Johann Bayer facts for kids

The constellation Orion in Bayer's Uranometria

Johann Bayer (1572 – 7 March 1625) was a German lawyer and star map maker. He was born in Rain, Lower Bavaria, in 1572. When he was twenty, in 1592, he started studying philosophy and law at the University of Ingolstadt.

After his studies, he moved to Augsburg to work as a lawyer. He became a legal adviser for the city council in 1612.

Johann Bayer had many interests outside his job. He liked archaeology and mathematics. But he is most famous for his work in astronomy. He was especially good at figuring out where stars and other objects were in the sky. He never married and passed away in 1625.

Johann Bayer's Star Atlas

Johann Bayer's famous star atlas was called Uranometria Omnium Asterismorum. This means "Uranometry of all the asterisms." It was first printed in 1603 in Augsburg.

This was the very first atlas to show the entire celestial sphere, which is like an imaginary ball around Earth where all the stars appear. Bayer's atlas used the work of Tycho Brahe, another famous astronomer. It also added about 1,000 more stars than earlier maps.

The Bayer Designation System

The Uranometria introduced a new way to name stars. This system is now known as the Bayer designation. In this system, stars are usually named with a Greek letter followed by the Latin name of the constellation they are in. For example, the brightest star in the constellation Orion is called Alpha Orionis.

Bayer's atlas also included twelve new constellations. These were created a few years before to map the far southern part of the night sky. This area was not known to ancient Greek and Roman astronomers.

His Legacy

The crater Bayer on the Moon is named after Johann Bayer. This honors his important work in mapping the stars.

See also

• Julius Schiller
• Bayer designation