Insets
The celestial globe has two insets, one a dedication and the other an intellectual property notice, along with an inscription of the place and date of publication […]
centre informatique
Constellations
In his representation of the constellations and their nomenclature, Mercator produced the most comprehensive celestial globe of the 16th century […]
Celestial sphere
The sphere of Mercator’s celestial globe is covered with twelve gores extending to the 70th parallels, with each polar region capped by a round calotte […]
Representation of the constellations
Occasionally the representations of the constellations on Mercator’s celestial globe differ from the standard figures that prevailed at the time […]
Precession of the equinoxes
Calculating to correct for precession was the biggest astronomical problem faced by users of Ptolemaic star positions. Here again Copernicus had a clear influence on Mercator […]
Star positions
Differences showed up between the star catalogues of the 16th century as they were copied and republished, resulting in changes in the stars’ given positions […]
Astronomical coordinates
For centuries, the positions of stars were inspired by Ptolemy. It was only in the late 16th century that Tycho Brahe (1540-1601) would show them more accurately […]
Influences and sources
From the 4th century BC the ancient Greeks represented the celestial vault as a sphere […]
Insets
The terrestrial globe features a number of insets. They mainly indicate the author and the place and date of the plates’ design, but one bears a dedication to Mercator’s benefactor Nicholas Perrenot lord of Granvelle […]
Bestiary
When a territory was uncharted, cartography gave pride of place to the imagination. Allegorical beasts of all kinds were depicted, including hybrid monsters and exotic creatures […]