Arrangement and projection
''Norton’s Star Atlas'' became highly popular because of its convenient arrangement of dividing the sky into six vertical slices, or gores, like portions of a globe. Each gore covered 4 hours ofEarly editions
For the first edition, Norton based his charts on the ''Uranométrie Générale'' star catalogue compiled by the Belgian astronomerThe handbook
In addition to the charts, ''Norton’s Star Atlas'' also contained a reference section featuring practical information and data of particular interest to observers. Most of this text was the work of the publisher and various expert contributors. With each passing edition, the text grew into a reference handbook as essential for amateur astronomers as the charts themselves.Modern era
By the 1980s, ''Norton’s Star Atlas'' had come to look dated. In 1989 a totally new edition was published, the 18th, under the title ''Norton’s 2000.0'' to emphasize that its charts had been redrawn to the new standard epoch of 2000. These charts were computer-plotted by the cartographic company ofReferences
S. James, "Arthur Philip Norton (1876-1955): The Man and his Star Atlas", ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'', 103 (1993), 289–29External links