VMs: Fw: Louisiana State U. researcher discovers long-lost star catalog on Roman statue (Forwarded)

["Robert Teague" <rteague@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew Yee" <ayee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 1:32 PM
Subject: Louisiana State U. researcher discovers long-lost star catalog on Roman statue
(Forwarded)


> Office of University Relations
> Louisiana State University
> Baton Rouge, Louisiana
>
> Contact:
> Rob Anderson, LSU Media Relations
> 225-578-3871, rander8@xxxxxxx
>
> 01/11/2005
>
> LSU researcher solves ancient astronomy mystery
>
> LSU Physics and Astronomy faculty member discovers long-lost star catalog on
> Roman statue
>
> An ancient mystery may have been solved by LSU Associate Professor of Physics
> and Astronomy Bradley E. Schaefer.
>
> Schaefer has discovered that the long-lost star catalog of Hipparchus, which
> dates back to 129 B.C., appears on a Roman statue called the Farnese Atlas.
> Hipparchus was one of the greatest astronomers of antiquity and his star catalog
> was the first in the world, as well as the most influential. The catalog was
> lost early in the Christian era, perhaps in the fire at the great library in
> Alexandria.
>
> The Farnese Atlas is a Roman statue, dating to the second century, that depicts
> the Titan Atlas holding a sky globe on his shoulder. The statue, currently
> housed in Italy, includes relief figures on the globe depicting the ancient
> Greek constellations in fine detail. Schaefer has discovered that the
> constellation figures on the Farnese Atlas are an accurate rendition of
> Hipparchus' star catalog. According to Schaefer, the discovery will likely lead
> to the solution of several long-debated questions.
>
> Indeed, Schaefer's discovery is already stirring interest among those in the
> field of astronomy.
>
> "The constellations are one of our more enduring intellectual properties, and in
> antiquity, they turned the night sky into familiar territory. Dr. Schaefer's
> clever and disciplined analysis of the oldest graphic representation of the
> traditional Greek constellations reveals unexpected roots of scientific
> astronomy in a celebrated work of ancient art," said E.C. Krupp, director of the
> Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
>
> Schaefer, who earned his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of
> Technology in 1983, specializes in astronomy and astrophysics. He has long been
> interested in the history of astronomy and has written extensively on the
> subject. He began his examination of the Farnese Atlas statue while conducting
> research on ancient constellation lore.
>
> Schaefer said that scientists have long held Hipparchus in high regard for his
> work, which was conducted between 140 B.C. and 125 B.C. He is known for the
> discovery of the first nova and a process called precession; a theory for the
> motions of the sun and moon; top-quality planetary observations; and the
> first-ever catalog of about 1,000 stars. Unfortunately, only one of Hipparchus'
> books has survived to today: "Commentaries," which describes the constellation
> figures in detail. The rest of his written work is known only through the
> references of later astronomers. For example, Schaefer said, Hipparchus' star
> catalog was described in the work "Almagest" by the influential Greek astronomer
> and geographer Ptolemy, who lived around A.D. 85 to A.D. 165.
>
> The Farnese Atlas -- roughly seven feet tall and made of marble -- is now in the
> Farnese Collection in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy. The
> statue's sky globe, which is 26 inches in diameter, shows 41 Greek
> constellations, as well as the celestial equator, tropics and ecliptic. Art
> historians have concluded that the statue is a late Roman copy of a Greek
> original. Schaefer said that the constellations are accurately depicted, so the
> sculptor must have based his work on some specific astronomical observations.
> Throughout the last century, Schaefer explained, these observations have been
> attributed to many sources, but not Hipparchus.
>
> Schaefer said that a number of facts led to the conclusion that the statue's sky
> globe was based on Hipparchus' catalog.
>
> Precession, as discovered by Hipparchus, is a process whereby the stars and
> constellation figures slowly move with respect to the celestial equator, tropics
> and lines of constant right ascension. This provides the key to dating the
> original observations, Schaefer explained, because it means that investigators
> need only look on the sky globe to see what date matches the constellation
> positions. Thus, Schaefer traveled to Naples and made the first astronomical
> analysis of the constellation positions.
>
> For his analysis, Schaefer took his own pictures, because the photographic
