Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser

Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser also called Petrus Theodorus ( Emden, * 1540, † 11 September 1596 by Bantam ) was a Dutch navigator. Together with Frederick de Houtman he made star maps of the southern sky, where he introduced twelve new constellations.

Life

Little is known about the early life, Keyser participated in several expeditions, including to Brazil and Nova Zembla part.

1595 sailed a fleet of four ships under the command of Cornelis de Houtman Madagascar to East Asia, the - catastrophic running - first Dutch East India expedition. Keyser was navigator on the Hollandia, later on Mauritius.

Keyser was commissioned by the cartographer Petrus Plancius to make observations of the deep southern sky. The Europeans were above the stars of these regions, no reliable data. From the masthead of the ships he watched the night sky with an instrument which he had received from Plancius (possibly an astrolabe or Jacob's staff ). He was supported by Frederick de Houtman, the younger brother of the commander.

Of 249 participants, only 87 returned back alive, the majority had died due to disease and violence. Keyser died in September 1596, when the fleet lay before Bantam ( Java). His star catalog was Plancius passed in 1597 after the return of the fleet from de Houtman.

Sky mapping

Keyser and de Houtman produced a catalog of 135 stars and divided the southern part of the sky into twelve new constellations:

• Het Chameljoen ( Chameleon )
• The Dorado (swordfish, literally " Goldfish" )
• The Voghel Fenicx ( Phoenix)
• De Indiaen ( Indus )
• The India 's Exster, op Indies long ghenaemt ( " Indian Magpie", the toucan )
• De Paradijs Voghel ( Bird of Paradise )
• De Pauww ( Peacock )
• The Reygher ( " heron ", now Crane )
• De Long Water ( Small water snake)
• De Vlieghe ( fly)
• De vlieghende Visch ( Flying Fish )
• The Zuyder Trianghel ( Southern Triangle )

Keyser twelve new constellations appeared - published 1597/1598 on a celestial globe of Plancius, two years later by Jodocus Hondius, and 1602 with Willem Blaeu, 1603 with the observations of the second voyage de Houtman - sometimes under a different name first. Johann Bayer, she took in his 1603 celestial atlas published Uranometria. You are now among the 88 recognized constellations.

In addition, lists Keyser altar ship Argo, Centaur, Southern Crown, the Southern Cross, wolf, dove as De Duyve met the Olijftak ( " The dove with the olive branch " ), Eridanus as the Nyli ( " Nile " ) and the tail of the scorpion

Keyser's recordings appeared in 1627 in tabular form in Johannes Kepler's Tabulae Rudolfinae ( Rudolfinian panels ). The original records are gone, however, lost.

Source

• Willem Lodewycksz (1997). Om de Zuid: de eerste schip vaart naar Oost- Indië Cornelis de Houtman onder, 1595-1597. Vertaling, inleiding s annotaties Vibeke Roeper en Diederick Wildeman. SUN, Nijmegen.