR \[**-W** *width* **-H** *height*\] )

- **-s** *scale*

  scale image coordinates by this value before plotting.

- **-N**

  plot NGC objects

- **-F** *fraction*

  minimum NGC size, relative to image size (default 0.02)

- **-C**

  plot constellations

- **-B**

  plot named bright stars

- **-D**

  plot HD objects

- **-d**

  path to HD catalog

- **-b** *N*

  just plot the *N* brightest stars

- **-c**

  only plot bright stars that have common names.

- **-j**

  if a bright star has a common name, only print that

- **-v**

  be verbose

- **-n** *width*

  NGC circle width (default 2)

- **-f** *size*

  font size.

- **-M**

  show only NGC/IC and Messier numbers (no common names)

- **-G** *spacing*

  Plot RA,Dec grid with specified grid spacing in arcmin.

- **-g** *r*:*g*:*b*

  grid color (default 0.2:0.2:0.2)

- **-J**

  print JSON output to stderr

- **-V**

  vertical alignment of text labels, "C"enter/"T"op/"B"ottom: default C

- **-O**

  horizontal alignment of text labels, "L"eft/"C"enter/"R"ight, default L

## AUTHOR

The Astrometry.net team. Principal investigators are David W. Hogg (NYU) and Dustin Lang (CMU).

## SEE ALSO

http://astrometry.net