Within the Globi Coelestis In Tabulas Planas Redacti Pars III (The Celestial Globe Rendered as Planes Part 3), Johann Baptist Homann created a beautiful celestial chart that has three major Zodiac constellations and one well-known constellation. The three Zodiac constellations shown are Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer. The Taurus constellation was meant to represent the Greek god Zeus, as in mythology he turned into a bull enable to abduct the beautiful princess Europa. The Gemini constellation represents the twins Castor and Pollux. Castor was the son of King Tyndarus and a mortal, while Pollux was the son of Zeus and immortal. In mythology it was said that Castor and Pollux were identical twins, who could not be told apart even in their actions. Castor was a superb horseman and Pollux was a feared fighter. Next is the constellation Cancer, which has a silly mythological story behind it. Cancer’s story is that while Hercules was fighting the Hydra monster a crab pinched Hercules. As a reward from Hera, Hercules’ enemy, the crab was made into the constellation called Cancer. Lastly, there is the well-known constellation of Orion. The mythology behind Orion is that he was the son of the Greek god Poseidon and was the most prolific hunter on earth.  A unique aspect of this chart is that hidden behind all the constellations is the path of 5 comets. These comets are labeled thus, C/1652 Y1 (observed by Johannes Hevelius), C/1664 W1 (Johannes Hevelius), C/1772 E1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini), C/1683 O1 (Johannes Hevelius), and C/1699 D1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini).

Globi Coelestis in Tabulas Planas Redacti Pars III