Celestial cartography

Title page of the Coelum Stellatum Christianum by Julius Schiller.
This print, published in Richard Blome’s "The Gentleman's Recreation" (1686) shows the diverse ways in which cosmography can be applied

Celestial cartography,[1] uranography,[2][3] astrography or star cartography is the fringe of astronomy and branch of cartography concerned with mapping stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects on 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 telescopes. Uranographers have historically produced planetary position tables, star tables, and star maps for use by both amateur and professional astronomers. More recently computerized star maps have been compiled, and automated positioning of telescopes is accomplished using databases of stars and other astronomical objects.

Etymology

The word "uranography" derived from the Greek "ουρανογραφια" (Koine Greek ουρανος "sky, heaven" + γραφειν "to write") through the Latin "uranographia". In Renaissance times, Uranographia was used as the book title of various celestial atlases.[4][5][6] 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".[7] The German word for uranography is "Uranographie", the French is "uranographie" and the Italian is "uranografia".

Astrometry

Star catalogues
Aquarius according to
Hyginus		 Aquarius according to
Johann Bayer's Uranometria,
based on Rudolphine Tables		 Aquarius according to
KStars

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.

Important historical star tables

Star atlases

Naked-eye

Telescopic

Photographic

Modern

Computerized

Free and printable from files

See also

References

  1. ↑ Warner, D. J. (1979). The Sky Explored: Celestial Cartography 1500–1800. Amsterdam and New York: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd. and Alan R. Liss, Inc.
  2. ↑ Lovi, G.; W. Tirion; B. Rappaport (1987). "Uranography Yesterday and Today". Uranometria 2000.0. 1: The Northern Hemisphere to – 6 degree. Willmann-Bell, Richmond.
  3. ↑ Lovi, G.; Tirion, W. (1989). Men, Monsters and the Modern Universe. Richmond: Willmann-Bell.
  4. ↑ 1690: Hevelius J., Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia.
  5. ↑ c. 1750: Bevis J., Uranographia Britannica.
  6. ↑ 1801: Bode. J. E., Uranographia sive Astrorum Descriptio.
  7. ↑ Burritt, E. H., The Geography of the Heavens, 1833.
  8. ↑ Dürer’s hemispheres of 1515 — the first European printed star charts
  9. ↑ "Stars & Planets Guide", IanRidpath.com.
  10. ↑ "The Great Atlas of the Sky", GreatSkyAtlas.com, December 1, 2009.
  11. ↑ Stellarmap.com
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