More than 2,100 years ago, the Greek astronomer Hipparchus mapped the stars, and for a long time his article was considered the first human attempt to assign numerical coordinates to stellar bodies. But despite his fame, the existence of the treatise was known only through the writings of another famous astronomer, Claudius Ptolemy, who compiled his celestial inventory some 400 years later.
So far, this is it.
Researchers believe they have found fragments of a lost historical document of Hipparchus hidden in a medieval manuscript.
“This new evidence is the most reliable yet and allows for significant advances in reconstructing Hipparchus’ star catalog,” says a study on the discovery published in the journal Science. The history of astronomy last week. The discovery could shed new light not only on Hipparchus’ attempt to map the night sky through precise measurements and calculations, but also on the history of astronomy.
Hipparchus, also known as the father of trigonometry, is often considered the greatest astronomer of ancient Greece. Parts of his star chart appear to have appeared in the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, a Syriac textbook written in the 10th or 11th century whose pages were erased for reuse (a common recycling practice at the time), but still clearly traces his previous form. This particular scroll came from the Greek Orthodox monastery of St Catherine in Sinai of Egypt, although the Bible Museum in Washington DC now holds most of the handwritten papers.
Multispectral imaging reveals the enhanced Greek text in red below the black Syriac text.
Bible Museum
difference of Electronic library of the first manuscripts in California e Lazarus-project located in Rochester Institute of Technology It revealed obscured text and measurements using many wavelengths of light, a technique known as multispectral imaging.
Subsequently, researchers from the Sorbonne University and the University of Cambridge were able to decipher the descriptions of the four-star groups. Not only was Hipparchus’ mapping revealed, but the team also said that the recently discovered digital evidence is broadly in line with it. truly stellar coordinates.
This would make Hipparchus ‘catalog more accurate than Ptolemy’s later astronomy textbook, although the researchers acknowledge that they are working with a small sample and that large errors can be found in parts of Hipparchus’ stellar catalog that have not yet been preserved or discoveries. .
Scientists say Codex Climaci Rescriptus may yet reveal other observations on Hipparchus’ stars.
Advanced digital technologies continue to restore vital parts of cultural heritage in documents that the human eye cannot see due to damage, deterioration or deliberate deletion.
Its multispectral image send text One of the oldest known copies of the writings of the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes. it’s a Discover the secrets of the scrolls damaged by the eruption of Vesuvius, Exhibits from the Dead Sea ScrollsAnd the historically speaking Fragments of the Bible have been found in the Qumran caves in Israel.
