Fusion Image 12
Source: Johann Bode, Uranographia (Berlin, 1801); History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
Object: M81 and M82 in Ursa Major the Big Bear; Hubble Space Telescope, NASA
Composite: The Sky Tonight, skytonight.org (CC-by)
Constellations IAU Abbr
Constellation description
Ursa Major the Big Bear is included in the ancient star catalogs of Eudoxos of Knidos, Aratos of Soli, and Ptolemy. It is the third largest of the 88 modern constellations.
Source Description
Bode’s magnificent atlas fused artistic beauty and scientific precision. 20 large copperplate engravings plot more than 17,000 stars, far more than any previous atlas. Bode depicted more than 100 constellations, compared with 88 officially recognized today. Bode also included 2,500 cloudy patches, or “nebulae,” cataloged by William Herschel. Bode, director of the Observatory of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, produced the last of the four major celestial atlases in which artful depictions of constellation figures appear alongside the most up-to-date scientific data.
Bode-1801