Blome Cosmography and Astrology 1686 Cornell CUL PJM 1013 02

Celestial cartography, uranography, astrography or star cartography is the aspect of

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and branch of

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

concerned with mapping

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

s, galaxies, and other

astronomical object An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists within the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are of ...

s on 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, ...

. Measuring the position and light of charted objects requires a variety of instruments and techniques. These techniques have developed from angle measurements with quadrants and the unaided eye, through sextants combined with lenses for light magnification, up to current methods which include computer-automated

space telescope A space telescope (also known as space observatory) is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO ...

s. Uranographers have historically produced planetary position tables, star tables, and star maps for use by both

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

and professional astronomers. More recently, computerized star maps have been compiled, and automated positioning of

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

s uses databases of stars and of other astronomical objects.

Etymology

The word "uranography" derived from the Greek "ουρανογραφια" (

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

''ουρανος'' "sky, heaven" + ''γραφειν'' "to write") through the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''"uranographia"''. In Renaissance times, ''Uranographia'' was used as the book title of various celestial atlases. During the 19th century, "uranography" was defined as the "description of the heavens". Elijah H. Burritt re-defined it as the "geography of the heavens". The German word for uranography is "''Uranographie''", the French is "''uranographie''" and the Italian is "''uranografia''".

Astrometry

Astrometry Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other Astronomical object, celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, th ...

, the science of

spherical astronomy Spherical astronomy, or positional astronomy, is a branch of observational astronomy used to locate astronomical objects on the celestial sphere, as seen at a particular date, time, and location on Earth. It relies on the mathematical methods of ...

, is concerned with precise measurements of the location of celestial bodies in the celestial sphere and their kinematics relative to a reference frame on the celestial sphere. In principle, astrometry can involve such measurements of planets, stars, black holes and galaxies to any celestial body. Throughout human history, astrometry played a significant role in shaping our understanding of the structure of the visible sky, which accompanies the location of bodies in it, hence making it a fundamental tool to celestial cartography.

Star catalogues

A determining fact source for drawing star charts is naturally a star table. This is apparent when comparing the imaginative "star maps" of ''Poeticon Astronomicon'' – illustrations beside a narrative text from the antiquity – to the star maps of Johann Bayer, based on precise star-position measurements from the '' Rudolphine Tables'' by

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, ; 14 December 154624 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He ...

Important historical star tables

* c:AD 150, '' Almagest'' – contains the last known star table from antiquity, prepared by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, 1,028 stars. * c.964, '' Book of the Fixed Stars'', Arabic version of the ''Almagest'' by al-Sufi. * 1627, '' Rudolphine Tables'' – contains the first West Enlightenment star table, based on measurements of

, 1,005 stars. * 1690, '' Prodromus Astronomiae'' – by Johannes Hevelius for his ''Firmamentum Sobiescanum'', 1,564 stars. * 1729, ''Britannic Catalogue'' – by John Flamsteed for his Atlas Coelestis, position of more than 3,000 stars by accuracy of 10". * 1903, '' Bonner Durchmusterung'' – by Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander and collaborators, circa 460,000 stars.

Star atlases

Naked-eye

* 15th century BC – The ceiling of the tomb TT71 for the Egyptian architect and minister Senenmut, who served Queen

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut ( ; BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from until (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second c ...

, is adorned with a large and extensive star chart. * 1 CE ? '' Poeticon astronomicon'', allegedly by Gaius Julius Hyginus * 1092 – ''Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao'' (新儀象法要), by Su Song, a horological treatise which had the earliest existent star maps in

printed Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and Printmaking, images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabon ...

form. Su Song's star maps also featured the corrected position of the pole star which had been deciphered due to the efforts of astronomical observations by Su's peer, the

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

scientist

Shen Kuo Shen Kuo (; 1031–1095) or Shen Gua, courtesy name Cunzhong (存中) and Art name#China, pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng (夢溪翁),Yao (2003), 544. was a Chinese polymath, scientist, and statesman of the Song dynasty (960� ...

. * 1515 – First European printed star charts published in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, Germany, engraved by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 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 or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

. * 1603 – '' Uranometria'', by Johann Bayer, the first western modern star map based on

's and

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

's '' Tabulae Rudolphinae'' * 1627 – Julius Schiller published the star atlas '' Coelum Stellatum Christianum'', which replaced pagan constellations with biblical and early Christian figures. * 1660 – Jan Janssonius' 11th volume of ''Atlas Major'' (not to be confused with the similarly named and scoped '' Atlas Maior'') featured the '' Harmonia Macrocosmica'' by Andreas Cellarius * 1693 – ''Firmamentum Sobiescanum sive Uranometria'', by Johannes Hevelius, a star map updated with many new star positions based on Hevelius's '' Prodromus Astronomiae'' (1690) – 1564 stars.

