SINCE 1930, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially recognised 88 constellations. The saga of how we got there is an interesting one that involves a colourful cast of characters — some familiar, some not.
Many cultures have their own star lore, but the constellations we use today are largely derived from Western sources, starting with the 48 groupings that Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy) described in his 2nd-century Almagest. Ptolemy didn't draw any celestial maps that we know of — but the Almagest contained a catalogue listing the constellations and their associated stars. There were no set boundaries, so some stars were shared by neighbouring constellations.
Shortly after Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century, terrestrial maps, globes and atlases began to appear. These efforts were later expanded to include celestial works based on the . Of course, Ptolemy himself relied on earlier works, but those are mostly lost to us. The survived through the ages, and in early 16th-century Renaissance Europe astronomers considered it the ultimate authority for nearly all celestial knowledge. It's therefore not surprising that the earliest examples of celestial cartography almost exclusively referred to Ptolemy's work. So, where did the other 40 constellations come from? Just as terrestrial cartographers filled the oceans with sea monsters to make their works more interesting and attractive,
