Star Spangled Globes p. 3

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Urania's Mirror card with light shining through to show the stars as they appear in the night sky

How are Urania's Mirror cards used?

A: Uranias Mirror was designed by a young lady in the early 19th Century in Great Britain for amateur astronomers. Each shows a constellation and the stars that comprise it as would be visible in England. The stars are represented by small holes punched right in the card. The bigger holes represent brighter stars. So to learn the formation of the constellations, one would hold the cards up to a light source and see the bright holes representing the star positions.

The light is diffused by tissue paper attached to the back of the card.

Then one could take the star card outside (perhaps with a lantern or under a bright moon) and revisualize the constellation figures formed by the stars, by holding the star card up to the sky. You wouldnt literally see the stars through the card against the night sky though -- that would be only from an artificial light source when viewed beforehand, presumably indoors.