> analysis requires knowledge of the distance between globe and camera. He
> measured a total of 70 positions on the globe and made a formal mathematical fit
> to find the best date. Schaefer concluded that the best date for the original
> observations is 125 B.C. He said that the normal margin of error in this result
> is +/-55 years. In other words, Schaefer said, there is a two-thirds chance that
> the real date was somewhere between 180 B.C. and 70 B.C.
>
> Schaefer said that the date of 125 B.C. immediately points to Hipparchus'
> circa-129 B.C. catalog as the original observational source. Indeed, he said,
> all previously proposed source candidates are confidently eliminated because
> they come from time periods that are either too early or too late.
>
> Positioning on the globe is another key indicator of the source, said Schaefer.
> The positioning of the constellation figures on the Farnese Atlas has a typical
> accuracy of 3.5 degrees. Schaefer said that such accuracy is essentially
> impossible to achieve by simple verbal descriptions (as found in the works of
> other potential sources, such as Aratus or Eudoxus) which are accurate to around
> 8 degrees. Nevertheless, ancient star catalogs would have the required accuracy.
> However, it is Hipparchus who is known to have a star catalog created around the
> correct time, 129 B.C., whereas the next catalog, created by Ptolemy, came much
> too late, in A.D. 128.
>
> In addition, Schaefer said it is known that Hipparchus constructed many sky
> globes based on his star catalog. For instance, ancient coins depict Hipparchus
> seated in front of a globe and Ptolemy writes explicitly of Hipparchus making
> such globes. Thus, Schaefer explained, a likely scenario is that Hipparchus used
> his catalog to make an accurate globe, which was later copied exactly by a Greek
> statue sculptor. Then, the Greek statue was later copied by a Roman sculptor.
>
> The constellations of the Farnese Atlas also contain many specific details that
> point to Hipparchus as the original observer. Schaefer made a comparison between
> the Farnese Atlas and all ancient constellation descriptions, including those of
> Ptolemy and other ancient astronomers and thinkers, such as Hipparchus, Aratus,
> Eratosthenes, Eudoxus and Homer. All ancient sources other than Hipparchus have
> many and major differences in their descriptions of the constellations. However,
> the detailed comparison shows Hipparchus' "Commentary" to have no differences
> and many unique similarities.
>
> Thus, the 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.
>
> Schaefer said that the discovery of Hipparchus' lost star catalog on the Farnese
> Atlas could provide answers to two long-standing questions that have been the
> source of heated debate: What did Hipparchus use as coordinates and what
> fraction of Hipparchus' star catalog made it into Ptolemy's "Almagest?" Now,
> Schaefer said, with an accurate representation of Hipparchus' catalog,
> researchers can make exhaustive correlations between all constellation figures
> on the Farnese Atlas and those contained within "Almagest." But, Schaefer said,
> perhaps the best part of the discovery is "simply that we have recovered one of
> the most famous known examples of lost ancient wisdom."
>
> Schaefer announced his discovery today, at the American Astronomical Society
> meeting in San Diego, Calif.
>
> For more information on the discovery, contact Schaefer at 225-578-0015 or
> schaefer@xxxxxxxx Schaefer will be attending the AAS conference until Jan. 13,
> but will be reachable through messages left at 619-908-5062 or 619-908-5065. The
> results of Schaefer's research will be published in the May 2005 issue of the
> Journal for the History of Astronomy. More information, including Schaefer's
> journal paper, is available at
>       http://www.phys.lsu.edu/
>
> IMAGE CAPTIONS:
>
> [Image 1:
> http://www.lsu.edu/university_relations/photos/FarneseFront.jpg (95KB)]
> An ancient mystery may have been solved by LSU Associate Professor of Physics
> and Astronomy Bradley E. Schaefer.
>
> Schaefer has discovered that the long-lost star catalog of Hipparchus, which
> dates back to 129 B.C., appears on a Roman statue called the Farnese Atlas.
> Hipparchus was one of the greatest astronomers of antiquity and his star catalog
> was the first in the world, as well as the most influential.
>
> [Image 2:
> http://www.lsu.edu/university_relations/photos/FarneseBack.jpg (102KB)]
> The Farnese Atlas is a Roman statue, dating to the second century, that depicts
> the Titan Atlas holding a sky globe on his shoulder. The statue, currently
> housed in Italy, includes relief figures on the globe depicting the ancient
> Greek constellations in fine detail.


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