Meet
Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi
Stars & sky maps
Notice. Sketch. Try.What will you make?
Their story. Your next idea.
Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi was a Persian astronomer of the tenth century. He wrote about the design of constellation images for celestial globe makers.
1001 Inventions, p. 267 · 1001 Inventions, p. 276
constellationa named pattern or area in the sky
celestial globea round model showing the positions of stars
YOUR TURN · 10 MINUTES
Keep a sky notebook
Paper, a pencil, and a grown-up.
- Choose a safe place to look at the evening sky with a grown-up.
- Draw the Moon if it is visible. Write the date and time beside your drawing.
- Look again on another evening from the same place. Add a second drawing.
- Compare what you noticed. Which questions would need more observations?
Never look directly at the Sun. Watch from the ground with a grown-up.
Let’s wonder
How is a picture of the sky different from the sky itself?
My next question: __________________________________________________