![Planisphæri cœleste](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Planisph%C3%A6ri_c%C5%93leste.jpg)
A star chart is a
celestial map
Celestial may refer to:
Science
* Objects or events seen in the sky and the following astronomical terms:
** Astronomical object, a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe
** Cele ...
of the
night sky
The night sky is the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon.
Natural light sources in a night sky include ...
with
astronomical object
An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are often us ...
s laid out on a grid system. They are used to identify and locate
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
s,
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
s,
nebula
A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...
e,
galaxies
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...
, and
planet
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
s. They have been used for human
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
since time immemorial. Note that a star chart differs from an
astronomical catalog
An astronomical catalog or catalogue is a List (information), list or tabulation of astronomical objects, typically grouped together because they share a common type, Galaxy morphological classification, morphology, origin, means of detection, or ...
, which is a listing or tabulation of astronomical objects for a particular purpose. Tools utilizing a star chart include the
astrolabe
An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستارهیاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
and
planisphere
In astronomy, a planisphere () is a star chart analog computing instrument in the form of two adjustable disks that rotate on a common pivot. It can be adjusted to display the visible stars for any time and date. It is an instrument to assist ...
.
History
Prehistory
A variety of archaeological sites and artifacts found are thought to indicate ancient made star charts.
The oldest known star chart may be a carved ivory
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...
tusk, drawn by early people from Asia who moved into Europe, that was discovered in Germany in 1979. This artifact is 32,500 years old and has a carving that resembles the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
Orion, although it could not be confirmed and could also be a pregnancy chart.
German researcher Dr Michael Rappenglueck, of the University of Munich, has suggested that drawing on the wall of the
Lascaux
Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of ...
caves in France could be a graphical representation of the
Pleiades
The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of ...
open cluster
An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...
of stars. This is dated from 33,000 to 10,000 years ago. He also suggested a panel in the same caves depicting a charging bison, a man with a bird's head and the head of a bird on top of a piece of wood, together may depict the
Summer Triangle
The Summer Triangle is an astronomical asterism in the northern celestial hemisphere. The defining vertices of this imaginary triangle are at Altair, Deneb, and Vega, each of which is the brightest star of its constellation ( Aquila, Cygnus, ...
, which at the time was a
circumpolar formation. Rappenglueck also discovered a drawing of the
Northern Crown
Corona Borealis is a small constellation in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Its brightest stars form a se ...
constellation in the
cave of El Castillo
The Cueva del Castillo, or Cave of the Castle, is an archaeological site within the complex of the Caves of Monte Castillo, in Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain.
The archaeological stratigraphy has been divided into around 19 layers, depending o ...
(North of Spain), made in the same period as the Lascaux chart.
Another star chart panel, created more than 21,000 years ago, was found in the
La Tête du Lion cave (
fr). The bovine in this panel may represent the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
Taurus
Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to:
* Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign
* Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac
* Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus
* ''Bos taurus ...
, with a pattern representing the Pleiades just above it.
A star chart drawn 5000 years ago by the
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
s in Kashmir, which also depict a supernova for the first time in human history.
The
Nebra sky disk
The Nebra sky disc (german: Himmelsscheibe von Nebra) is a bronze disc of around diameter and a weight of , having a blue-green patina and inlaid with gold symbols. These symbols are interpreted generally as the Sun or full moon, a lunar crescen ...
, a 30 cm wide bronze disk dated to 1600 BC, bears gold symbols generally interpreted as a sun or full moon, a lunar crescent, several stars including the Pleiades cluster and possibly the Milky Way.
Antiquity
The oldest accurately dated star chart appeared in ancient
Egyptian astronomy
Egyptian astronomy began in prehistoric times, in the Predynastic Period. In the 5th millennium BCE, the stone circles at Nabta Playa may have made use of astronomical alignments. By the time the historical Dynastic Period began in the 3rd mill ...
in 1534 BC. The
earliest known star catalogues were compiled by the ancient
Babylonian astronomers
Babylonian astronomy was the study or recording of celestial objects during the early history of Mesopotamia.
Babylonian astronomy seemed to have focused on a select group of stars and constellations known as Ziqpu stars. These constellations m ...
of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
in the late 2nd millennium BC, during the
Kassite Period
The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology).
They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...
(''ca.'' 1531–1155 BC).
