Hercules Constellation, 1482
Hercules is a constellation named after Heracles, the Roman mythological hero adapted from the Greek hero Heracles. Hercules was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. It is the fifth largest of the modern constellations. Poeticon astronomicon is a star atlas whose authorship is disputed. The work was originally attributed to the Roman historian Gaius Julius Hyginus (64 BC - AD 17). The book lists most of the constellations in the same order as Ptolemy's Almagest (2nd century AD) which has led many to believe that a more recent Hyginus created the text. The Poeticon astronomicon was not formally published until 1482, by Erhard Ratdolt. He commissioned a series of woodcuts, but the relative positions of the stars bear little resemblance to the descriptions given by Hyginus in the text or the actual positions of the stars in the sky.
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