Thursday, January 13, 2005

Something ancient that isn't lost

Most of the works of the astronomer Hipparchus were lost (possibly the in the most woeful burning of the library of Alexandria), but Dr. Bradley Schaefer of Louisiana State University thinks he's found one of his star charts on a Roman statue of Atlas.

"[T]he case for Hipparchus' lost star catalog appearing on the Farnese Atlas is based on:
-The derived date of 125 B.C., which matches Hipparchus and rejects all other
candidates;
-The fact that the accuracy of the sky globe requires a star catalog, and only Hipparchus had created one before A.D. 128;
-The fact that Hipparchus is known to have produced working sky globes from his catalog;
-The fact that only Hipparchus' description of the constellation figures
matches the Farnese Atlas. "

The article is worth reading. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15907

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