The oldest records of
Chinese astronomy
Astronomy in China has a long history stretching from the Shang dynasty, being refined over a period of more than 3,000 years. The ancient Chinese people have identified stars from 1300 BCE, as Chinese star names later categorized in the twe ...
date to the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
(476–221 BC), but the earliest preserved Chinese star catalogues of astronomers
Shi Shen
Shi Shen (, fl. 4th century BC) was a Chinese astronomer and astrologer. He was a contemporary of Gan De born in the State of Wei, also known as the Shi Shenfu.
Observations
Shi is credited with positioning the 121 stars found in the preserved te ...
and
Gan De
Gan De (; fl. 4th century BC), also known as the Lord Gan (Gan Gong), was an ancient Chinese astronomer and astrologer born in the State of Qi. Along with Shi Shen, he is believed to be the first in history known by name to compile a star catalo ...
are found in the 2nd-century BC ''
Shiji
''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...
'' by the
Western Han
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
historian
Sima Qian
Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...
. The
oldest Chinese graphical representation of the night sky is a
lacquerware
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Befor ...
box from the 5th-century BC
Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng
The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng () is an archaeological site in Leigudun Community (), Nanjiao Subdistrict (), Zengdu District, Suizhou (during the Spring and Autumn period called Sui County), Hubei, China, dated sometime after 433 BC. The tomb c ...
, although this depiction shows the positions of the
Chinese constellations
Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as "officials" (Chinese ''xīng guān'').
The Chinese asterisms are generally smaller than the constellations of Hellenistic t ...
by name and does not show individual stars.
The
Farnese Atlas
The Farnese Atlas is a 2nd-century AD Roman marble sculpture of Atlas holding up a celestial globe. Probably a copy of an earlier work of the Hellenistic period, it is the oldest extant statue of Atlas, a Titan of Greek mythology who is represen ...
is a 2nd-century AD
Roman copy of a
Hellenistic era
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
Greek statue
The sculpture of ancient Greece is the main surviving type of fine ancient Greek art as, with the exception of painted ancient Greek pottery, almost no ancient Greek painting survives. Modern scholarship identifies three major stages in monume ...
depicting the
Titan Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
holding the
celestial sphere
In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, ...
on his shoulder. It is the oldest surviving depiction of the
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
constellations, and includes grid circles that provide coordinate positions. Because of
precession
Precession is a change in the orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body. In an appropriate reference frame it can be defined as a change in the first Euler angle, whereas the third Euler angle defines the rotation itself. In othe ...
, the positions of the constellations slowly change over time. By comparing the positions of the 41 constellations against the grid circles, an accurate determination can be made of the
epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...
when the original observations were performed. Based upon this information, the constellations were catalogued at . This evidence indicates that the
star catalogue
A star catalogue is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the years, ...
of the 2nd-century BC Greek astronomer
Hipparchus
Hipparchus (; el, Ἵππαρχος, ''Hipparkhos''; BC) was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician. He is considered the founder of trigonometry, but is most famous for his incidental discovery of the precession of the equi ...
was used.
A
Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
example of a graphical representation of the night sky is the
Ptolemaic Egyptian
Dendera zodiac, dating from 50 BC. This is a bas relief sculpting on a ceiling at the
Dendera Temple complex
Dendera Temple complex ( Ancient Egyptian: ''Iunet'' or ''Tantere''; the 19th-century English spelling in most sources, including Belzoni, was Tentyra; also spelled Denderah) is located about south-east of Dendera, Egypt. It is one of the best ...
. It is a
planisphere
In astronomy, a planisphere () is a star chart analog computing instrument in the form of two adjustable disks that rotate on a common pivot. It can be adjusted to display the visible stars for any time and date. It is an instrument to assist ...
depicting the
zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...
in graphical representations. However, individual stars are not plotted.
Medieval
The oldest surviving manuscript star chart was the
Dunhuang Star Chart
The Dunhuang map or Dunhuang Star map is one of the first known graphical representations of stars from ancient Chinese astronomy, dated to the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Before this map, much of the star information mentioned in historical ...
