Citation
Alternate Title(s): Catalogus stellarum australium
Publication Location: London
Year: 1679
Item Location
Exhibit: Space Science after Galileo
Section: Stars
Summary
Edmond Halley, later of cometary fame, sailed to the South Pacific island of St. Helena. Over a period of 2 years, Halley recorded the positions of 341 southern stars in this table of the right ascensions and distances of the principal southern stars. No star map is included, but Hevelius would soon repair that deficiency. Halley proposed a new constellation, no longer accepted, called Robur Carolinum, the Oak of King Charles II, referring to the tree in which he had lain hidden for 24 hours after his defeat by Cromwell.