Detail from Olivier van Deuren, 'A Young Astronomer', about 1685.
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Celestial Globe

The ancient Greeks believed that the stars were fixed to a transparent crystal sphere known as the celestial globe, or starry vault, which encircled the Earth. Only half of the celestial sphere could be seen at a time in the night sky, because the other half was always obscured by the Earth.

Celestial globes, like the one shown here, were made to represent the locations of the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon and the stars in the celestial sphere, and to show their motions. In this picture, the young astronomer's globe has the different constellations marked on it in the form of animals. Among those visible are some of the northern and zodiacal constellations: at the top, Draco; on the left, Ursa Major and, below it, Leo; on the right, beneath the encircling brass ring, Bubuleus. The celestial globe would have been an important piece of equipment for an astronomer when this picture was painted in the 17th century.

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