Alfonsine Tables

FROM: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Alfonsine-Tables

Alfonsine Tables, also spelled Alphonsine Tables, the first set

of astronomical tables prepared in Christian Europe. They enabled calculation of
eclipses and the positions of the planets for any given time based on
the Ptolemaic theory, which assumed that the Earth was at the centre of the
universe. The introduction states that the work was prepared in Toledo, Spain,
for King Alfonso X of Len and Castile under the direction of Jehuda ben Moses
Cohen and Isaac ben Sid. Although no Castilian version survives, internal
evidencethey were calculated for 1252, the initial year of the reign of Alfonso,
and at the meridian of Toledosupports the introduction. The tables were not
widely known, however, until a Latin version was prepared in Paris in the 1320s.
Copies rapidly spread throughout Europe, and for more than two centuries they
were the best astronomical tables available. First printed in 1483, the Alfonsine
Tables were an important source of information for the young Nicolaus
Copernicus before his own work superseded them in the 1550s.

FROM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonsine_tables

Production
Alfonso X assembled a team of scholars, known as the
Toledo School of Translators, who among other translating tasks, were
commanded to produce new tables that updated the Tables of Toledo. The new
tables were based on earlier astronomical works and observations by Islamic
astronomers, adding observations by astronomers Alfonso had gathered in
Toledo, among them several Jewish scholars, like Yehuda ben Moshe and Isaac ibn
Sid.[1] He also brought Aben Raghel y Alquibicio and Aben Musio y Mohamat,
from Seville, Joseph Aben Al and Jacobo Abenvena, from Crdoba, and fifty more
from Gascony and Paris.[2]
The instructions for the Alfonsine tables were originally
written in Castilian Spanish. The first printed edition of the Alfonsine tables
appeared in 1483, and a second edition in 1491.[3]
Georg Purbach used the Alfonsine tables for his book,
Theoricae novae planetarum (New Theory of the Planets). Nicolaus Copernicus
used the second edition in his work. One use of these and similar astronomical
tables was to calculate ephemerides, which were in turn used by astrologers to
cast horoscopes.

Methodology
The methods of Claudius Ptolemy were used to
compute the table, dividing the year into 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, 16
secondsvery close to the currently accepted figure. Copernicus's observation
that his system could explain the planetary motions with no more than 34
circles has been taken to imply that a large number of additional epicycles had
been subsequently introduced into the Ptolemaic system in an attempt to make
it conform with observation.[5] (There is a famous (but probably apocryphal)[6]

quote attributed to Alfonso upon hearing an explanation of the extremely

complicated mathematics required to demonstrate Ptolemy's geocentric model
of the solar system: "If the Lord Almighty had consulted me before embarking
on creation thus, I should have recommended something simpler.") However,
modern computations[7] using Ptolemy's unmodified theory have replicated the
published Alfonsine tables.

ARABIAN ASTRONOMY
Following Ptolemy, Greek astronomy rapidly declined and
ended with the Arabian conquest of Alexandria in AD 641. Although the
magnificent library and museum were destroyed, the Arabs encouraged learning
and for the next 800 years developed an important astronomical tradition of their
own. Observatories were established at a number of cities including Damascus,
Cairo, Baghdad, and Meragha. One of the greatest stimuli to Arabian astronomy
was the need to calculate and maintain the Islamic calendar, which demanded
new mathematical methods and more precise timekeeping.

Among the greatest of Arabic astronomers were:

Al-Farghani (?c.861)
Albategnius (Al-Battani, Muhammad ibn Jabir) (c.850929)
Al-Sufi Abd al-Rahman (903986)
Abu'l-Wafa, Mohammed Al-Buzjani (940998)
Al-Quhi, Abu Sahl Wayjan ibn Rustam (c.940c.1000)
Alhazen Abu Ali al Hassan ibn al Haitham) (c.965c.1040)
Arzachel (Al-Zarqali, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Yahya) (10281087)
Khayyam, Omar (10481122)
Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-nasi (c.1065c.1136)
Alpetragius (?c.1204)

BAYER CONSTELLATIONS

Twelve constellations in the southern hemisphere that were first

described by Johann Bayer in his 1603 star atlas Uranometria. They are Apus (the
Bird of Paradise), Chamaeleon, Dorado (the Goldfish), Grus (the Crane), Hydrus
(the Lesser Water Snake), Indus (the Indian), Musca (the Fly), Pavo (the Peacock),
Phoenix (the Firebird), Triangulum Australe the Southern Triangle, Tucana (the
Toucan), and Volans (the Flying Fish).

