1. The book is well worth buying
(if interested in Stars, Constellations and Mythology)
Star Tales: Revised and Expanded Edition
amazon.co.uk/Star-Tales-Exp…
Also it has been made available online by the author
ianridpath.com/startales/cont…
2. Background to web edition
3. Preface
The star maps are works of art in themselves & are among the most elegant treasures bequeathed to us by astronomers of the past
The constellations give us a very real link with the most ancient civilizations
It is a heritage we share whenever we look at the night sky
4. Greek-Latin Glossary
ianridpath.com/startales/pref…
5. Chapter 1 Index
ianridpath.com/startales/star…
Chapter 2 Index - The Star Maps
ianridpath.com/startales/star…
Chapter 3 Index - The celestial eighty-eight (plus two)
ianridpath.com/startales/star…
Chapter 4 - The Obsolete Constellations
e.g. Cerberus
ianridpath.com/startales/star…
5. Sources and References used in Ridpath's book
"The starting point for all studies of Greek star lore is a poem called the Phaenomena (Appearances), written c. 275 BC by Aratus of Soli"
ianridpath.com/startales/sour…
6. A rich source of antiquarian constellation illustrations from many eras can be found at the Warburg Institute Iconographic Database.
iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/vpc/VPC_search…
e.g. (Chinese) The Purple Forbidden Enclosure
iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/vpc/VPC_search…
7. Disappearing Resources
Filling the Sky (out of Print)
web.archive.org/web/2020093001…
Each constellation is a clickable link to another page
e.g. "Lynx"
web.archive.org/web/2018032214…
8. The Phaenomena (English Translation)
ARATUS OF SOLI was a Greek poet from Macedonia in the early C3rd B.C. His only surviving work is the Phaenomena, a book describing the constellations and weather signs.
theoi.com/Text/AratusPha…
Illustrations:
web.archive.org/web/2019031022…
9. Modern Constellation Index
Clicking on a link will download a pdf file for that constellation.
web.archive.org/web/2020090312…
10. Star Names — Their Lore and Meaning
By Richard Hinckley Allen
The page numbers of the print edition, given in the right-hand column, link to the corresponding webpages.
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazet…
e.g. Andromeda (Twatter censors nipples)
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazet…
11. The Golden Age of the Celestial Atlas
The exhibition contains forty-three star atlases and maps, covering the period from 1482 to 1851
stars.lindahall.org/welcome2.htm
Online Exhibition Index:
stars.lindahall.org/index.htm
A celestial map by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit, 1670
12. Charting the Chinese Sky
"Additional to 255 star groups & predating them were 28 ancient divisions of the ecliptic known as xiu or mansions, listed in the table. These were markers for following the nightly progress of the Moon orbiting the Earth"
ianridpath.com/startales/chin…
13. The Dunhuang star chart
This chart, drawn on a long paper scroll, was found in Buddhist caves near Dunhuang on the Silk Road trade route.
ianridpath.com/startales/chin…
and
idp.bl.uk/education/astr…
Larger Images:
idp.bl.uk/database/stitc…
14. The Chinese Sky
"The Chinese sky was divided into five great regions or palaces called gong 宫. These were equated with the directions north, south, east and west and also with a middle region"
idp.bl.uk/education/astr…
15. The Suzhou (Soochow) planisphere
A more complete representation of the Chinese sky than the Dunhuang manuscript is provided by this circular chart from Suzhou, formerly known in the west as Soochow
ianridpath.com/startales/chin…
Zoomable Version
chinesehsc.org/zoomify/suzhou…
16. Observations of comets, from BC 611 to AD 1640
Extracted from the Chinese annals
by Williams, John, 1797-1874
archive.org/details/cu3192…
Silk Atlas of Comets found in a tomb from the Mawangdui site near Changsha in 1973
idp.bl.uk/education/astr…
17. Useful Original Sources
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazet…
18. Observe - Stellarium
stellarium-web.org
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