Hipparchus (ca. 190 BC - ca. 120 BC) was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician of the Hellenistic period.
Hipparchus is considered the greatest ancient astronomical observer and, by some, the greatest overall astronomer of antiquity. He was the first Greek whose quantitative and accurate models for the motion of the Sun and Moon survive.
With his solar and lunar theories and his trigonometry, he may have been the first to develop a reliable method to predict solar eclipses. His other reputed achievements include the discovery of precession, the compilation of the first comprehensive star catalog of the western world, and possibly the invention of the astrolabe, also of the armillary sphere which first appeared during his century and was used by him during the creation of much of the star catalogue.
hipparcus a greek mathematician
Hipparchus, an ancient Greek astronomer, measured the positions of around 850 stars.
Hipparchus' discoveries in astronomy were important because he developed the first systematic model of the motion of the Sun and Moon, and compiled one of the earliest known star catalogs with over 850 stars. His work laid the foundation for future astronomers and greatly contributed to the understanding of celestial movements.
The Greeks had a system of classifying stars according tot heir brightness. The main Greek astronomer to use magnitudes was Ptolemy. But the modern system of magnitudes was devised by Norman Pogson. A 1st magnitude star is defined as being 100 times brighter than a 6th magnitude star. A difference of one magnitude is equivalent to 2.512 times brighter or fainter.
The system of latitude and longitude was developed by the ancient Greeks, specifically by the mathematician and astronomer Hipparchus in the 2nd century BC. He used a grid of lines to pinpoint locations on Earth's surface, laying the foundation for the modern system we use today.