The history of astronomy was transformed after the discovery of a map of the moon. Before technology put the whole world in a race to conquer the moon or Mars, astronomers (and astrologers) knew about the moon through curious observation of the sky.
The Map House
Celestial bodies and all kinds of stars lie captured on a map that reveals to the public the great discoveries of the cosmos. This map is currently on display at The Map House in London.
Exactly in the 17th century, 300 years before Neil Armstrong will walk on the moon, Athanasius Kirchera German priest and scholar, devoted himself to drawing a map of the moon showing the nearest side of the natural satellite.
This lunar cartography shows representations of celestial bodies that are far from our orbit. In addition, for the modern day, this documentation on the moon set a pattern for the development of astronomical research.
«The publication of these first maps coincided with a transformative moment in human history and some of the most important discoveries in astronomy.» – (Mary A. Beal, exhibition curator)
These diagrams even helped support astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’s theory of the heliocentric shape of the universe. Later, the telescopes complemented the studies on the moon. This is how Renaissance astronomers made out details like craters and things like Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons.
The Map House
The map of the moon marked the future of astronomy
From that moment on, the maps were further refined, creating an immense and fascinating collection of treasures of the universe and the moon. Now The Map House in London brings all these works together in one place.
There is no doubt that space and the universe have always been seen in different ways and from different perspectives. We just need to go back a bit in time to discover what others navigated and mapped and we can use that information as a basis for this incredible exploration of the moon and the universe.
The Map House
Continue reading: Entrusting ourselves to the movement of the cosmos: how astrology modifies our perception of the world
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