Timeline of astronomical maps, catalogs, and surveys
Encyclopedia
Timeline
of astronomical maps
, catalogs and surveys
Timeline
A timeline is a way of displaying a list of events in chronological order, sometimes described as a project artifact . It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labeled with dates alongside itself and events labeled on points where they would have happened.-Uses of timelines:Timelines...
of astronomical maps
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, catalogs and surveys
- ca. 1800 BC — BabyloniaBabyloniaBabylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n star catalog - ca. 350 BC — Shi ShenShi ShenShi Shen was a Chinese astronomer and contemporary of Gan De born in the State of Wei, also known as the Master Shi Shen .-Observations:...
's star catalog has almost 800 entries - ca. 300 BC — star catalog of Timocharis of Alexandria
- ca. 134 BC — HipparchusHipparchusHipparchus, the common Latinization of the Greek Hipparkhos, can mean:* Hipparchus, the ancient Greek astronomer** Hipparchic cycle, an astronomical cycle he created** Hipparchus , a lunar crater named in his honour...
makes a detailed star map - ca. 140 — PtolemyPtolemyClaudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
completes his AlmagestAlmagestThe Almagest is a 2nd-century mathematical and astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths. Written in Greek by Claudius Ptolemy, a Roman era scholar of Egypt,...
, which contains a catalog of stars, observations of planetary motions, and treatises on geometryGeometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
and cosmologyCosmologyCosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order... - ca. 705 — Dunhuang Star Chart, a manuscript star chart from the Mogao CavesMogao CavesThe Mogao Caves or Mogao Grottoes , also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas , form a system of 492 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China...
at DunhuangDunhuangDunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today... - ca. 750 — The first ZijZijZīj is the generic name applied to Islamic astronomical books that tabulate parameters used for astronomical calculations of the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. The name is derived from the Middle Persian term zih or zīg, meaning cord...
treatise, Az-Zij ‛alā Sinī al-‛Arab, written by Ibrahim al-FazariIbrahim al-FazariAbu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Habib ibn Sulaiman ibn Samura ibn Jundab al-Fazari was an 8th-century Muslim mathematician and astronomer of Persian background....
and Muhammad al-FazariMuhammad al-FazariAbu abdallah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari was a Muslim philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. He is not to be confused with his father Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī, also an astronomer and mathematician.... - ca. 777 — Yaqūb ibn TāriqYaqub ibn TariqYaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq was an 8th-century Persian astronomer and mathematician who lived in Baghdad.- Works :Works ascribed to Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq include:...
's Az-ZijZijZīj is the generic name applied to Islamic astronomical books that tabulate parameters used for astronomical calculations of the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. The name is derived from the Middle Persian term zih or zīg, meaning cord...
al-Mahlul min as-Sindhind li-Darajat Daraja - ca. 830 — Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-KhwārizmīMuhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi'There is some confusion in the literature on whether al-Khwārizmī's full name is ' or '. Ibn Khaldun notes in his encyclopedic work: "The first who wrote upon this branch was Abu ʿAbdallah al-Khowarizmi, after whom came Abu Kamil Shojaʿ ibn Aslam." . 'There is some confusion in the literature on...
's ZijZijZīj is the generic name applied to Islamic astronomical books that tabulate parameters used for astronomical calculations of the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. The name is derived from the Middle Persian term zih or zīg, meaning cord...
al-Sindhind - ca. 840 — Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī's Compendium of the Science of the Stars
- ca. 900 — Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī's Az-ZijZijZīj is the generic name applied to Islamic astronomical books that tabulate parameters used for astronomical calculations of the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. The name is derived from the Middle Persian term zih or zīg, meaning cord...
as-Sabi - 964 — Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī's star catalog Book of the Fixed StarsBook of Fixed StarsThe Book of Fixed Stars is an astronomical text written by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi around 964. The book was written in Arabic, although the author himself was Persian...
- 1031 — Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī's al-Qanun al-Mas'udi, making first use of a planispherePlanisphereA planisphere is a star chart analog computing instrument in the form of two adjustable disks that rotate on a common pivot. It can be adjusted to display the visible stars for any time and date. It is an instrument to assist in learning how to recognize stars and constellations...
projection, and discussing the use of the astrolabeAstrolabeAn astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...
and the armillary sphereArmillary sphereAn armillary sphere is a model of objects in the sky , consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centred on Earth, that represent lines of celestial longitude and latitude and other astronomically important features such as the ecliptic...
. - 1088 — The first almanacAlmanacAn almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...
is the Almanac of Azarqueil written by Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Azarqueil) - 1115–1116 — Al-KhaziniAl-KhaziniAbu al-Fath Abd al-Rahman Mansour al-Khāzini or simply Abu al-Fath Khāzini was a Muslim astronomer of Greek ethnicity from Merv, then in the Khorasan province of Persia .-References:...
