Celestial floor globe

Celestial floor globe. It forms a pair with the terrestrial globe, Stanford GLB0160. Astronomical details on the sphere show constellations vaguely drawn, and these areas are outlined by dotted contours. Below the title cartouche, a comment reads: 'Boundaries of the Constellations adopted in correction / of obvious mistakes, pointed out by M.r Baily in his / Edition of Flamsteed and elsewhere. Thus Former Boundaries when not in accordance with the above'.

There is a labelled magnitude table to the right of the title inscription. Below the cartouche, it is explained: 'N.B. The 100 Principal Stars quoted in the Nautical Almanac are underlined'. To the left of the title inscription, an 'EXPLANATION' indicates the lettering used for ancient and modern constellations, for the Arabic names and for the notation of the individual stars after six astronomers, including, for example, Flamsteed.

Under the heading, 'ABBREVIATIONS', symbols for multiple and variable stars are given and the graphic convention for depicting the Milky Way, which is indicated by a yellow dotted area. The Magellanic Clouds are labelled. A total of 215 stars and three star groups are named. The Ptolemaic constellations and four of the non-Ptolemaic constellations are drawn. Seven of the southern constellations are drawn as well as those of Plancius and Lacaille. For full details about the cartography and construction of this globe please refer to the related publication.

Object Details

ID: GLB0161
Collection: Astronomical and navigational instruments; Charts and maps
Type: Floor globe
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Stanford, Edward
Date made: 1880
People: Petrus Plancius, Petrus
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Overall: 1130 x 588 mm; Diameter of sphere: 452 mm; Diameter of Meridian Ring: 20 in
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