It was created by Torsten Bronger using the program PP3 on 2003/08/18. At PP3's homepage, you also get the input scripts necessary for re-compiling the map.
The yellow dashed lines are constellation boundaries, the red dashed line is the ecliptic, and the shades of blue show Milky Way areas of different brightness. The map contains all Messier objects, except for colliding ones. The underlying database contains all stars brighter than 6.5. All coordinates refer to equinox 2000.0.
The map is calculated with the equidistant azimuthal projection (the zenith being in the center of the image). The north pole is to the top. The (horizontal) lines of equal declination are drawn for 0°, ±10°, ±20° etc. The lines of equal right ascension are drawn for all 24 hours. Towards the rim there is a very slight magnification (and distortion).
Disclaimer to modified version
I simply added cygnus-x1, its a crude approximation intended only to give a general idea of where it is located, Cygnus-x1 is not following the scale of the rest of the map either in position or size. Acer 22:29, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
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