's Az-ZijZijZīj is the generic name applied to Islamic astronomical books that tabulate parameters used for astronomical calculations of the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. The name is derived from the Middle Persian term zih or zīg, meaning cord...
as-Sanjarī (Sinjaric Tables) - ca. 1150 — Gerard of CremonaGerard of CremonaGerard of Cremona was an Italian translator of Arabic scientific works found in the abandoned Arab libraries of Toledo, Spain....
publishes Tables of ToledoTables of ToledoThe Toledan Tables, or Tables of Toledo, were astronomical tables which were used to predict the movements of the Sun, Moon and planets relative to the fixed stars...
based on the work of Azarqueil - 1252–1270 — Alfonsine tablesAlfonsine tablesThe Alfonsine tables provided data for computing the position of the Sun, Moon and planets relative to the fixed stars....
recorded by order of Alfonso X - 1272 — Nasīr al-Dīn al-TūsīNasir al-Din al-TusiKhawaja Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Ṭūsī , better known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , was a Persian polymath and prolific writer: an astronomer, biologist, chemist, mathematician, philosopher, physician, physicist, scientist, theologian and Marja Taqleed...
's Zij-i IlkhaniZij-i IlkhaniZīj-i Īlkhānī or Ilkhanic Tables is a Zij book with astronomical tables of planetary movements. It was compiled by the Persian astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi in collaboration with his research team of astronomers at the Maragha observatory...
(Ilkhanic Tables) - 1395 — Cheonsang Yeolcha BunyajidoCheonsang Yeolcha BunyajidoCheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido is a 14th century Korean star map, copies of which were spread nationwide in the Joseon Dynasty. The name is sometimes translated as "chart of the constellations and the regions they govern."...
star map created at the order of King Taejo - ca. 1400 — Jamshīd al-KāshīJamshid al-KashiGhiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd Masʾūd al-Kāshī was a Persian astronomer and mathematician.-Biography:...
's Khaqani Zij - 1437 — Publication of Ulugh BegUlugh BegUlugh Bek was a Timurid ruler as well as an astronomer, mathematician and sultan. His commonly-known name is not truly a personal name, but rather a moniker, which can be loosely translated as "Great Ruler" or "Patriarch Ruler" and was the Turkic equivalent of Timur's Perso-Arabic title Amīr-e...
's Zij-i-SultaniZij-i-SultaniZīj-i Sultānī is a Zij astronomical table and star catalogue that was published by Ulugh Beg in 1437. It was the joint product of the work of a group of Muslim astronomers working under the patronage of Ulugh Beg at Samarkand's Ulugh Beg Observatory... - 1551 — Prussian Tables by Erasmus ReinholdErasmus ReinholdErasmus Reinhold was a German astronomer and mathematician, considered to be the most influential astronomical pedagogue of his generation. He was born and died in Saalfeld, Saxony....
- late 6th century — Tycho BraheTycho BraheTycho Brahe , born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations...
updates Ptolemy's AlmagestAlmagestThe Almagest is a 2nd-century mathematical and astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths. Written in Greek by Claudius Ptolemy, a Roman era scholar of Egypt,... - 1577–1580 — Taqi al-Din's Unbored Pearl
- 1598 — Tycho BraheTycho BraheTycho Brahe , born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations...
publishes his "Thousand Star Catalog" - 1603 — Johann BayerJohann BayerJohann Bayer was a German lawyer and uranographer . He was born in Rain, Bavaria, in 1572. He began his study of philosophy in Ingolstadt in 1592, and moved later to Augsburg to begin work as a lawyer. He grew interested in astronomy during his time in Augsburg...
's UranometriaUranometriaUranometria is the short title of a star atlas produced by Johann Bayer.It was published in Augsburg, Germany, in 1603 by Christophorus Mangus under the full title Uranometria : omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo delineata, aereis laminis expressa. This translates to... - 1627 — Johannes KeplerJohannes KeplerJohannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
publishes his Rudolphine TablesRudolphine TablesThe Rudolphine Tables consist of a star catalogue and planetary tables published by Johannes Kepler in 1627 using data from Tycho Brahe's observations.-Previous tables:...
of 1006 stars from Tycho plus 400 more - 1678 — Edmund Halley publishes a catalog of 341 southern stars, the first systematic southern sky survey
- 1726 — Posthumous publication of John FlamsteedJohn FlamsteedSir John Flamsteed FRS was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. He catalogued over 3000 stars.- Life :Flamsteed was born in Denby, Derbyshire, England, the only son of Stephen Flamsteed...
's Historia Coelestis Britannica - 1771 — Charles MessierCharles MessierCharles Messier was a French astronomer most notable for publishing an astronomical catalogue consisting of deep sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters that came to be known as the 110 "Messier objects"...
publishes his first list of nebulaNebulaA nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases...
e - 1862 — Friedrich Wilhelm ArgelanderFriedrich Wilhelm ArgelanderFriedrich Wilhelm August Argelander was a German astronomer. He is known for his determinations of stellar brightnesses, positions, and distances.- Life and work :...
publishes his final edition of the Bonner Durchmusterung catalog of stars north of declinationDeclinationIn astronomy, declination is one of the two coordinates of the equatorial coordinate system, the other being either right ascension or hour angle. Declination in astronomy is comparable to geographic latitude, but projected onto the celestial sphere. Declination is measured in degrees north and...