SELECTIONS FROM THIS WORK

Andromeda
details

Bootes
details

Carina Navis
details

Aquila
details

Cancer
details

Cassiopeia
details

Ara
details

Auriga
details

Canis Major
details

Canis Minor
details

Centaurus
details
Cepheus
details

Corona Meridionalis
details

Corvus
details

Delphinus
details

Equuleus
details

Hydra
details

Leo
details

Ophiuchus (Serpentarius)
details

Pavo
details

Piscis Notius
details

Sagitta
details

Crater
details

Cygnus
details

Eridanus
details

Hercules
details

Lepus
details

Lyra
details

Pegasus
details

Perseus
details

Sagittarius
details

Serpens
details

Synopsis Coeli Superioris

details

Triangulum
details

Ursa Major
details

Ursa Minor
details

List of Constellations by Accuracy of Bayer Designations

Posted on 01.22by d684n

The brighter stars of constellations are designated by Greek letters according to

Bayer Designations, for which the original intent was for the brightest star of a
constellation to be designated Alpha (), the second brightest Beta (), the third
brightest Gamma (), and so on through the Greek alphabet. Astronomers,
including Bayer, however, hardly made an effort to make Bayer Designations
actually indicate the brightest rank of stars in constellations, sometimes because
it is hard to differentiate brightnesses (Bayer designated the stars with Greek
letters before sufficient modern quantitative technology), sometimes because
they wanted to have Greek letters outline patterns, and sometimes when it
seems that they could only have been fooling around. In any case, here is a list of
constellations ordered from most accurately Bayer-designated to most badly
Bayer-designated. The quantity first stated is the sum of the positive differences
between the apparent magnitude of the star actually Bayer-designated a Greek
letter and the apparent magnitude of the star that should have been respectively
Bayer-designated that letter. Divided by the number of Bayer-designated stars in
the constellation, the final quantity shows the average amount by which a Bayer
designation in that constellation is off by magnitude.

Heres a picture of Orion with eight labeled stars, with magnitudes attached, for
reference.

Note that with less stars Bayer-designated, it is

naturally harder to make gigantic errors, and thus
those most impressively Bayer-designated are
those with many stars accurately Bayerdesignated.

Canes Venatici: 0/2=0

Leo Minor: 0/1=0
Lynx: 0/1=0
Vulpecula: 0/1=0
Sextans: 0.02/5<0.01
Coma Berenices: 0.18/3=0.06
Scutum: 0.44/7=0.06
Dorado: 1.47/12=0.12
Vela: 0.92/7=0.13
Sculptor: 2.22/16=0.14
Lacerta: 0.28/2=0.14
Triangulum Australe: 1.44/10=0.14
Corona Australis: 1.77/11=0.16
Apus: 1.66/10=0.17
Volans: 1.66/10=0.17
Centaurus: 4.07/23=0.18
Monoceros: 1.09/6=0.18

