SkyEye

The River Jordan

In his 1612 celestial globe, Dutch astronomer and cartographer Petrus Plancius (1552–1622) introduced a number of new constellations, including Jordanus Fluvius, the river Jordan. It is a northern constellation, with its headwaters near the star Cor Caroli and flowing through Leo and what are now Leo Minor and Lynx. However, a host of other faint constellations were placed in this general area by later cartographers and Jordanus dried up before the nineteenth century.