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A planisphere: a handheld, rotating map to see which constel..
Published: May 1st 2025, 2:53:39 pm
A planisphere: a handheld, rotating map to see which constellations are in the night sky throughout the year! They've been making them since the 1600s - since around the time Kepler released his theory on planetary motion. 🤓
For those who want a little more extra credit for reading on:
Way back in the Renaissance (late 1500s) Tycho Brahe was a rich Dutch nobleman who spent his time studying the cosmos and reporting back with astonishing accuracy for someone of his time - he was the last major astronomer before the invention of the telescope! He built his work on that of his predecessor, Copernicus (the guy who postulated the planetary model of the planets revolving around the sun).
Johannes Kepler, an accomplished astronomer (and science fiction writer!) continued Tycho's work. Using the newly-invented telescope made this easier and he was able to work out planetary motion.
This work set off what's known as the scientific revolution, with tools being created to study (among many things), the night sky.