Circinus: 1.49/8=0.19
Columba: 2.91/15=0.19
Mensa: 2.91/15=0.19
Cassiopeia: 4.79/24=0.20
Lyra: 2.73/13=0.21
Perseus: 4.65/22=0.21
Canis Minor: 1.52/7=0.22
Corona Borealis: 4.51/20=0.23
Delphinus: 2.26/10=0.23
Chamaeleon: 2.94/13=0.23
Caelum: 1.72/7=0.25
Camelopardalis: 0.74/3=0.25
Crux: 2.98/12=0.25
Grus: 5.25/21=0.25
Pictor: 3.05/12=0.25
Hydrus: 4.20/16=0.26
Reticulum: 2.69/10=0.27
Virgo: 6.69/24=0.28
Lupus: 6.83/24=0.28
Equuleus: 2.03/7=0.29
Triangulum: 1.75/6=0.29
Pyxis: 2.92/10=0.29
Horologium: 3.00/10=0.30
Gemini: 7.01/23=0.30
Andromena: 7.57/24=0.32
Cepheus: 5.70/18=0.32
Phoenix: 7.30/23=0.32
Indus: 5.07/15=0.34
Telescopium: 4.09/12=0.34
Cancer: 7.90/23=0.34

Lepus: 4.47/13=0.34
Pegasus: 7.65/22=0.35
Hercules: 8.01/23=0.35
Leo: 8.43/24=0.35
Ursa Minor: 3.53/10=0.35
Aries: 6.79/19=0.36
Serpens: 8.64/24=0.36
Crater: 4.34/12=0.36
Ara: 5.48/15=0.37
Musca: 4.04/11=0.37
Fornax: 7.5/20=0.38
Norma: 3.87/10=0.39
Botes: 9.41/24=0.39
Aquarius: 9.42/24=0.39
Pavo: 8.75/22=0.40
Draco: 9.56/24=0.40
Ophiuchus: 9.22/23=0.40
Auriga: 9.24/23=0.40
Cygnus: 9.79/24=0.41
Pisces: 10.07/24=0.42
Tucana: 6.34/15=0.42
Hydra: 10.37/24=0.43
Microscopium: 4.47/10=0.45
Carina: 3.60/8=0.45
Octans: 10.80/24=0.45
Aquila: 10.37/23=0.45
Eridanus: 10.38/23=0.45
Capricornus: 10.92/24=0.46
Taurus: 10.98/24=0.46

Cetus: 10.22/22=0.46
Orion: 11.56/24=0.48
Ursa Major: 12.25/24=0.51
Piscis Austrinus: 7.34/14=0.52
Antlia: 3.73/7=0.53
Canis Major: 11.64/21=0.55
Puppis: 5.13/9=0.57
Sagitta: 5.13/8=0.64
Corvus: 4.62/7=0.66
Libra: 14.57/18=0.81
Sagittarius: 19.76/24=0.82
Scorpius: 20.12/22=0.91
Brightest stars in Libra: (2.61), (2.75), (3.25), (3.60), (3.66), (3.91),
(4.13)
Brightest stars in Sagittarius: (1.79), (2.05), (2.60), (2.72), (2.82),
(2.88), (2.98), (3.10), (3.17), (3.32)
Brightest stars in Scorpius: (1.06), (1.62), (1.86), (2.29), (2.29), (2.36),
(2.56), (2.70), (2.82), (2.89), (2.90), (2.99)
In Scorpius, it can be seen that in through , what is being designated is the
backbone of the scorpion, traced from the heart upwards and then downwards. In
Sagittarius, whatever pattern is being used is thoroughly mysterious, and (3.96)
literally comes 16th in the Greek letters. In these exceptional cases, Bayer
Designations may show important patterns, but whatever they are, brightness is
completely out of the question.

Copernican Revolution

The dramatic and far-reaching change from a geocentric

to a heliocentric worldview prompted by the work of Nicolaus Copernicus (see
Copernican System). It enabled the true status of the Earth, as an ordinary
planet, to be realized and marked the beginning of the end for the belief that
there was a fundamental division between the nature of things terrestrial and
extraterrestrial. As Bishop John Wilkins noted,1 classical philosophers had asked:
of what kind of matter that should be, of which the
heavens are framed, whether or no of any fifth substance distinct from the four
elements, as Aristotle holds, and with him some of the late Schoolmen, whose
subtill brains could not be content to attribute to those vast glorius bodies, but
common materials, and therefore they themselves had rather take pains to prefer
them some extraordinary nature ...
But in the wake of Copernicus, wrote Wilkins, it was apparent:
... that the heavens do not consist of any such pure matter which can privilege
them from the like change and corruption as these inferior bodies are liable
unto.
This breakdown of the Aristotelian dichotomy between
terrestrial space and the region beyond also saw the demise of the medieval
belief in the physicality of demons and other such semi-material extraterrestrials.
The way was now open to the idea that there might be other worlds like the
Earth, and other creatures on those worlds that might resemble ourselves. As
demons and their ilk retreated to the realm of the purely spiritual, so postCopernican intellectuals began to ponder the possibility of alien life-forms made
of flesh and blood.

