133 Celestial cartography

Celestial cartography , also known as uranography or star cartography , is the area of astronomy that produces star maps. Most are aware of cartographers who made early and more recent maps of Earth. Both types of cartography were difficult in early history; we were not certain of the exact sizes and shapes of land masses, and there are many, many stars to chart correctly. Many early Earth and star maps were very artistic in nature and truly took not only a scientific mind, but the skills of an amazing artist.

Image of the paining The constellation of Aquarius in the 1603 star map Uranometria By Johann Bayer.
Public Domain
A star map of the Aquarius constellation.
CC BY-SA 3.0 | Image courtesy of Wikimedia Author: Rursus / kstars.

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Introduction to Astronomy Copyright © by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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