CLASSICAL STAR ATLASES

BAYER'S CANCER

Cancer, the Crab, from Bayer's Uranometria of 1603. At the center is the four-star "Manger," and at the center of that, the Praesepe or Beehive star cluster. Gemini, with bright Castor and Pollux, is at the right, while the Sickle of Leo, with first magnitude Regulus, is at left. Procyon, in Canis Minor, labelled "G," is down toward bottom right, while the head of Hydra, the Water Serpent, is down and slightly to the left. The dark band marks the region around the ecliptic in which the planets and Moon can be found.

Courtesy of the Rare Book Room and Special Collections Library of the University of Illinois