[Kstars-devel] Suggestions for a newbie

[Daniel Baboiu]

BTW, I also found the Flamsteed Atlas Celeste, published in 1729. It
contains 30 double pages:
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/atlas-celeste-de-flamsteed-publie-en-1776#/?tab=about&scroll=20



On Wed, 2015-02-11 at 08:21 -0800, Daniel Baboiu wrote:
> I think the artwork should NOT be original, but from traditional images.
> These days, these images are considered just art, but in old times they
> were used as a reference to locate interesting objects. See, for
> example, the description (from 1844, but republished more recently) of a
> double star n Cassiopeia's left elbow here:
> https://bestdoubles.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/sigma-%CF%
> 83-cassiopeiae-a-smalt-blue-jewel-on-the-ladys-shoulder/
> 
> 
> Now compare that with the image from
> https://artislimited.wordpress.com/tag/home-design-fixture/
> which is basically the same, but upside down in relation to the
> stars... 
> 
> Even in an era when star positions were accurately measured, astronomers
> like Flamsteed stayed close to the traditional images rather than more
> realistic images.
> 
> It is difficult to find such artwork, but copies are kept in libraries.
> For example, US Naval Observatory has a collection of rare books,
> including star atlases dating back to 1603; 
> http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/library/historical/images-of-historical-objects-artwork-in-library/rare-books
> 
> Note that some of the old  books such as Poeticon Astronomicon by
> Hyginus (1482) represent the star positions adjusted to fit the image,
> rather than the other way around...
> 
> Finding the right images will be difficult, but I think you can start
> with Jamieson's "Celestial Atlas" (30 plates published on UNSO web site)
> and "Urania's Mirror" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urania%27s_Mirror)
>