Flamsteed’s Northern Celestial Hemisphere
Flamsteed’s Northern Celestial Hemisphere
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- Description
- Appointed in 1675 to the newly created post of Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed (1646-1719) compiled the first telescopic catalog of the positions and magnitudes of stars visible from Greenwich. He also prepared a set of celestial maps that, in his words, were to be “the glory of the work, and, next the catalogue, the usefullest part of it.” In 1729, these maps were published in the Atlas Coelestis by the late Reverend Mr. John Flamsteed Regius Professor of Astronomy at Greenwich by his friends Joseph Crosthwait and Abraham Sharp. This engraving was plate 26 in that work.
- This planisphere extends from the north equatorial pole to the equator. It is drawn on a polar stereographic projection, and shows the stars of magnitudes 1 to 8, with the brightest ones identified by Bayer letters. It was drawn by Abraham Sharp, and differs in style and content from the other charts in the Atlas Coelestis. It has been hand-colored.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- date made
- 1729
- place made
- United Kingdom: England
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 28 1/2 in x 20 25/32 in x 19 1/2 in; 72.39 cm x 52.7939 cm x 49.53 cm
- overall: 27 11/16 in x 20 3/4 in; 70.32625 cm x 52.705 cm
- ID Number
- PH.330386
- catalog number
- 330386
- accession number
- 289789
- subject
- Astronomy
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
- Science & Mathematics
- Prints from the Physical Sciences Collection
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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