hipparchus

English - English

Definition of hipparchus in English English dictionary

An ancient Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician

or Hipparchos born , Nicaea, Bithynia died after 127 BC, Rhodes? Greek astronomer and mathematician. He discovered the precession of the equinoxes (see equinoxes, precession of the), calculated the length of the year to within 6.5 minutes, compiled the first known star catalog, and made an early formulation of trigonometry. His observations were painstaking and extremely accurate. He rejected all astrology but also Sun-centred views of the universe; his views had a profound influence on Ptolemy. His star catalog logged the positions of the stars in terms of celestial coordinates, listed about 850 stars, and specified their brightnesses by a system of six magnitudes similar to today's. He adequately accounted for the irregularities in the Moon's motion that are due to its elliptical orbit. His main contribution to geography was to apply rigorous mathematical principles to the determination of places on Earth's surface, and he was the first to do so by specifying latitude and longitude

Greek astronomer and mathematician who discovered the precession of the equinoxes and made the first known star chart and is said to have invented trigonometry (second century BC)

Hyphenation

Hip·par·chus

Etymology

() From Ancient Greek Ἵππαρχος (Hipparkhos).