The Interstellar Travel Planner

Have you ever woken up aboard an interstellar spacecraft with no idea how long it will take to get home to Earth? Then you need the Interstellar Map.

This impressive browser-based visualization combines a 3D map of nearby stars with a relativistic travel-time calculator, allowing you to explore the practical consequences of planned journeys across interstellar space. The map plots thousands of named stars in three-dimensional space relative to the Sun and lets you calculate how long it would take to travel between any two stars - in both ship time and Earth time.

The interface includes search tools for finding stars by name or constellation. Or simply click on the map to choose where you’re leaving from - and where in the galaxy you’re headed. When you select a destination, the tool calculates your journey based on constant proper acceleration and special relativity.

If you've seen Project Hail Mary you may already be familiar with the idea of a constantly accelerating starship. Instead of firing its engines briefly and then coasting through space, a ship using constant proper acceleration would continue thrusting for the first half of the journey, before turning around to decelerate for the second half. That approach dramatically reduces travel times and creates the time-dilation effects which the Interstellar Map calculates.

By calculating both ship time and Earth time, the Interstellar Map acknowledges the Twin Paradox that defines the lonely reality of interstellar travel. While only a few years may pass for those on board, thanks to special relativity decades could slip by back on Earth. When planning your interstellar flight, it is handy to know just how much older your friends and family will be when you finally return home.