Night Sky Map: Lost Fabled Star Catalogue of Hipparchus Unearthed in Egypt

The lost fabled star catalogue of ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus was found by an archaeological team in Egypt. It was the first known night sky map, which was long thought to have been lost for centuries. Now, new evidence comes to light that the ancient space constellation record was hidden only inside a Medieval parchment. In particular, it was beneath Christian texts with the help of scholars.

For centuries, scholars have been on a quest to search for Hipparchus' lost catalogue. The breakthrough and rare find would not be possible without the use of the modern technique called multispectral imaging. The method captures image data in a specified wavelength that ranges across the electromagnetic spectrum. In addition, the imaging process is also known for its usage to detect and track military targets.

Prior to the invention of telescopes in the early 17^th century, astronomical observations of the night sky were conducted using the naked eye. Long before Galileo Galilei and other small group of astronomers used telescopes to gaze into the heavens, space enthusiasts used measuring instruments to map out the constellation by recording positions of the planets and stars.

It was only until 1606 Galileo changed the game from planetary astronomy into a new science when he used to develop his telescope, which helped our vision gaze into the cosmos. This means that astronomers will no longer have to the depend on planetary motion. The age of telescope also allowed us to debunk the notion that Earth is at the center of the universe.

First Night Sky Map

(Photo : Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

The most significant work of Hipparchus, who was also a geographer and mathematician, concerns the orbits of the Sun and Moon, in line with their relative size and distance from Earth. A founder of trigonometry, the Greek astronomer also applied mathematics to compose the lost star catalogue.

It is the earliest known attempt to record accurate coordinates of a variety of celestial objects using only the naked eye. The findings of the archaeological team of Hipparchus' first known night sky map were published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy.

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Multispectral Imaging

The new paper mentions on how scholars helped archaeologists to discover Hipparchus' lost star catalogue.

In 2012, biblical scholar Peter Williams from the University of Cambridge, UK, requested his students to study the pages of an ancient manuscript from the Greek Orthodox St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. One of the students noticed a passage in Greek from a parchment in the so-called Codex Climaci Rescriptus, a Syriac text collection written during the 10^th or 11^th centuries.

In 2017, the pages were re-analyzed using the said advanced imaging technique performed by researchers in the United States, including those from the University of Rochester in New York, according to Nature.

Age of Telescope

Telescopes were used for many years before humans determined on their precise usage, according to the National Air and Space Museum. The first theory about telescopes was written by the astronomer Johannes Kepler in his book entitled Dioptrice published in 1610. To adjust the magnifying power of telescopes, astronomers made them longer.

In the onset of the 20^th century, humans have developed reflectors and refractors which are the two major types of telescopes. In contemporary times, the world's largest and most powerful telescopes are housed inside observatories.