Uranometria

Uranometria is Johann Bayer’s 1603 star atlas, notable for its detailed constellation engravings and systematic use of Greek letters to designate stars.

Johann Bayer: Johann Bayer was a German lawyer and celestial cartographer who published Uranometria in 1603. Bayer compiled and published the atlas that bears his work.
Star atlas: A star atlas is a collection of maps showing stars and other celestial features. Uranometria is an early printed example of this map-based reference format.
Renaissance astronomy: Renaissance astronomy was the study of the heavens in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Uranometria extended the period’s efforts to revise and publish astronomical knowledge.
Flamsteed designation: A Flamsteed designation identifies a star by a number within its constellation, followed by the constellation’s name. This later numbering system offered an alternative when Bayer letters ran short or proved ambiguous.
Bayer designation: A Bayer designation identifies a star with a Greek or Latin letter followed by its constellation’s genitive name. Uranometria introduced this influential system for labeling stars.
Celestial coordinates: Celestial coordinates specify positions on the sky using reference directions and angular measurements. The atlas’s maps place stars according to their positions on the celestial sphere.
Tycho Brahe: Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer whose precise pre-telescopic observations transformed positional astronomy. His observational standards exemplify the increasingly exact star positions available around Bayer’s time.
Modern constellation: A modern constellation is one of the 88 officially defined regions that divide the sky. Bayer’s maps helped transmit constellation figures later retained within standardized sky regions.
Celestial cartography: Celestial cartography is the mapping and depiction of objects and features in the sky. The atlas is a landmark work in mapping the celestial sphere.
Celestial globe: A celestial globe is a spherical model marked with stars, constellations, and other sky features. Unlike a globe, Uranometria represents the sky on flat engraved plates.

Linked from 11 pages