The reverence and authority which was accorded the famous compilation of the Alexandrian astronomer is well evidenced by the catalogue of the Tatar Ulugh Beg, the Arabian names there adopted being equivalent to the Ptolemaic names in nearly every case; this is also shown in the Latin translations given below. Tycho Brahe, when compiling his catalogue of stars, was unable to observe Lupus, Ara, Corona australis and Piscis australis, on account of the latitude of Uranienburg; and hence these constellations are omitted from his catalogue. He diverged from Ptolemy when he placed the asterisms Coma Berenices and Antinous upon the level of formal constellations, Ptolemy having regarded these asterisms as unformed stars (ἀμόρφωτοι). The next innovator of moment was Johann Bayer, a German astronomer, who published a Uranometria in 1603, in which twelve constellations, all in the southern hemisphere, were added to Ptolemy’s forty-eight, viz. Apis (or Musca) (Bee), Avis Indica (Bird of Paradise), Chameleon, Dorado (Sword-fish), Grus (Crane), Hydrus (Water-snake), Indus (Indian), Pavo (Peacock), Phoenix, Piscis volans (Flying fish), Toucan, Triangulum australe. According to W. Lynn (Observatory, 1886, p. 255), Bayer adapted this part of his catalogue from the observations of the Dutch navigator Petrus Theodori (or Pieter Dirchsz Keyser), who died in 1596 off Java. The Coelum stellatum Christianum of Julius Schiller (1627) is noteworthy for the attempt made to replace the names connoting mythological and pagan ideas by the names of apostles, saints, popes, bishops, and other dignitaries of the church, &c. Aries became St Peter; Taurus, St Andrew; Andromeda, the Holy Sepulchre; Lyra, the Manger; Canis major, David; and so on. This innovation (with which the introduction of the twelve apostles into the solar zodiac by the Venerable Bede may be compared) was shortlived. According to Charles Hutton [Math. Dict. i. 328 (1795)] the editions published in 1654 and 1661 had reverted to the Greek names; on the other hand, Camille Flammarion (Popular Astronomy, p. 375) quotes an illuminated folio of 1661, which represents “the sky delivered from pagans and peopled with Christians.” A similar confusion was attempted by E. Weigelius, who sought to introduce a Coelum heraldicum, in which the constellations were figured as the arms or insignia of European dynasties, and by symbols of commerce.
Plate I.
CONSTELLATIONS OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.
Plate II.
CONSTELLATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.
| Northern constell- ations (21). | Modern. | Ptolemy. | Ulugh Beg. | Tycho Brahe. | Meaning. | ||
| Ursa minor | ῎Αρκτου μικρᾶς | ἀστερισμός | Stelae | Ursi minoris | Ursa minor, Cynosura | Little Bear | |
| Ursa major | ῎Αρκτου μεγάλης | " | " | Ursi majoris | Ursa major, Helice | Great Bear | |
| Draco | Δράκοντος | " | " | Draconis | Draco | Dragon | |
| Cepheus | Κηφέως | " | " | Cephei | Cepheus | Cepheus | |
| Boötes | Βοώτου | " | " | Vociferatoris | Boötes, Arctophylax | Ploughman | |
| Corona borealis | Στεφάνου βορείου | " | " | Coronae or Phecca | Corona borea | Northern Crown | |
| Hercules | Τοῦ ἐν γόνασιν | " | " | Incumbentis genubus | Engonasi, Hercules | Man kneeling | |
| Lyra | Λύρας | " | " | τοῦ Shelyāk or Testudo | Lyra, Vultur cadens | Lyre | |
| Cygnus | ῎Ορνιθος | " | " | Gallinae | Olor, Cygnus | Bird, Swan | |
| Cassiopeia | Κασσιεπείας | " | " | Inthronatae | Cassiopeia | Cassiopeia | |
| Perseus | Περσέως | " | " | Bershaush or Portans Caput Larvae | Perseus | Perseus | |
| Auriga | Ήνιόχου | " | " | Tenentis habenas | Auriga, Heniochus, Erichthonius | Charioteer | |
| Serpentarius | Όφιούχου | " | " | Serpentarii | Ophiuchus, Serpentarius | Serpent-holder | |
| Serpens | ῎ρεωςό φιούχου | " | " | Serpentis | Serpens ophiuchi | Serpent | |
| Sagitta | Όιστοῦ | " | " | Sagittae | Sagitta or Telum | Arrow | |
| Aquila | Άετοῦ | " | " | Aquilae | Aquila or Vultur volans | Eagle | |
