Map of the Week: CartoDB goes to the Galaxy, Far Far Away

Summary

Explore the Star Wars galaxy with this interactive map featuring planets, hyperspace lanes, sectors, and regions. A comprehensive guide for map enthusiasts.

This post may describe functionality for an old version of CARTO. Find out about the latest and cloud-native version here.
Map of the Week: CartoDB goes to the Galaxy, Far Far Away

In exactly one year from today  the force will re-awaken with Star Wars: Episode VII. Until then  get caught up on humanity's favorite space saga with this comprehenisive map of the Star Wars galaxy:

Featured: all of the planets  hyperspace lanes  sectors  and regions of the Star Wars galaxy. Planets are represented as points  hyperspace lanes as polylines  and regions and sectors as polygons. Each object has a set of attributes including its name  location  and other information for easy data searching.

Yeah  we're geeking out  too. Thanks to Henry Bernberg  a long-time Star Wars enthusiast and soon-to-be Master of Urban Spatial Analytics #upennschoolofdesign #spring2015 #congrats  superfans and map-makers alike have a stellar visualization (pun points!) to explore.

Henry was inspired to undertake his ambitious project after finding W.R. Van Hage's "Map of the Star Wars Galaxy":



Star Wars Galaxy Map



While quite beautiful  this map lacked interactivity  which led Henry to search for more. When he found Modi's map and the official Star Wars' The Essential Atlas  Henry realized that the world needed a user-friendly portal to search for planets and objects in the Star Wars universe that would link to Wookieepedia and other fan-friendly resources.

Combining mapping  design  and data skills  Henry made georeferenced scans of Essential Atlas maps come to life. For more insight into Henry's mad skills and process behind this project  peep the wesbite.

In the future  Henry envisions adding specific search and navigation functionality so that users can locate planets by name and determine the distance from Endor to Hoth (note: Ewoks > Wampa) #prepareyourspacesuit. In the meantime: if you see something  say something. Help Henry continue mapping the Galaxy Far, Far Away in time for 2015's big release.

Ready to start your own map adventure?