Scientists Report Discovery of Part of World's Oldest Known Star Map
2022-10-31
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1Researchers say they have discovered part of the oldest known map of the stars in an ancient document.
2The document was first found in a Christian center, called a monastery, in Egypt.
3It was made of a material created from animal skin, called parchment, that was commonly used for keeping records in ancient times.
4The document contained Christian writings.
5But scientists who examined the parchment discovered additional writings that appeared underneath on the same parchment.
6It was common practice at the time to keep using the same parchment to create new writings because the paper could be in short supply.
7The researchers who examined the parchment found writings related to astronomy.
8They identified the writings as being created by an ancient Greek astronomer named Hipparchus.
9Hipparchus was also a mathematician and is widely considered the creator of the form of math known as trigonometry.
10But he is also famous for creating what is believed to be the first map of the stars more than 2,000 years ago.
11Researchers estimate his observations of the sky were mapped around 129 BC.
12Historians knew about Hipparchus' map because it was described by other astronomers in later writings.
13But his own star descriptions were thought to be long lost.
14The discovery of what is believed to be part of his long-sought star map was recently reported in a study in the Journal for the History of Astronomy.
15The researchers used a method called multispectral imaging to take pictures of the parchment.
16The method uses several cameras to take pictures in different colors.
17Then, the pictures are combined with X-ray and infrared images.
18In this case, the process was used to uncover past writings and additional details in the parchment.
19The examined document is known as the Codex Climaci Rescriptus.
20It is currently part of a collection held by The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C.
21Evidence of Hipparchus' star map was found by researchers who had permission to work with the museum's document.
22One of the researchers was Jamie Klair.
23As a student at Britain's University of Cambridge, she first found evidence in 2012 that the parchment contained astronomical information.
24Then, in 2021, researcher Peter Williams first observed the presence of astronomical measurements.
25Williams works for the international research center Tyndale House in Cambridge, Britain.
26Tyndale House centers on Bible research.
27Those researchers then cooperated with scientists at France's Sorbonne University to study the document further.
28After close examinations of the document, the research team concluded it contained parts of the ancient map, known as Hipparchus' Star Catalog.
29The Greek astronomer's map used groups of numbers to show the positions of fixed stars, known as coordinates.
30Historians believe the map represents the first attempt to record exact positions of stars across the night sky.
31Before the latest discovery, scientists used a star map created by Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemy.
32He is believed to have created his map, known as the Almagest, about 300 years after Hipparchus.
33The researchers said the document they examined provided coordinates for stars in Corona Borealis, a constellation in what is known as the Northern Celestial Hemisphere.
34One of the lead researchers was Victor Gysembergh, with France's National Center for Scientific Research in Paris.
35He told the publication Nature he "was very excited from the beginning" about the discovery.
36"It was immediately clear we had star coordinates."
37Gysembergh worked closely with Emmanuel Zingg at Sorbonne University to translate the document.
38A statement from the university says examinations of the map suggested the data in it was extremely accurate.
39The researchers said it contained more accurate descriptions of star positions than Ptolemy's map.
40James Evans is a historian of astronomy at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.
41He told Nature he sees the find as "rare" and "remarkable."
42Evans added that the discovery represents an important moment in scientific research.
43This was a moment when astronomers progressed from simply describing patterns they saw in the sky to measuring and predicting them.
44I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Researchers say they have discovered part of the oldest known map of the stars in an ancient document. 2The document was first found in a Christian center, called a monastery, in Egypt. It was made of a material created from animal skin, called parchment, that was commonly used for keeping records in ancient times. 3The document contained Christian writings. But scientists who examined the parchment discovered additional writings that appeared underneath on the same parchment. It was common practice at the time to keep using the same parchment to create new writings because the paper could be in short supply. 4The researchers who examined the parchment found writings related to astronomy. They identified the writings as being created by an ancient Greek astronomer named Hipparchus. 5Hipparchus was also a mathematician and is widely considered the creator of the form of math known as trigonometry. But he is also famous for creating what is believed to be the first map of the stars more than 2,000 years ago. Researchers estimate his observations of the sky were mapped around 129 BC. 6Historians knew about Hipparchus' map because it was described by other astronomers in later writings. But his own star descriptions were thought to be long lost. The discovery of what is believed to be part of his long-sought star map was recently reported in a study in the Journal for the History of Astronomy. 7The researchers used a method called multispectral imaging to take pictures of the parchment. The method uses several cameras to take pictures in different colors. Then, the pictures are combined with X-ray and infrared images. In this case, the process was used to uncover past writings and additional details in the parchment. 8The examined document is known as the Codex Climaci Rescriptus. It is currently part of a collection held by The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. Evidence of Hipparchus' star map was found by researchers who had permission to work with the museum's document. 9One of the researchers was Jamie Klair. As a student at Britain's University of Cambridge, she first found evidence in 2012 that the parchment contained astronomical information. Then, in 2021, researcher Peter Williams first observed the presence of astronomical measurements. Williams works for the international research center Tyndale House in Cambridge, Britain. Tyndale House centers on Bible research. 10Those researchers then cooperated with scientists at France's Sorbonne University to study the document further. After close examinations of the document, the research team concluded it contained parts of the ancient map, known as Hipparchus' Star Catalog. The Greek astronomer's map used groups of numbers to show the positions of fixed stars, known as coordinates. 11Historians believe the map represents the first attempt to record exact positions of stars across the night sky. Before the latest discovery, scientists used a star map created by Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemy. He is believed to have created his map, known as the Almagest, about 300 years after Hipparchus. 12The researchers said the document they examined provided coordinates for stars in Corona Borealis, a constellation in what is known as the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. 13One of the lead researchers was Victor Gysembergh, with France's National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. He told the publication Nature he "was very excited from the beginning" about the discovery. "It was immediately clear we had star coordinates." 14Gysembergh worked closely with Emmanuel Zingg at Sorbonne University to translate the document. A statement from the university says examinations of the map suggested the data in it was extremely accurate. The researchers said it contained more accurate descriptions of star positions than Ptolemy's map. 15James Evans is a historian of astronomy at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. He told Nature he sees the find as "rare" and "remarkable." Evans added that the discovery represents an important moment in scientific research. This was a moment when astronomers progressed from simply describing patterns they saw in the sky to measuring and predicting them. 16I'm Bryan Lynn. 17Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Journal for the History of Astronomy, Nature, Sorbonne University, Twitter and The Museum of the Bible. 18___________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20constellation - n. a group of stars that forms a particular shape in the sky and has been given a name 21translate - v. to change from one language to another or from one form to another 22accurate - adj. correct or exact 23pattern - n. a regular and repeated way in which something happens 24_______________________________________________________________________ 25What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: