Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi: The Book of Fixed Stars (964)

 

(The Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, UK)

Six illustrations made by the Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (903-986). These six prints come from the book 'The Book of Fixed Stars'. This astronomical text describes the forty-eight classical constellations discussed by Claudius Ptolemy (100 – c. 170 AD) in his book Almagest. Al-Sufi provides labelled illustrations of these constellations as viewed on a celestial globe and as viewed in the sky, along with supporting tables of individual stars within each constellation listing their Arabic names, celestial coordinates and magnitudes. Shown here are the following constellations (from left to right):

Top row:
- Sagittarius
- Gemini
- Taurus

Bottom Row:
- Andromeda
- Perseus
- The Great Bear (Ursa Major)

Book from 964 A.D.