Royal Museum Greenwich

The Southern Hemisphere Constellations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman

In 1598, Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius published twelve new constellations introduced by Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman.

The Constellations of the Dutch Navigators In 1595, the first Dutch fleet (called Eerste Schipvaart or First Expedition) set sail for the East Indies. The navigators on board these ships would soon be writing their names in the southern skies. Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser made most of his observations while the ships stayed in Madagascar for repairs and resupplies. He continued his observations until the ships arrived in Sumatra,but in 1597, when the 81 surviving members of the expedition returned to Holland, Keyser was one of the 167 that didn't make it home. Frederick de Houtman, brother of the fleet's commander Cornelis de Houtman was one of the navigators assisting Keyser in Madagascar. The other two navigators were Vechter Willemsz (who died during the voyage from Madagascar to Sumatra) and Pieter Stockmans (who later became a captain in the fleet of John Davis).

Title page of the Dutch sailing handbook "Light of Navigation" (1608) showing navigators using compass, hourglass, astrolabes, globes, divider and Jacob's staff. Source: Wikipedia

The First Fleet returned to Holland in 1597 and the navigators brought home star charts that included twelve new constellations. They were first shown on a globe manufactured by Petrus Plancius in 1598. Other globes were made by Dutch cartographers Jodocus Hondius in 1600 and Willem Blaeu in 1602 and 1603. Cornelius and Frederick de Houtman went on a second voyage in 1598. In Aceh on the island of Sumatra, Cornelius was killed and Frederick was imprisoned for two years. During this time, he studied the Malay language and continued making astronomical observations, improving and extending Keyser's earlier observations. He consolidated the astronomical work of the first Dutch expedition and eventually brought back star charts documenting the observation of 303 fixed stars, 196 of which were new to astronomers on the northern hemisphere. After his return to Holland in 1603 he published all of his studies in one book, the Malay and Madagascan dictionary. His astronomical observations thus became an appendix to a dictionary. In the same year, Uranometria, the first star atlas showing the entire sky - including the new constellations - was published by German cartographer Johann Bayer. In hindsight, it was impossible to decipher, which of the new constellations were first observed by Keyser and which by de Houtman. Consequently, they were both jointly credited with the introduction of twelve new constellations:

Houtman's listings of Musca (De Vlieghe) and Volans (De vlieghende Visch). Source: Utrecht University Library Chart 49 of Johann Bayer’s Uranometria, showing the new constellations of the southern sky. Source: Ian Ridpath

Click the icons for detailed descriptions of the constellations.

Apus Bird of Paradise	Chamaeleon Chameleon	Dorado Goldfish	Grus Crane	Hydrus Lesser Water-Snake	Indus Indian
Musca Fly	Pavo Peacock	Phoenix Phoenix	Triangulum Australe Southern Triangle	Tucana Toucan	Volans Flying Fish

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