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Jost Bürgi and Antonius Eisenhoit: Armillary sphere with astronomical clock, made in 1585 in Kassel, now at Nordiska Museet in Stockholm. An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines of celestial ...
Messier 99 or M99, also known as NGC 4254 or St. Catherine's Wheel, is a grand design spiral galaxy in the northern constellation Coma Berenices approximately 15,000,000 parsecs (49,000,000 light-years) from the Milky Way. [5] It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on 17 March 1781.
Dark sky image with some objects around Pinwheel Galaxy (M 101). The quarter in the lower right shows the tail of Ursa Major with the stars Mizar, Alcor and Alkaid.. The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on, unbarred, and counterclockwise spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years (6.4 megaparsecs) [5] from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.
In Greek antiquity the ideas of celestial spheres and rings first appeared in the cosmology of Anaximander in the early 6th century BC. [7] In his cosmology both the Sun and Moon are circular open vents in tubular rings of fire enclosed in tubes of condensed air; these rings constitute the rims of rotating chariot-like wheels pivoting on the Earth at their centre.
In astronomy, a planisphere (/ ˈ p l eɪ. n ɪ ˌ s f ɪər, ˈ p l æ n. ɪ-/) 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.
Messier 36 or M36, also known as NGC 1960 or the Pinwheel Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the somewhat northern Auriga constellation.It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654, who described it as a nebulous patch. [5]
Modern zodiac wheel showing the 12 signs used in horoscopic astrology. The zodiac was in use by the Roman era, based on concepts inherited by Hellenistic astronomy from Babylonian astronomy of the Chaldean period (mid-1st millennium BC), which, in turn, derived from an earlier system of lists of stars along the ecliptic. [8]
'Star of Celestial Pivot'). [22] The asterism name was mentioned in Warring States period (c. 475–221 BCE) stellar records, in which the asterism is described to have seven stars in the shape of a dipper or a chariot. [23] [failed verification] The Chinese astronomy records were translated to other East Asian cultures in the Sinosphere.