Astronomical Images : Armillary sphere

Georg von Peuerbach

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Georg Peuerbach (Georgius Aunpekh) was born in Peuerbach, near Linz. He studied at the University of Vienna, obtaining his BA in 1448 and MA in 1453. He held positions as court astrologer to the king of Hungary, and then to Emperor Frederick III. The <i>Tabulae eclypsium</i>, originally dedicated to Johann Vitez, Bishop of Grosswardein (now Oradea, Hungary), were probably completed around 1459 and is Peuerbach's most impressive work. The tables allow the calculation of the course of the Sun and Moon and therefore the prediction of eclipses. Although they were based on the <i>Alphonsine Tables</i>, they also contain new computations by Peuerbach. This woodcut shows an armilllary sphere with two astronomers, one reading a book, the other holding an astrolabe. The two lines ' often found in astronomical works ' are a quotation from Ovid, <i>Fasti</i> I.297-8, meaning 'Happy are the souls who first devoted themselves to knowing these things and ascending to the celestial regions'.</p>