Description

The star maps below represent the stars of Tycho Brahe's catalog along with bright stars according to modern catalogs. The corrections mentioned on the catalog page have been applied in order to avoid excessive confusion.

The maps use the equatorial and ecliptic coordinate systems corresponding to the epoch and equinox of Tycho's catalogs, namely 1600 Annum Completum, or January 1, 1601 of the Julian calendar (still in use in Denmark at the time), or

Julian Day2,305,824
Besselian epochB1601.0304…
Julian epochJ1601.0376…

Catalog versions

The maps represent Tycho's stars in the positions given by the three main versions (manuscript, Progymnasmata, Kepler) as well as in Rawlins's [1] corrected positions (which affect only about 40 stars).

The legend on the maps associates colors with versions represented by letters according to the following table.

LetterVersion
TProgymnasmata version (1602 edition)
MManuscript version from Dreyer
KKepler's version from Tabulæ Rudolphinæ
RManuscript version from Rawlins

When multiple versions give the same coordinates, the colors follow the same order of precedence as that table. Differences in star magnitudes across versions are not represented.

All the stars in the Progymnasmata catalog are present in the manuscript and Kepler's versions so that, if a star is represented in the Progymnasmata color only, it implies that the manuscript and Kepler versions provide the same position for it. The stars Eri 20, Gem 30, and Oph 38 are present in the manuscript version only and the stars Cas 46 (Nova 1572), Cyg 27 (Nova 1600), Sgr 1, and Sgr 2 are present in Kepler's version only. Except in these cases, a star being represented only in the manuscript color implies that it is not present in the Progymnasmata version but that Kepler's version provides the same position.

Map features

The general features of the maps are described on the historical catalogs page.

Tycho stars relevant to the map are labeled with an optional constellation abbreviation and number tnum within their constellation.

Maps by constellation

The maps below represent the stars of Tycho Brahe's catalogs one constellation at a time.

The maps follow the same constellation order as in Tycho's manuscript catalog. Antinous is grouped with Aquila and additional maps for Canes Venatici, Monoceros, Lynx, and Camelopardalis have been added so that every Tycho star appears on at least one map.

Zodiacal constellations

Aries
ARI
Taurus
TAU
Gemini
GEM
Cancer
CNC
Leo
LEO
Virgo
VIR
Libra
LIB
Scorpius
SCO
Sagittarius
SGR
Capricornus
CAP
Aquarius
AQR
Pisces
PSC

Northern constellations

Ursa Minor
UMI
Ursa Major
UMA
UMa in CVn
CVN
Draco
DRA
Cepheus
CEP
Boötes
BOO
Coma Berenices
COM
Corona Borealis
CRB
Hercules
HER
Lyra
LYR
Cygnus
CYG
Cassiopeia
CAS
Perseus
PER
Auriga
AUR
Ophiuchus
OPH
Serpens Caput
SER1
Serpens Cauda
SER2
Sagitta
SGE
Aquila & Antinous
AQL
Delphinus
DEL
Equuleus
EQU
Pegasus
PEG
Andromeda
AND
Triangulum
TRI
... in Lynx
LYN
... in Cam
CAM

Southern constellations

Cetus
CET
Orion
ORI
Ori in Mon
MON
Eridanus (North)
ERI_N
Lepus
LEP
Canis Major
CMA
Canis Minor
CMI
Navis (Puppis)
PUP
Hydra (W)
HYA_W
Hydra (E)
HYA_E
Crater
CRT
Corvus
CRV
Centaurus
CEN

Maps by hemisphere

The two maps below give an overall view of Tycho's catalogs one hemisphere at a time.

They are centered on the equatorial poles of the B1875.0 coordinate system, the reference for constellation boundaries, and show the same contents as the maps by constellation.

Northern Hemisphere
NORTH
Southern Hemisphere
SOUTH

References

[1] Dennis Rawlins, Tycho’s Star Catalog, DIO, Vol. 3, October 1993.


Acknowledgments.

  • This research has made use of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France. The original description of the VizieR service was published in A&AS 143, 23.
  • This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France.