The 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy after 150 AD

Ptolemy listed 1,028 objects forming the classical 48 constellations.

Ursa Minor

Ursa Major

Draco

Cepheus

Boötes

Corona Borealis

Hercules

Lyra

Cygnus

Cassiopeia

Perseus

Auriga

Ophiuchus

Serpens

Sagitta

Aquila

Delphinus

Equuleus

Pegasus

Andromeda

Triangulum

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpius

Sagittarius

Capricornus

Aquarius

Pisces

Cetus

Orion

Eridanus

Lepus

Canis Major

Canis Minor

Argo

Hydra

Crater

Corvus

Centaurus

Lupus

Ara

Corona Australis

Piscis Austrinus

Ptolemy’s Almagest

First printed edition, 1515

The Almagest is a 2nd-century mathematical and astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths. Written in Greek by Claudius Ptolemy, a Roman era scholar of Egypt, it is one of the most influential scientific texts of all time, with its geocentric model accepted for more than twelve hundred years from its origin in Hellenistic Alexandria, in the medieval Byzantine and Islamic worlds, and in Western Europe through the Middle Ages and early Renaissance until Copernicus.

The Almagest is the critical source of information on ancient Greek astronomy. It has also been valuable to students of mathematics because it documents the ancient Greek mathematician Hipparchus's work, which has been lost. Hipparchus wrote about trigonometry, but because his works no longer exist, mathematicians use Ptolemy's book as their source for Hipparchus's work and ancient Greek trigonometry in general.

Ptolemy’s 48 constellations

HERE is a page of the star catalogue from the first printed edition of Ptolemy’s Almagest, published in Venice in 1515