On seeing a chart of the Southern Hemisphere constellations, the Lick Observatory astronomer Heber Doust Curtis is reputed to have declared: "It looks like somebody's attic!".
While it's true that the southern constellations include such technological relics as an air pump, a chemical furnace and a pendulum clock, there are also exotic animals such as a peacock, a bird of paradise and a dorado chasing a flying fish- not to mention the oak tree that was planted by Edmond Halley to commemorate King Charles II, only to be later felled by a Frenchman.
Before the first European seafarers ventured around the tip of Africa to open trade route's to India and the Far East, the sky around the south celestial pole was a blank slate for Western astronomers.
The 48 Greek constellations in Ptolemy's book the Almagest of 150 AD' went only as far south as Centaurus and Argo Navis. Beyond that lay the.. celestial equivalent of terra incognita, beneath the horizon for European observers.
Exploring the southern sky
One man was determined to fill in this blank area of sky: the Dutch cartographer and theologian Petrus Plancius (1552-1622). When the first Dutch trading expedition to the East Indies, the Eerste Schipvaart, set sail in April 1595, Plancius instructed several members of the ships' crews to make positional observations of the southern stars. Foremost among these trusted observers was Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser (c1540-96), chief navigator on the Hollandia, joint largest of the four ships in the fleet.
The Dutch fleet arrived at Madagascar, latitude 23° south, in September 1595 where they remained for several months to resupply and recover from scurvy and malnutrition. It was during this stopover that Keyser made most of his observations, measuring star positions from the crow's nest of his ship, probably using an astrolabe given to him by Plancius.
This story is from the June 2023 edition of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 2023 edition of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Could We Find Aliens by Looking for Their Solar Panels?- Designed to reflect ultraviolet and infrared, the panels have a unique fingerprint
Researchers searching for life beyond Earth spend a lot of time thinking about what telltale signs might be detectable astronomically. Forms of unambiguous evidence for the presence of life on another world are known as biosignatures. By extension, techno signatures are indicators of activity by intelligent, civilisation-building life.
Antimatter- In our continuing series, Govert Schilling looks at antimatter, the strange counterpart to most of the matter filling our Universe
Particles and corresponding antiparticles are very much alike, except they have opposite electrical charges. For instance, the antiparticle of the electron - known as the positron - has the same tiny mass, but while electrons carry a negative electrical charge, positrons are positively charged.
Where Have All The Milky Way's Early Stars Gone?- Our Galaxy has a curious lack of pristine stars
The Big Bang produced a Universe filled almost exclusively with hydrogen and helium; all other elements - what astronomers call metals - were produced by stars, supernovae and everything that happens later. So if you can pick out a pristine star with no metals polluting it from among the billions in the Milky Way, then you are likely to have a star dating from our Galaxy's earliest days.
Inside The Sky At Night - Two years ago, exoplanet scientist Hannah Wakeford received some of the first data from the JWST
Two years ago, exoplanet scientist Hannah Wakeford received some of the first data from the JWST. In July's Sky at Night, we discovered what she's learned since then.
How to stack DSLR data in Siril
Easily combine multiple frames to boost detailin your astro photos
Lunar occultation of Saturn
You'll need to strike a balance on 21 August to capture the Moon covering the ringed planet
How to plot a variable star light curve
A rewarding project to chart stars that change brightness
Smartphone photography with a telescope
Mary Mcintyre explains how to get impressive night-sky images using your phone
Once-a-century solar storm is overdue
If a Carrington Event struck today it would be catastrophic, says Minna Palmroth
The new era of human spaceflight
There's been a step-change in crewed space missions since the dawn of the 21st century. Ben Evans charts its course and looks ahead to future horizons
