The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, the Lapworth Museum of Geology and the University of Birmingham Collections - Objects
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ID number:  BIRRC-P0830
Institution:  Research and Cultural Collections
Named collection:  Collection of Historic Physics Instruments
Artist / Maker:  J & W Cary
Title / Object name / Definition:  Celestial globe
Object type:  Astronomical instrument
Place made:  Strand, London
Date made:  March, 1816
Materials:  Globe is made of printed paper mounted on plaster. It is mounted in a brass ring supported on a polished wooden stand.
Measurements:  Globe diameter 40 cm, Overall height 1.4 m
BIRRC-P0830a.jpg

Description:  A celestial globe shows the positions of the stars in the sky marked with symbols representing their brightness (magnitude). It is mounted to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of the Earth showing how the stars move overhead at night. The axis can be tilted to the latitude of the observer. On this globe the constellations are shown by coloured paintings.
In the 1950s and 60s the globe was used in the undergraduate teaching laboratories to train students in basic astronomy, and a manual for this teaching is on file.

Inscriptions / Translations:  CARY’S
NEW CELESTIAL GLOBE
on which are laid down
THE WHOLE of the STARS NEBULAE &c
contained in the Astronomical Works of the
REVD. F. WOLLASTON FRS
De la Caille, Herschel, Hevelius, Mayer,
Flamsteed, Bradley &c

London: Made and sold by J & W Cary, Strand March 1816

Explanation
Greek letters or figures prefixed to the stars signify from the British catalogue
a stroke drawn under the figures thus 450 De la Caille
H. Hevelius, M. Mayer, CH. C Herschel and B. Bradley


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