, dated to the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
(618–907) and discovered in the
Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...
of
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...
in
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
,
Western China
Western China (, or rarely ) is the west of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers one municipality (Chongqing), six provinces (Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively r ...
along the
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
. This is a scroll 210 cm in length and 24.4 cm wide showing the sky between
declination
In astronomy, declination (abbreviated dec; symbol ''δ'') is one of the two angles that locate a point on the celestial sphere in the equatorial coordinate system, the other being hour angle. Declination's angle is measured north or south of the ...
s 40° south to 40° north in twelve panels, plus a thirteenth panel showing the northern circumpolar sky. A total of 1,345 stars are drawn, grouped into 257
asterisms. The date of this chart is uncertain, but is estimated as 705–10 AD.
![Su Song Star Map 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Su_Song_Star_Map_2.JPG)
During the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960–1279), the Chinese astronomer
Su Song
Su Song (, 1020–1101), courtesy name Zirong (), was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman. Excelling in a variety of fields, he was accomplished in mathematics, Chinese astronomy, astronomy, History of cartography#China, cartography, ...
wrote a book titled ''Xin Yixiang Fa Yao'' (New Design for the Armillary Clock) containing five maps of 1,464 stars. This has been dated to 1092. In 1193, the astronomer
Huang Shang Huang or Hwang may refer to:
Location
* Huang County, former county in Shandong, China, current Longkou City
* Yellow River, or Huang River, in China
* Huangshan, mountain range in Anhui, China
* Huang (state), state in ancient China.
* Hwang Riv ...
prepared a planisphere along with explanatory text. It was engraved in stone in 1247, and this chart still exists in the Wen Miao temple in
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
.
In
Muslim astronomy, the first star chart to be drawn accurately was most likely the illustrations produced by the Persian astronomer
Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi
ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi ( fa, عبدالرحمن صوفی; December 7, 903 – May 25, 986) was an iranianRobert Harry van Gent. Biography of al-Sūfī'. "The Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī was born in ...
in his 964 work titled ''
Book of Fixed Stars
The ''Book of Fixed Stars'' ( ar, كتاب صور الكواكب ', literally ''The Book of the Shapes of Stars'') is an astronomical text written by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (Azophi) around 964. Following the translation movement in the 9th cent ...
''. This book was an update of parts VII.5 and VIII.1 of the 2nd century
Almagest
The ''Almagest'' is a 2nd-century Greek-language mathematical and astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths, written by Claudius Ptolemy ( ). One of the most influential scientific texts in history, it canoni ...
star catalogue by
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
. The work of al-Sufi contained illustrations of the constellations and portrayed the brighter stars as dots. The original book did not survive, but a copy from about 1009 is preserved at the
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.
Perhaps the oldest European star map was a parchment manuscript titled ''De Composicione Spere Solide''. It was most likely produced in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 1440 and consisted of a two-part map depicting the constellations of the northern celestial hemisphere and the
ecliptic
The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic again ...
. This may have served as a prototype for the oldest European printed star chart, a 1515 set of woodcut portraits produced by
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...
in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Early modern
![Scutum Sobiescianum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Scutum_Sobiescianum.PNG)
During the European
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafarin ...
, expeditions to the southern hemisphere began to result in the addition of new constellations. These most likely came from the records of two Dutch sailors,
Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser
Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser (occasionally Petrus Theodorus; – 11 September 1596) was a Dutch navigator and celestial cartographer who mapped several constellations on the southern celestial hemisphere.
Voyages and star observation
Little is ...
and
Frederick de Houtman
Frederick de Houtman ( – 21 October 1627) was a Dutch explorer, navigator, and colonial governor who sailed on the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies from 1595 until 1597, during which time he made observations of the southern cel ...
, who in 1595 traveled together to the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
. Their compilations resulted in the 1601 globe of
Jodocus Hondius
Jodocus Hondius (Latinized version of his Dutch language, Dutch name: ''Joost de Hondt'') (17 October 1563 – 12 February 1612) was a Flemish people, Flemish and Dutch engraving, engraver and cartographer. He is sometimes called Jodocus Hon ...
, who added 12 new southern constellations. Several other such maps were produced, including
Johann Bayer
Johann Bayer (1572 – 7 March 1625) was a German lawyer and uranographer (celestial cartographer). He was born in Rain, Lower Bavaria, in 1572. At twenty, in 1592 he began his study of philosophy and law at the University of Ingolstadt, a ...
's ''
Uranometria
''Uranometria'' is a star atlas produced by Johann Bayer. It was published in Augsburg in 1603 by Christoph Mangle (''Christophorus Mangus'') under the full title ''Uranometria: omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo delineata, ae ...
