Editing Johann Bayer

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Short description|German lawyer and uranographer}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Johann Bayer
|image             =
|birth_date        = 1572
|birth_place       = [[Rain, Swabia|Rain]], [[Duchy of Bavaria]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
|death_date        = 7 March {{death year and age|1625|1572}}
|death_place       = [[Augsburg]], [[Electorate of Bavaria]], Holy Roman Empire
|residence         = 
|citizenship       = 
|nationality       = [[Germany|German]]
|ethnicity         = 
|field             = [[Jurisprudence]], [[astronomy]]
|work_institutions = 
|alma_mater        = [[University of Ingolstadt]]
|doctoral_advisor  = 
|doctoral_students = 
|known_for         = [[Uranometria]]
|influences        = 
|influenced        = 
|prizes            =
|religion          = 
}}

[[Image:Uranometria orion.jpg|thumb|The constellation [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]] in Bayer's ''Uranometria'']]

'''Johann Bayer''' ({{IPA|de|ˈjoːhan ˈbaɪɐ}}; 1572 &ndash; 7 March 1625) was a German [[lawyer]] and [[Star cartography|uranograph]]er (celestial [[cartographer]]). He was born in [[Rain, Lower Bavaria|Rain]] in 1572. In 1592, aged 20, he began his study of philosophy and law at the [[University of Ingolstadt]], after which he moved to [[Augsburg]] to begin work as a lawyer, becoming legal adviser to the city council in 1612.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |last=Hockey |first=Thomas |year=2009 |publisher=[[Springer Nature]] |isbn=978-0-387-31022-0 |access-date=22 August 2012 |url=http://www.springerreference.com/docs/html/chapterdbid/58130.html}}</ref>

Bayer had several interests outside his work, including archaeology and mathematics. However, he is primarily known for his work in astronomy; particularly for his work on determining the positions of objects on the [[celestial sphere]].  He remained unmarried and died in 1625.<ref name=kanas2007/>

Bayer's [[Star cartography#Star atlases|star atlas]] ''[[Uranometria|Uranometria Omnium Asterismorum]]'' ("[[Urania|Uranometry]] of all the [[asterism (astronomy)|asterism]]s") was first published in 1603 in Augsburg and dedicated to two prominent local citizens.<ref name=kanas2007/> This was the first [[atlas]] to cover the entire [[celestial sphere]].<ref name=ridpath>{{cite web |title=Johann Bayer's southern star chart |last=Ridpath |first =Ian |url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/bayer-southern.html}}</ref> It was based upon the work of [[Tycho Brahe]] and may have borrowed from [[Alessandro Piccolomini]]'s 1540 star atlas, ''De le stelle fisse'' ("Of the fixed stars"), although Bayer included an additional 1,000 stars. The ''Uranometria'' introduced a new system of star designation which has become known as the [[Bayer designation]].<ref name=startales/> Bayer's atlas included twelve new constellations invented a few years earlier to fill in the far south of the night sky, which was unknown to ancient Greece and Rome.<ref name=ridpath/><ref>{{cite book |last=Kanas |first=Nick |date=2009 |title=Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography |edition=2nd |publisher=Springer |pages=119–120 |isbn=978-1-4614-0916-8}}</ref>

The crater [[Bayer (crater)|Bayer]] on the [[Moon]] is named after him.

== Works ==
* {{Cite book|title=Uranometria|volume=|publisher=Christoph Mang|location=Augsburg|year=1603|doi=10.3931/e-rara-309|language=la|url=https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/doi/10.3931/e-rara-309|last1=Bayer|first1=Johann}}

==See also==
*[[Julius Schiller]]
*[[Bayer designation]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=

<ref name=kanas2007>{{citation | first1=Nick | last1=Kanas | title=Star maps: history, artistry, and cartography | series=Springer-Praxis books in popular astronomy | publisher=Springer | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-387-71668-8 | pages=153–155 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xepttjhzaH8C&pg=RA1-PA153 }}</ref>
<ref name=startales>{{citation | first1=Ian | last1=Ridpath | title=Bayer's Uranometria and Bayer letters |  url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/bayer.html }}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*[https://catalog.lindahall.org/permalink/01LINDAHALL_INST/19lda7s/alma99504283405961 Full digital facsimile], [[Linda Hall Library]]

{{ConstellationsByBayer}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayer, Johann}}
[[Category:1572 births]]
[[Category:1625 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Rain, Swabia]]
[[Category:17th-century German astronomers]]
[[Category:16th-century German astronomers]]
[[Category:Lawyers from the Holy Roman Empire]]