How to read this view
- Position and lines, not a map. The layout is a physics simulation, not a projection of any real quality onto x/y axes. Two stars only mean something relative to each other: closer together and joined by a bold line means high similarity across the 8 style axes; there is no meaning in a star sitting near the top, the edge, or the center.
- Proximity signals similarity. A solid line is the same corpus similarity score shown elsewhere on the site, just drawn instead of tabulated. If two stars are close and connected, check the exact number by opening either one. The Matrix cell and this line come from the same formula.
- Distance is not opposition. Two stars sitting far apart with no line between them are not "opposites." The pairwise score simply fell below the current threshold. That gap is often the more useful pairing for a hybrid sequence: the Blend Simulator treats stylistic distance as contrast to build with, not a mismatch to avoid.
- Constellation vs. Matrix. The Matrix gives an exact number for all 256 cells at once: the right tool for looking up one specific pair. Constellation trades that precision for a whole-corpus read: clusters, outliers, and bridge figures show up as shapes instead of rows of numbers. Neither view replaces the other; cross-check a cluster you notice here against the Matrix before drawing a conclusion from it.
- Color is a label, not a force. Each star's color marks its dominant Nichols mode, shown for reference only. It never pulls stars together or apart. A same-color pair sitting far apart, or a cross-color pair sitting close, is not an error. It usually means stylistic similarity and mode classification are measuring two different things for that pair, which is worth noticing rather than smoothing over.
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Tab through stars, Enter or Space to focus one, Escape to clear. Tap a star (or, on a keyboard, focus it and press Enter) to see its nearest neighbors and jump to a side-by-side comparison.
Color = Nichols family, shown for reference only; it has no effect on placement.