sciencephoto.com

Star Lore The Constellations of Johannes Hevelius

In 1641, Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius built an observatory on the roofs of his three connected houses. Here, Hevelius and his second wife Elisabeth compiled data of no less than 1,564 stars - the largest number ever observed with the naked eye - in a star catalogue called Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum. Johannes Hevelius died in 1687. The catalogue, together with an introduction and a star atlas called Firmamentum Sobiescianum were published by Elisabeth Hevelius in 1690. Hevelius' observations were the last star catalogue that was compiled with the naked eye. The catalogue and the atlas contained ten new constellations, seven of which are still used today. The constellation Sextant was named after the instrument Hevelius and his wife used for the observations. Sources: Wikipedia, Ian Ridpath

Hevelius observing the sky with his sextant Source: amazon.com

Hevelius' Constellations

Canes Venatici Hunting Dogs	Cerberus Cerberus	Lacerta Lizard	Leo Minor Little Lion	Lynx Lynx
Mons Maenalus Mount Maenalus	Scutum Shield	Sextans Sextant	Triangulum Minus Little Triangle	Vulpecula et Anser Fox

Click the icons for detailed descriptions of the constellations.

Apes Bees	Camelopardalis Giraffe	Cancer Minor Lesser Crab	Columba Dove	Crux Southern Cross	Gallus Rooster
Jordanis Jordan River	Monoceros Peacock	Polophylax Guardian of the Pole	Sagitta Australis Southern Arrow	Tigris Tigris River	Triangulus Antarcticus Antarctic Triangle

Back to Star Lore Start Page

Back to Mythology Start Page

Back to Space Page

Back to English Main Page

Back to Start Page