Man has always been fascinated with the solemn and mysterious parade of the celestial luminaries across the night sky. As the earliest-known texts of various ancient cultures attest, the stars were commonly grouped into constellation figures which were believed to represent divine persons, sacred animals and other objects of religious importance.
Of course, each of the major cultures stemming from the Near East, the Far East and the New World developed an indigenous system of constellation figures and associated legends which were recorded in written texts or depicted on maps or on globes.
Of these various constellation systems, the Sumerian/Babylonian system of constellation figures would prove to be the most influential as it was their system that through successive adoptions, modifications and additions by Greek/Roman, Islamic and European astronomers evolved into the mathematically defined system of 88 constellations that is currently employed in the international astronomical community.
Traditionally, astronomers plot the positions of the stars and the constellation figures in two ways:
- Internal view: the constellation figures are depicted on an imaginary celestial sphere as seen from an observer placed in the centre. This is the method commonly adopted in celestial atlases and is most suited for astronomical observations.
- External view: the constellation figures are depicted on an imaginary celestial sphere as viewed from the outside. This is the method commonly adopted in celestial globes and is more suited for artistic or tutorial purposes.
Celestial Atlases and Globes on the Web
- Atlas Coelestis: Comprehensive website by Felice Stoppa with digital editions of various celestial atlases and maps from the middle of the 15th century to the early 20th century.
- The Mercator Globes at Harvard Map Collection: On this website one can view the globes of Gerard Mercator (terrestrial globe of 1541, celestial globe of 1551) of the Harvard Map Collection in great detail.
- Tycho Brahe (1546 – 1601): The Astronomiæ instauratæ mechanica (1602) is not a celestial atlas but the digital version of the copy in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries includes the plates depicting the astronomical instruments used by Tycho Brahe for his celestial observations on which many later celestial globes and atlases were based. With an introduction by Ronald Brashear.
- Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596 – 1665): Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660, 1661, 1708).
- Johannes Hevelius (1611 – 1687): Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia (1690). For “star free” images of the Hevelius constellation figures, click here.
- Coronelli, Vincenzo (1650 – 1718): Printed segments of Coronelli’s 110-cm celestial globe (1693) in the 1782 reprint by Desnos (Paris).
- John Flamsteed (1646 – 1719): Atlas Coelestis (1729, 1753).
- Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (1677 – 1750): Atlas Coelestis (1742).
- John Flamsteed (1646 – 1719): Atlas céleste de Flamstéed (Jean Fortin, Paris, 1776). Although the title page of this French edition gives the year of printing as 1776, the inclusion of the constellation Taurus Poniatovii (Poniatowski’s Bull) on plate 10 indicates that this copy was published in 1778 or later.
- Johann Elert Bode (1747 – 1826): Vorstellung der Gestirne auf XXXIV Tafeln (1782).
- Franz Niklaus König (1765 – 1832): The diaphanous Atlas Céleste (1826) [30 plates; nrs. 28 & 29 are missing] (Municipal and University Library of Berne) [In English, French & German].
