Constellation Art
Overview
Constellations have been part of the human experience since prehistoric times. We looked to the sky as these visual bookmarks reminded us of the popular stories and lore of our culture. And, of course, many different cultures devised their own constellations independently of one another.
As language and the printed word became more common, illustrated star catalogs were published. Many examples of such illustrations exist, but Johann Bayer’s, 17th-century Uranometria was one of the most complete and the first to depict the stars from Earth’s view, rather than from outside the celestial sphere, as was traditional up to that point.
Bayer was also the first to assign designations to the stars. Names for the brightest stars existed since antiquity, but he cataloged the stars giving them Greek names, Alpha for the brightest star in the constellation, Beta for the second brightest, and so on.
A page showing the constellation Orion from Johann Bayer’s Uranometria from 1661. The stars are rendered according to brightness (larger is brighter), and have small Greek letters beside them assigned by Bayer. Overlaid is the rendition of Orion, drawn with his sword, shield, and club.
Artwork Updated
The art appearing here was drawn by James Hedberg from the City College of New York. He has updated the art from traditional depictions to something more modern.
Constellation art overlay the constellation lines. Here we see Orion, the hunter; Taurus, the bull; Canis Minor, the little dog; and the head of Canis Major, the big dog, at the bottom of the frame.
Using in OpenSpace
Scene Menu
From the scene menu, each constellation is accessible for you to turn on and off individually. Use this option if you just want to show one or a limited number of constellations.
Keyboard Shortcuts
c, Shift-c
Use the c key to turn on all constellation figures. There may be a slight delay while they load, but this will bring up the artwork for all 88 constellations. Use Shift-c to turn them off.
Actions Panel
The Actions Panel has several convenient items to control the constellations. The Hide all/Show All toggles the artwork on and off for all 88 constellations. Disable all removes the asset from the scene (and out of memory).
Use Show zodiac and Hide zodiac buttons turn only the zodiacal constellations on and off.
The Constellations Art action menu. Here you can turn on each constellation’s artwork with the Show all button. You can turn them all off with the Disable all button. You can show and hide all the zodiacal constellations. And, the Hide all button keeps the artwork loaded but unseen.
Profiles
Dossier
Census: |
88 constallation images |
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Asset File: |
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OpenSpace Version: |
4 |
Reference: |
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Prepared by: |
James Hedberg (CUNY-CCNY) |
Source Version: |
4.0 |
License: |