Telescopic

* 1729 '' Atlas Coelestis'' by John Flamsteed * 1801 ''Uranographia'' by Johann Elert Bode * 1843 ''Uranometria Nova'' by Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander

Photographic

* 1914 ''Franklin-Adams Charts'', by John Franklin-Adams, a very early photographic atlas. * ''The Falkau Atlas'' (Hans Vehrenberg). Stars to magnitude 13. * ''Atlas Stellarum'' (Hans Vehrenberg). Stars to magnitude 14. * ''True Visual Magnitude Photographic Star Atlas'' (Christos Papadopoulos). Stars to magnitude 13.5. * ''The Cambridge Photographic Star Atlas'', Axel Mellinger and Ronald Stoyan, 2011. Stars to magnitude 14, natural color, 1°/cm.

Modern

* ''Bright Star Atlas'' – Wil Tirion (stars to magnitude 6.5) * ''Cambridge Star Atlas'' – Wil Tirion (Stars to magnitude 6.5) * ''Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook'' – Ed. Ian Ridpath (stars to magnitude 6.5) * ''Stars & Planets Guide'' – Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (stars to magnitude 6.0) * ''Cambridge Double Star Atlas'' – James Mullaney and Wil Tirion (stars to magnitude 7.5) * ''Cambridge Atlas of Herschel Objects'' – James Mullaney and Wil Tirion (stars to magnitude 7.5) * ''Pocket Sky Atlas'' – Roger Sinnott (stars to magnitude 7.5) * ''Deep Sky Reiseatlas'' – Michael Feiler, Philip Noack (Telrad Finder Charts – stars to magnitude 7.5) * ''Atlas Coeli Skalnate Pleso'' (Atlas of the Heavens) 1950.0 – Antonín Bečvář (stars to magnitude 7.75 and about 12,000 clusters, galaxies and nebulae) * ''SkyAtlas 2000.0'', second edition – Wil Tirion & Roger Sinnott (stars to magnitude 8.5) * 1987, ''Uranometria 2000.0 Deep Sky Atlas'' – Wil Tirion, Barry Rappaport, Will Remaklus (stars to magnitude 9.7; 11.5 in selected close-ups) * ''Herald-Bobroff AstroAtlas'' – David Herald & Peter Bobroff (stars to magnitude 9 in main charts, 14 in selected sections) * '' Millennium Star Atlas'' – Roger Sinnott, Michael Perryman (stars to magnitude 11) * ''Field Guide to the Stars and Planets'' – Jay M. Pasachoff, Wil Tirion charts (stars to magnitude 7.5) * ''SkyGX'' (still in preparation) – Christopher Watson (stars to magnitude 12) * ''The Great Atlas of the Sky'' – Piotr Brych (2,400,000 stars to magnitude 12, galaxies to magnitude 18). * '' Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas'' (2014) – Ronald Stoyan and Stephan Schurig (stars to magnitude 9.5)

Computerized

100,000 Stars
* Cartes du Ciel * Celestia
Stars and Planets for Android

Stars and Planets for iOS

CyberSky

* Google Sky * KStars * Stellarium * SKY-MAP.ORG
SkyMap Online
* WorldWide Telescope * XEphem, for Unix-like systems * Stellarmap.com – online map of the stars * Star Walk and Kepler Explorer OpenLab: 2 celestial cartography apps for smartphones * SpaceEngine

Free and printable from files

The TriAtlas Project

Andrew Johnson mag 7

References

External links

Star Maps
from Ian Ridpath's ''Star Tales'' website.
The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project

an extensive collection of 51 star maps and other astronomy related books stored as a multitude of images.
Monthly star maps for every location on Earth

Easy to use monthly star maps for northern and southern hemispheres. Helpful target lists for naked eye, binocular, or telescope viewing.

Collection of rare star atlases, charts, and maps
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325232350/http://contentdm.lindahall.org/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fstar_atlas , date=2018-03-25 available in full digital facsimile at Linda Hall Library.
Navigable online map of the stars
Stellarmap.com. * The Digital Collections of the Linda Hall Library include: *
"Astronomy: Star Atlases, Charts, and Maps"
a collection of more than 60 star atlas volumes. *
"Astronomy: Selected Images
a collection of high-resolution star map images. *
"History of Cosmology: Views of the Stars"
high-resolution scans of prints relating to the study of the structure of the cosmos. * * Works about astronomy el:Άτλας Ουρανού