Is it copyright if I trace over constellation drawings (simply lines and dots)?

[bunrealism]

I'm writing a poetry chapbook and all the titles are titles of constellations and I want some graphic of the constellations along with them. I originally just freehand sketched them by looking at photos but I didn't like how the proportions and lengths weren't exact which is why I traced it. But just wondering about copyright, and if it is, which I feel like it might be, what would the solution be? Are the constellations public domain?

[AndyJ]

Hi and welocme to the forums,

The constellations are facts and so not subject to copyright as subject matter. A photograph or drawing of the night sky or parts of it might be subject to copyright if the creator of that artwork used sufficient personal skill in capturing the subject. However if you want to just copy the positions and relative size of the stars and planets it is unlikely that you will infringe any copyright since you are only using the factual part of the original work.