At first, the new heliocentric scheme was resisted but not, as Lovejoy has pointed
out,2 because it demoted the Earth:

It has often been pointed out that the older picture of the
world in space was peculiarly fitted to give man a high sense of his own
importance and dignity ... Man occupied, we are told, the central place in the
universe, and round the planet of his habitation all the vast, unpeopled spheres
obsequiously revolved. But the actual tendency of the geocentric system was, for
the medieval mind, precisely the opposite. For the center of the world was not a
position of honor; it was rather the place furthest removed from the Empyrean,
the bottom of creation ... the geocentric cosmography served rather for man's
humiliation than for his exaltation ... Copernicanism was opposed partly on the
ground that it assigned too dignified and lofty a position to his dwelling place.
Those who were among the first to voice support and
provide further evidence for the Copernican system, including Galileo, were not
generally inclined to say much about its implications for extraterrestrial life,
though Bruno was an early exception. Instead, it was left for others of a more
speculative nature, such as Wilkins and Godwin, to begin to people the newfound
worlds. Yet when post-Copernican pluralism did take root it was not in response to
hard astronomical data (for there was still virtually none of this relevant to
astrobiology) but rather to an appeal to telelology and reasoning by analogy. In
Lovejoy's words:
The more important features of this new conception of
the world, then, owed little to any new hypotheses based upon the sort of
observational grounds which we should nowadays call "scientific." They were
chiefly derivative from philosophical and theological premises. They were, in
short, manifest corollaries of the principle of plenitude ...
The most fundamental tenet of those who advocated the
plurality of worlds in the wake of Copernicus was that God (or nature) makes
nothing in vain. If there were other planets, they must be inhabited. Otherwise
why would they exist? (see plenitude of principle).

20 16 TH BC BABILONIAN CONCEPTS OF
PHYSICS
FROM:
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/Babylonian_astronomy
.html

Babylonian astronomy goes back at least as far as 1,800 BC and

centers mainly on the problem of establishing an accurate calendar, so that the
emphasis was on recording and calculating the motions of the Sun and Moon.
Early on, observation played an important role, but this gave way later to
analyzing records of ancient observations, which in turn led to the mathematical
prediction of current and future astronomical events. The continuity of civilization
in this part of the world enabled records to be kept over a long enough period for
features such as the precession of the equinoxes and the regularity of eclipses to
be recognized.
The Babylonians also divided the sky into zones, the most
important being that which lay along the ecliptic, the apparent path followed by
the Sun, Moon, and planets across the backdrop of the sky. The Latin names of
the signs of the zodiac as we know them today are translations of the old
Babylonian constellations.

In
connection
with
the
planets, the Babylonians appear to have
been motivated by religious-philosophical
reasons to take note only of isolated events,
such as a planet's first and last appearances
in the sky. Such occurrences were taken to
have astrological significance: they might
foretell human fate. There is no evidence
that the Babylonians, unlike the Greeks,
came up with any geometrical model of the
cosmos. Even so, at the height of its
creativity, in the so-called Seleucid era,
around 600 BC, Babylonian astronomy could
predict planetary motions with surprising
accuracy, thanks to careful observations and
the fact that from ancient times the
Babylonians had a powerful mathematical
tool in the sexagesimal system of numbers
a place-value system based on 60 that we
still use. Babylon became part of the Persian
empire, and its glory dimmed for a while.
However, after Alexander conquered the
Persian empire, Babylon's culture and
science had a significant influence on the
Greeks.