Lyra, Cygnus, Lacerta And Vulpecula #1
by U.S. Naval Observatory Library
Title
Lyra, Cygnus, Lacerta And Vulpecula #1
Artist
U.S. Naval Observatory Library
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Lyra is a small constellation. Its principal star, Vega, a corner of the Summer Triangle, is one of the brightest stars in the sky. Cygnus constellation, its name is the Latinized Hellenic (Greek) word for swan. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross. Lacerta is a small, faint constellation, created in 1687 by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius. Its brightest stars form a W shape similar to that of Cassiopeia, and it is thus sometimes referred to as Little Cassiopeia. Vulpecula is a faint constellation. Its name is Latin for little fox, although it is commonly known simply as the fox. It was identified in the seventeenth century, and is located in the middle of the Summer Triangle (an asterism consisting of the bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair). The Atlas Coelestis is a star atlas published posthumously in 1729, based on observations made by the First Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed. The Atlas, the largest that ever had been published and the first comprehensive telescopic star catalogue and companion celestial atlas, contains 26 maps of the major constellations visible from Greenwich, with drawings made in the Rococo style by James Thornhill. One of his main motivations to produce the Atlas, was to correct the representation of the figures of the constellations, as made by Bayer's, Uranometria (1603). Bayer represented the figures viewed from behind (not from the front, as was done since the time of Ptolemy), which reversed the placement of stars and created unnecessary confusion.
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December 13th, 2016
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