The Astronomischer Bilder Atlas (Astronomical picture atlas) by Ludwig Preyssinger, professor of mathematics, chemistry, physics, cosmography and natural history at the Royal Lyceum Augsburg, is a set of 12 individual beautifully crafted and detailed coloured litographic engravings printed on a thick cardboard. Six of these plates (no. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7) are unique - they have numerous smaller or larger portions of the board cut out and pasted over a thin layer of translucent coloured paper pasted on the back side of the plate. When holding these plates against light, the cutout parts light up in various colours, creating stunning visual effects.
The plates include:
- The central sun and the view of the world of fixed stars
- Sky map with the stars which are visible all year round
- Representation of the solar system, the planets with their orbits, as they are known to this day
- Comparative representation of the size of the planets
- The sun and it's various appearances
- The moon seen through the telescope
- Transparent representation of the moon phases
- Eclipses, tides
- View of the seasons with the signs of the zodiac
- The Earth and its atmosphere
- Comets and aerolites
- Images from meteorology depicting the various phenomena of the atmosphere
All plates are accompanied by a short explanation text.
The atlas was reissued in 1873, with minor changes in the plate no. 1 and 5 reflecting the latest scientific findings of the stellar corona, the colourful plate no. 12 (Meteorological phenomenons) was replaced by austere plate called "Mathematical geographical meaning of lighting".