-1°. - 1864 — John HerschelJohn HerschelSir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH, FRS ,was an English mathematician, astronomer, chemist, and experimental photographer/inventor, who in some years also did valuable botanical work...
publishes the General Catalogue of nebulae and star clusters - 1887 — Paris conference institutes Carte du CielCarte du CielThe Carte du Ciel and the Astrographic Catalogue were two distinct but connected components of a massive international astronomical project, initiated in the late 19th century, to catalogue and map the positions of millions of stars as faint as 11th or 12th magnitude...
project to map entire sky to 14th magnitude photographically - 1890 — John Dreyer publishes the New General CatalogueNew General CatalogueThe New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars is a well-known catalogue of deep sky objects in astronomy. It contains 7,840 objects, known as the NGC objects...
of nebulae and star clusters - 1932 — Harlow ShapleyHarlow ShapleyHarlow Shapley was an American astronomer.-Career:He was born on a farm in Nashville, Missouri, and dropped out of school with only the equivalent of a fifth-grade education...
and Adelaide Ames publish A Survey of the External Galaxies Brighter than the Thirteenth Magnitude, later known as the Shapley-Ames Catalog - 1948 — Antonín BečvářAntonín BečvářAntonín Bečvář was a Czech astronomer who was active in Slovakia. He was born in Stará Boleslav. Among his chief achievements is the foundation of the Skalnaté Pleso Observatory and the discovery of the comet C/1947 F2 .Bečvář is particularly important for his star charts: he led the compilation...
publishes the Skalnate Pleso Atlas of the HeavensSkalnate Pleso Atlas of the HeavensThe Skalnaté Pleso Atlas of the Heavens is a set of 16 celestial charts covering the entire sky. It is named after the Skalnaté Pleso Observatory in Slovakia where it was produced...
(Atlas Coeli Skalnaté Pleso 1950.0) - 1950–1957 — Completion of the Palomar Observatory Sky SurveyNational Geographic Society – Palomar Observatory Sky SurveyThe National Geographic Society – Palomar Observatory Sky Survey is a major photographic survey of the night sky that was completed at Palomar Observatory in 1958.-Observations:...
(POSS) with the Palomar 48-inch SchmidtSchmidt cameraA Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. Other similar designs are the Wright Camera and Lurie-Houghton telescope....
optical reflecting telescopeReflecting telescopeA reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
. Actual date quoted varies upon source. - 1962 — A.S. Bennett of the Cambridge Radio Astronomy GroupCavendish Astrophysics GroupThe Cavendish Astrophysics Group is based at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. The group operates all of the telescopes at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory except for the 32m MERLIN telescope, which is operated by Jodrell Bank.The group is the second largest of three...
publishes the Revised 3CThird Cambridge Catalogue of Radio SourcesThe Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources is an astronomical catalogue of celestial radio sources detected originally at 159 MHz, and subsequently at 178 MHz. It was published in 1959 by members of the Radio Astronomy Group of the University of Cambridge...
Catalogue of 328 radio sources - 1965 — Gerry Neugebauer and Robert LeightonRobert LeightonRobert Leighton may refer to:*Robert Leighton , Scottish preacher, Bishop of Dunblane, Archbishop of Glasgow, & academic*Robert B. Leighton , American physicist...
begin a 2.2 micrometre sky survey with a 1.6-meter telescope on Mount Wilson - 1982 — IRASIRASThe Infrared Astronomical Satellite was the first-ever space-based observatory to perform a survey of the entire sky at infrared wavelengths....
space observatorySpace observatoryA space observatory is any instrument in outer space which is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects...
completes an all-sky mid-infraredInfraredInfrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
survey - 1990 — Publication of APM Galaxy Survey of 2+ million galaxies, to study large-scale structure of the cosmos
- 1991 — ROSATROSATROSAT was a German Aerospace Center-led satellite X-ray telescope, with instruments built by Germany, the UK and the US...
space observatorySpace observatoryA space observatory is any instrument in outer space which is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects...
begins an all-sky X-rayX-ray astronomyX-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to high altitude by balloons, sounding rockets, and...
survey - 1993 — Start of the 20 cm VLAVery Large ArrayThe Very Large Array is a radio astronomy observatory located on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, some fifty miles west of Socorro, New Mexico, USA...
FIRST survey - 1997 — Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS2MASSObservations for the Two Micron All-Sky Survey began in 1997 and were completed in 2001 at two telescopes located one each in the northern and southern hemispheres to ensure coverage of the entire sky...
) commences, first version of Hipparcos Catalogue published - 1998 — Sloan Digital Sky SurveySloan Digital Sky SurveyThe Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-filter imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project was named after the Alfred P...
commences - 2003 — 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey2dF Galaxy Redshift SurveyIn astronomy, the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey , 2dF or 2dFGRS is a redshift survey conducted by the Anglo-Australian Observatory with the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope between 1997 and 11 April 2002. The data from this survey were made public on 30 June 2003...
published; 2MASS completes