The " Full " Uranometria
The Uranometria is the shortened title of a " star atlas " that was created by Johann Bayer. It was published in Augsburg Gemany in 1603 by Christophorus Mangus under the full title ( Uranometria : omnium asterismorum continens schemata , nova methodo delineata , aereis laminis expressa .)
This ( supposedly ) translates to " Uranometria , containing charts of all the constellations , drawn by a new method and engraved on copper plates ." The word " Uranometria " derives from the word " Urania " , or " Muse Of The Heavens " and also " Uranos " ( ovpavoc ) the Greek word for the " Sky Heavens ."
A " literal translation " of Uranometria is " Measuring The Sky / Heavens " to be compared with " Geometry " - " Geometria " in Greek , literally translated to be " Measuring The Earth ." It was (supposedly) the " first atlas " to render or show the " entire celestial sphere ."
The pages of the Uranmetria were originally engraved on copper plates by Alexander Mair (ca 1562 - 1617 .) It contained 51 star charts . The first 48 pages represent the 48 Ptolemaic constellations . The 49th page introduces some twelve " new " constellations in the " Deep Southern Sky " which were (supposedly) unknown to Ptolemy . The final two charts are planispheres labled " Synopsis coeli superioris borea " and " Synopsis coeli inferioris austrina " , or (roughly) " Overview of the " Southern Hemisphere ."
Each plate includes a grid for determining accurately the position of each star to fractions of a degree . The positions used by Bayer to create the Uranometria were taken from the expanded 1,005 star catalog of Tycho Brahe . Brahe's expanded list had circulated in manuscript since 1598 and was available in graphic form on the celestial globes of Petrus Plancius , Hondius , and Willem Blaeu . It was first published in tabular form in Johannes Kepler's " Tabulae Rudolphinae " of 1627 .
The use of Brahe's catalog allowed for considerably better accuracy than Ptolemy's somewhat limited star listing . The stars listed in the Uranometria total over 1,200 , indicating that Brahe's catalog " was NOT the only source " of information used . Bayer " took the Southern star positions and constellation names " for the 49th plate from the catalog of Dutch navigator Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser , who corrected the older observations of Amerigo Vespucci and Andrea Corsali , as well as the report of Pedro de Medina .
The Uranometria contains many more stars than did any previous star atlas , although the " exact number is disputed " as not all stars on the charts are labeled . For ( supposedly ) " REASONS UNKNOWN " , many of the " human " constellations are engraved as figures seen from behind whereas they once had been " traditionally rendered " as facing the Earth . This " ODDITY " led to some confusion when deciphering the literal meanings of " Certain Star Names ."
" The old constellation figures only cover a portion of the heavens, and a large region ROUGHLY CIRCULAR located in the Southern Hemisphere is left entirely vacant."
( Most notably , in this site writers opinion , these are the stars that are kept hidden for what is known as the " LATTER DAYS DECEPTIONS and WONDERS performed by the four Beasts spoken of in the Bibles book of Revelations chapter 13 ." )