Sagittarius, Hevelius, 1687

Illustration of the constellation Sagittarius. Sagittarius is a constellation of the zodiac, containing the galactic center. Its name is Latin for The Archer'. It is one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Sagittarius is commonly represented as a centaur drawing a bow. This illustration is from Johannes Hevelius Prodromus astronomiae, Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, 1687. This was the first star atlas to rival Bayer's Uranometria in accuracy, utility, innovation, and influence. Hevelius star atlas is notable primarily in choosing to depict the constellations as they would appear on a globe, that is, from the outside looking in, rather than from a geocentric point of view, as Bayer and most others adopted. This image has been colorized

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13345092

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47786456

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4632px x 3762px (5.2MB)

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