The engraved title shows the figures of Hipparchus, Copernicus, Brahe, and Ptolemy in consultation. A map of the island of Hven is visible to one side of the octagonal pedestal. The most important features of the world map, which is present in few copies, are the delineation of the West Coast of Australia, here shown for the first time on a world map, and the northern regions of America showing recently discovered parts of the arctic; California appears as an island.

In 1601, the dying Tycho Brahe had charged Kepler to complete his proposed Rudolphine tables of planetary motion by using the observations bequeathed to him. But the tables (named after Kepler's first patron Rudolph II) did not appear until 26 years later, Kepler in the Preface excusing his long delay on account not only of salary and wartime conditions, but also "the novelty of my discoveries and the unexpected transfer of the whole of astronomy from fictitious circles to natural causes, which were most profound to investigate, difficult to explain, and difficult to calculate, since mine were the first attempt" (quoted in DSB). The form of his work was shaped by his Copernican leanings and the "happy calamity" in 1618 of his introduction to logarithms, which enabled him to make the complex calculations necessary for determining planetary orbits.