Explore the Miscellany Manuscript

Learn About the Miscellany Manuscript

Long ago, around 1464, in Europe, some people had a special book about the stars and planets. This book contained drawings and ideas about space from curious medieval folks who drew comets, the sun, moons, and planets in our solar system.

There’s a lot of mystery surrounding this book. We don’t know exactly who made it or who owned it, but we can see that the artist drew the comets that they observed! This page has some of those drawings.

This old book shows us that people a long time ago really liked looking at the stars, just like we do today when we explore space. It’s a mix of art, history, and astronomy, which is the study of stars and planets. This tells us that humans have always been interested in the stars. From old drawings like these to new photographs taken by telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope, people have been looking at and learning about space for a very long time.

Take a closer look at one of the pages of the Miscellany Manuscript. Which drawing is your favorite?

Like a giant eye in space that helps scientists see really far away. It’s named after a scientist who loved exploring space. This telescope helps us learn more about stars, planets, and galaxies that are very, very far away from Earth.

A manuscript is a special book that people wrote by hand a long time ago. It’s not printed like the books we have today, but it’s full of carefully written words and sometimes beautiful drawings!

A word that talks about a long time ago, especially during the time between the 5th and 15th centuries in Europe. It’s when knights, castles, and kings were around!

Big round objects in space that orbit, or go around, stars like the sun. Our Earth is a planet, and so are Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn!

Like a big family of the sun; planets, moons, and other objects that all orbit, or go around, the sun. It’s like a big space neighborhood!

Big balls of burning gas far away in space that shine brightly in the night sky. They’re like the sun, but they’re very, very far away.

A special tool that helps us see things that are very far away in space. It’s like a magic tube with lenses that make faraway things look bigger and clearer.