Celestial table globe

Celestial table globe. It forms a pair with the terrestrial globe, van Langren GLB0098. Astronomical details on the sphere include a labelled magnitude table in front of Ursa Major. The Milky Way is labelled. The Magellanic Clouds are drawn but not labelled. There is data on the astrological associations of the constellations, and 72 stars and eight star groups are named. The 48 Ptolemaic constellations and four of the non-Ptolemaic constellations are drawn. The origin of the data for two of the non-Ptolemaic constellations are explained in a text at the South Pole.

Three copies of van Langren's 325 mm celestial globe have survived, but this is the only copy with the map of the southern celestial sky. The style of the constellations and the nomenclature is mostly inspired by Mercator's 155I celestial globe, and van Langren also followed Mercator's design of gores. The star positions are correct for an epoch of 1600. The star positions could not therefore, be copied from Mercator's globe, which has an epoch of 1551. The star had to be calculated anew and was probably carried out by the astronomer and mathematician Rudolf Snellius. On van Langren's 325 mm celestial globe of 1594, the star positions of Tycho Brahe are used for the same epoch. For full details about the cartography and construction of this globe please refer to the related publication.

Object Details

ID: GLB0099
Collection: Astronomical and navigational instruments; Charts and maps
Type: Table globe
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Langren, Arnold Floris van; Langren, Jacob Floris van
Date made: 1589
People: Brahe, Tycho
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Overall: 494 x 445 mm; Diameter of sphere: 325 mm; Diameter of Meridian Ring: 352 mm