'' in 1603. The latter was the first atlas to chart both celestial hemispheres and it introduced the
Bayer designation
A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 stars. ...
s for identifying the brightest stars using the Greek alphabet. The ''Uranometria'' contained 48 maps of Ptolemaic constellations, a plate of the southern constellations and two plates showing the entire northern and southern hemispheres in stereographic polar projection.
Polish astronomer
Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius
Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Some sources refer to Hevelius as German:
*
*
*
*
*of the Royal Society
* (in German also known as ''Hevel''; pl, Jan Heweliusz; – 28 January 1687) was a councillor ...
published his Firmamentum Sobiescianum star atlas posthumously in 1690. It contained 56 large, double page star maps and improved the accuracy in the position of the southern stars. He introduced 11 more constellations (
Scutum
The ''scutum'' (; plural ''scuta'') was a type of shield used among Italic peoples in antiquity, most notably by the army of ancient Rome starting about the fourth century BC.
The Romans adopted it when they switched from the military formati ...
,
Lacerta
Lacerta is one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Its name is Latin for lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except ...
,
Canes Venatici
Canes Venatici () is one of the IAU designated constellations, 88 constellations designated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It is a small northern constellation that was created by Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. Its name is ...
, etc.).
Modern
In 1824
Sidney Hall
Sidney Hall (1788?–1831) was a British engraving, engraver and cartography, cartographer well known and popular for his early nineteenth century atlases containing maps of the United Kingdom and of the Ancient history, ancient world reproduced ...
produced a set of star charts called
Urania's Mirror
''Urania's Mirror; or, a view of the Heavens'' is a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards, first published in November 1824. They are illustrations based on Alexander Jamieson's ''A Celestial Atlas'', but the addition of holes punched in them ...
. They are illustrations based on
Alexander Jamieson
Alexander Jamieson (1782–1850) was a Scottish writer and schoolmaster, now best known as a rhetorician. He has been described as effectively a professional textbook writer. After the failure of his school, he worked as an actuary.
Life
Some of ...
's ''A Celestial Atlas'', but the addition of holes punched in them allowed them to be held up to a light to see a depiction of the constellation's stars.
See also
*
88 modern constellations by area
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) designates 88 constellations of stars. In the table below, they are ranked by the solid angle that they subtend in the sky, measured in square degrees and millisteradians.
These solid angles depend ...
*
Astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...
*
Cheonsang Yeolchabunyajido
Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido (; ) is a fourteenth-century Korean star map, copies of which were spread nationwide in the Joseon Dynasty. The name is sometimes translated as the "chart of the constellations and the regions they govern."
King Taej ...
*
Ephemeris
In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (pl. ephemerides; ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly vel ...
*
Lists of stars by constellation
All stars but one can be associated with an IAU constellation. IAU constellations are areas of the sky. Although there are only 88 IAU constellations, the sky is actually divided into 89 irregularly shaped boxes as the constellation Serpens is spl ...
*
Magnitude (astronomy)
In astronomy, magnitude is a unitless measure of the brightness
Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating or reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the lumi ...
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Star cartography
Celestial cartography, uranography,
astrography or star cartography is the aspect of astronomy and branch of cartography concerned with mapping stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects on the celestial sphere. Measuring the positio ...
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Timeline of astronomical maps, catalogs, and surveys
Timeline of astronomical maps, catalogs and surveys
* c. 1800 BC — Babylonian star catalog (see Babylonian star catalogues)
* c. 1370 BC; Observations for the Babylonia MUL.APIN (an astro catalog).
* c. 350 BC — Shi Shen's star ...
References
External links
An online guide to using a star chartThe world's earliest manuscript Star Chartfrom Dunhuang on the Silk Road
Star charts
Online Planetarium - The Sky– Free interactive star chart based on location
Sky Chart– Free Northern Sky Chart Cutout.
Planispherium– Free Northern Sky Chart Cutout in Latin
– Free star charts
Geody Star Charts– Free (CC-by-sa) printer friendly star charts for several latitudes and times of the year
An online star chartMonthly sky maps for every location on EarthThe Evening Sky Map– Free monthly star charts and calendar for northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, and equatorial sky watchers.
Sky Map Online– Free interactive star chart (showing over 1.2 million stars up to magnitude 12)
Stellarmap.com– Online map of the stars (requires compatible browser such as Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Safari or IE9).
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Celestial cartography