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Researchers May Have Just Found the World’s Oldest Star Catalog
In a paper published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy, researchers Victor Gysembergh, Peter Williams, and Emanuel Zingg have announced the possible discovery of long-lost ancient star maps that may have been created by the famous astronomer Hipparchus between 162 and 127 BC.
Hipparchus was a Greek astronomer and mathematician who was responsible for several important foundations in the field, including laying down the foundations of trigonometry, discovering the procession of the equinoxes, and determining the length of a year with an accuracy of just six and a half minutes off.
Perhaps one of Hipparchus’ greatest achievements was his creation of the first known star catalog. This catalog was created around 130 BC and was known to contain the coordinates of around 850 stars that can be seen with the naked eye in the northern hemisphere. Historians have long believed that this catalog was used by Ptolemy when he created the earliest star map, but the physical catalog itself has been lost with time. That was, until now.
Three researchers from CNRS, UMR, Tyndale House and Sorbonne Université worked together to publish a paper in the Journal for the History of Astronomy describing a manuscript found at the Greek Orthodox St. Catherine’s Monastery that may be the long-lost star…
