Johannes Hevelius: Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia

Johannes Hevelius or Jan Heweliusz (1611–1687) was one of the most important astronomers of the early modern era. He studied law, brewed beer and worked as a councillor in his home town of Gdansk, while at the same time being passionate about astronomy. In this field, he was mentored by the grammar school professor Peter Crüger, who was a student of Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe. In his own observatory in Gdansk, Hevelius assembled a whole host of different astronomical instruments, some of which he participated in constructing himself. In his research, he was particularly interested in the moon. He achieved international recognition in 1647 with his first major work, which included 40 maps of the moon, and is still regarded today as the founder of selenography, the cartography of the moon. His wonderful star atlas Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia, however, was only published posthumously in 1690. With the contained 56 star maps, he introduced seven new zodiacal constellations, which – in a modified form – became part of the current division of the sky. A milestone in the history of astronomy!