Celestial Atlas

A Celestial Atlas, full title: A Celestial Atlas: Comprising A Systematic Display of the Heavens in a Series of Thirty Maps Illustrated by Scientific Description of their Contents, And accompanied by Catalogues of the Stars and Astronomical Exercises is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_atlas" class="mw-redirect" title="Star atlas">star atlas</a> by British author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Jamieson" title="Alexander Jamieson">Alexander Jamieson</a>, published in 1822. The atlas includes 30 plates, 26 of which are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation" title="Constellation">constellation</a> maps with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinusoidal_projection" title="Sinusoidal projection">sinusoidal projection</a>. Some of the plates are hand-colored.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Celestial_Atlas#cite_note-Kanas-1">[1]</a> The atlas includes a then-new, now-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_constellation" class="mw-redirect" title="Former constellation">obsolete constellation</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctua_%28constellation%29" title="Noctua (constellation)">Noctua</a>, Norma Nilotica, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reticulum#History" title="Reticulum">Solarium</a>. Two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_hemisphere" class="mw-redirect" title="Celestial hemisphere">celestial hemispheres</a> of the atlas are centered on the equatorial poles via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_projection" class="mw-redirect" title="Polar projection">polar projection</a> and geocentric alignment.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Celestial_Atlas#cite_note-Kanas-1">[1]</a> The atlas comprises stars visible only to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_eye" title="Naked eye">naked eye</a>, making it less cluttered.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Celestial_Atlas#cite_note-Kanas-1">[1]</a>

Unlike <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Elert_Bode" title="Johann Elert Bode">Johann Elert Bode</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Nicolas_Fortin" title="Jean Nicolas Fortin">Jean Nicolas Fortin</a>, who followed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Flamsteed" title="John Flamsteed">John Flamsteed</a>’s depictions of the constellations, Jamieson allowed himself greater artistic expression. The constellation figures in Jamieson's atlas are more realistically drawn, particularly compared to Flamsteed’s depictions of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacerta" title="Lacerta">Lacerta</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx%28constellation%29" title="Lynx (constellation)">Lynx</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer%28constellation%29" title="Cancer (constellation)">Cancer</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpius" title="Scorpius">Scorpius</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Major" title="Canis Major">Canis Major</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Celestial_Atlas#cite_note-Ridpath-2">[2]</a> At the same time the atlas' plates were made at the size of those by Bode and Fortin, at approximately 9 in × 7 in (22.5 × 17.5 cm), with the same number of them (26 plus hemispheres) and each covering the same area of sky.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Celestial_Atlas#cite_note-Ridpath-2">[2]</a> Jamieson also followed Bode’s approach of drawing boundary lines between constellations. The atlas was popular and was allowed to be dedicated to King <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_IV_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="George IV of the United Kingdom">George IV</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Celestial_Atlas#cite_note-Kanas-1">[1]</a>

The drawings in A Celestial Atlas were plagiarised in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urania%27s_Mirror" title="Urania's Mirror">Urania's Mirror</a>, published a few years later.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Celestial_Atlas#cite_note-3">[3]</a>

Celestial Atlas

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