Star Atlases, Mercator Globes and Celestial Sundries
July 1, 2005 6:44 AM   Subscribe

Star Atlases, Mercator Globes and Celestial Sundries [more inside]
posted by sciurus (8 comments total)
 
Constellation images: [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13]

The Transit of Venus
Selenographia
Star Tales
iconomy's post is worth revisiting as well.

The Two-Headed Calf

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass. And
as he stares into the sky, there are
twice as many stars as usual.

-Laura Gilpin
posted by sciurus at 6:47 AM on July 1, 2005


These are all really cool. Thanks for this stuff.
posted by OmieWise at 7:08 AM on July 1, 2005


Every night, a pageant of Greek mythology circles overhead. Perseus flies to the rescue of Andromeda, Orion faces the charge of the snorting bull, Boötes herds the bears around the pole, and the ship of the Argonauts sails in search of the golden fleece.

Holy crap this is great. But then again I would think so ;) Star atlases are the most beautiful things in the world, and the stories behind them are fascinating - part of mankind's attempt to bring order to something he might never have been meant to understand. Happy happy happy.
posted by iconomy at 7:10 AM on July 1, 2005


Woops. I linked to the wrong page of Star Tales. It should be this one.
posted by sciurus at 7:15 AM on July 1, 2005


Stellar! (thanks, sciurus!)
posted by carter at 8:23 AM on July 1, 2005


Great post. Oh, and of course, [this is good]
posted by blendor at 8:41 AM on July 1, 2005


Star atlases are the most beautiful things in the world

Hear, hear. I got to attend a talk by stellar cartographer Wil Tirion this April (at the Northeast Astronomy Forum). He went over the history of star charts as well as the story of his own career and his steadily evolving methods. His charts, detailed, accurate, and scientific, are works of art. I hope that he won't prove to be the last great maker of printed charts, but only time will tell.
posted by Songdog at 9:50 AM on July 1, 2005


After preview, review, and post:

Holy cow, sciurus, Ridpath has put Star Tales online? What a fantastic resource! This is truly a great post, and thanks.
posted by Songdog at 9:53 AM on July 1, 2005


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