| Delphinus | Δελφῖνος | " | " | Delphini | Delphinus | Dolphin | |
| Equuleus | ῎Ιππου προτομῆς | " | " | Sectionis | Equuleus, Equi sectio | Colt | |
| Pegasus | ῎Ιππου | " | " | Equi majoris | Pegasus, Equus alatus | Pegasus, Horse | |
| Andromeda | Άνδρομέδας | " | " | Mulieris catenatae | Andromeda | Andromeda | |
| Triangulum | Τριγώνου | " | " | Trianguli | Triangulus, Deltoton | Triangle | |
| Zodiacal constell- ations (12). | Aries | Κριοῦ | " | " | Arietis | Aries | Ram |
| Taurus | Ταύρου | " | " | Tauri | Taurus | Bull | |
| Gemini | Διδύμων | " | " | Gemellorum | Gemini | Twins | |
| Cancer | Καρκίνου | " | " | Cancri | Cancer | Crab | |
| Leo | Λέοντος | " | " | Leonis | Leo | Lion | |
| Virgo | Παρθένου | " | " | Virginis, Sumbela | Virgo | Virgin | |
| Libra | Χηλῶν | " | " | Librae | Libra | Balance | |
| Scorpio | Σκορπίου | " | " | Scorpionis | Scorpius | Scorpion | |
| Sagittarius | Τοξότου | " | " | Sagittarii, Arcum | Sagittarius | Archer | |
| Capricornus | Αἰγόκερωτος | " | " | Capricorni | Capricornus | Goat | |
| Aquarius | Ύδροχόου | " | " | Effusoris aquae, Situla | Aquarius | Water-pourer | |
| Pisces | Ίχθύων | " | " | Piscis | Pisces | Fishes | |
| Southern constell- ations (15). | Cetus | Κήτους | " | " | Ceti | Cete | Sea-monster, Whale |
| Orion | Ώρίονος | " | " | Gigantis | Orion | Orion | |
| Eridanus | Ποταμοῦ | " | " | Fluminis | Eridanus fluvius | River | |
| Lepus | Λαγῳοῦ | " | " | Leporis | Lepus | Hare | |
| Canis major | Κυνὸς | " | " | Canis majoris | Canis major | Great Dog | |
| Canis minor | Προκυνὸς | " | " | Canis minoris | Canis minor, Procyon | Little Dog | |
| Argo | Άργοῦς | " | " | Navis | Argo navis | Ship | |
| Hydra | ῎Υδρου | " | " | Hydri | Hydra | Sea-serpent | |
| Crater | Κρατῆρος | " | " | Craterae | Crater | Bowl | |
| Corvus | Κόρακος | " | " | Corvi | Corvus | Crow | |
| Centaurus | Κενταύρου | " | " | Centauri | Centaurus, Chiron | Centaur | |
| Lupus | Θηρίου | " | " | Ferae | Wild beast | ||
| Ara | Θυμιατηρίου | " | " | Thuribuli | Censer, Altar | ||
| Corona australis | Στεφάνου νοτίου | " | " | Coronae australis | Southern Crown | ||
| Piscis australis | Ίχθύος νοτίου | " | " | Piscis australis | Southern Fish | ||
In Edmund Halley’s southern catalogue (Catalogus stellarum australium), published in 1679 and incorporated in Flamsteed’s Historia coelestis (1725), the following constellations are named:—Piscis australis, Columba Noachi, Argo navis, Robur Caroli, Ara, Corona australis, Grus, Phoenix, Pavo, Apus or Avis Indica, Musca apis, Chameleon, Triangulum australe, Piscis volans, Dorado or Xiphias, Toucan or Anser Americanus, and Hydrus. Flamsteed’s maps also contained Mons Menelai. This list contains nothing new except Robur Caroli, since Columba Noachi (Noah’s dove) had been raised to the skies by Bartschius in 1624. The constellation Robur Caroli and also the star Cor Caroli (α Canum Venaticorum) were named by Halley in honour of Charles II. of England.
In 1690 two posthumous works of Johann Hevelius (1611-1687), the Firmamentum sobiescianum and Prodromus astronomiae, added several new constellations to the list, viz. Canes venatici (the Greyhounds), Lacerta (the Lizard), Leo minor (Little Lion), Lynx, Sextans Uraniae, Scutum or Clypeus Sobieskii (the shield of Sobieski), Vulpecula et Anser (Fox and Goose), Cerberus, Camelopardus (Giraffe), and Monoceros (Unicorn); the last two were originally due to Jacobus Bartschius. In 1679 Augustine Royer introduced the most interesting of the constellations of the southern hemisphere, the Crux australis or Southern Cross. He also suggested Nubes major, Nubes minor, and Lilium, and re-named Canes venatici the river Jordan, and Vulpecula et Anser the river Tigris, but these innovations met with no approval. The Magellanic clouds, a collection of nebulae, stars and star-clusters in the neighbourhood of the south pole, were so named by Hevelius in honour of the navigator Ferdinand Magellan.