Catalogue of southern hemisphere stars 'Catalogus Stellarum Australium'

This is a rare surviving example of the first published catalogue of southern hemisphere star positions as seen and measured using a telescope. It is of national significance as the first published record of stars that appear in Australia skies. It was authored in 1679 by the esteemed English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742).

In 1676 Edmond Halley embarked to the island of St Helena, where he took astronomical observations of the stars visible from the southern hemisphere. Halley published the 'Catalogus Stellarum Australium' in 1679, and it includes the described positions of 341 southern stars. His observations were added to 'star maps' and gained Halley an esteemed reputation as an astronomer. The publication of this work also earned Halley the MA degree from Oxford and a fellowship of the Royal Society.

Edmond Halley was also famous for his work in observing comets. In 1682 he observed the movements and characteristics of a certain comet and discovered its movements to be the same as comets that had been observed in 1607 and 1531. He ascertained that these were not three different comets, but the same comet returning every 75-76 years. This was the first comet to be recognised as periodic, and has since been known as 'Halley's Comet'.

Edmond Halley became the British Astronomer Royal in 1720, a position he held until his death in 1742.