Carte Du Ciel

The Carte du Ciel (literally, 'Map of the Sky') and the Astrographic Catalogue (or Astrographic Chart) were two distinct but connected components of a massive international astronomical project, initiated in the late 19th century, to catalogue and map the positions of millions of stars as faint as 11th or 12th magnitude. Twenty observatories from around the world participated in exposing and measuring more than 22,000 (glass) photographic plates in an enormous observing programme extending over several decades. Despite, or because of, its vast scale, the project was only ever partially successful – the Carte du Ciel component was never completed, and for almost half a century the Astrographic Catalogue part was largely ignored. However, the appearance of the Hipparcos Catalogue in 1997 has led to an important development in the use of this historical plate material.

Participating observatories and stars measured in the context of the Astrographic Catalogue
Observatory Declination Epoch No. of
(Zone) From To stars
Greenwich +90° +65° 1892–1905 179,000
Vatican +64° +55° 1895–1922 256,000
Catania +54° +47° 1894–1932 163,000
Helsingfors +46° +40° 1892–1910 159,000
Potsdam +39° +32° 1893–1900 108,000
Hyderabad north +39° +36° 1928–1938 149,000
Uccle +35° +34° 1939–1950 117,000
Oxford 2 +33° +32° 1930–1936 117,000
Oxford 1 +31° +25° 1892–1910 277,000
Paris +24° +18° 1891–1927 253,000
Bordeaux +17° +11° 1893–1925 224,000
Toulouse +10° +05° 1893–1935 270,000
Algiers +04° −02° 1891–1911 200,000
San Fernando −03° −09° 1891–1917 225,000
Tacubaya −10° −16° 1900–1939 312,000
Hyderabad south −17° −23° 1914–1929 293,000
Córdoba −24° −31° 1909–1914 309,000
Perth −32° −37° 1902–1919 229,000
Perth/Edinburgh −38° −40° 1903–1914 139,000
Cape Town −41° −51° 1897–1912 540,000
Sydney −52° −64° 1892–1948 430,000
Melbourne −65° −90° 1892–1940 218,000

Read more about Carte Du Ciel:  Origins and Goals, The Astrographic Catalogue, The Carte Du Ciel, Combination of The Astrographic Catalogue With Hipparcos