Born: c. 190 BC
Birthplace: Nicaea, Bithnya
Died: c. 120 BC
Cause of death: unspecified

Gender: Male
Religion: Pagan
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Astronomer, Mathematician

Nationality: Ancient Greece
Executive summary: Cataloguer of stars, trigonometrist

Greek astronomer, born at Nicaea in Bithnia early in the 2nd century BC. He observed in the island of Rhodes probably from 161, certainly from 146 until about 126 BC, and made the capital discovery of the precession of the equinoxes in 130. The outburst of a new star in 134 BC is stated by Pliny to have prompted the preparation of his catalogue of 1080 stars, substantially embodied in Ptolemy's Algamest. Hipparchus founded trigonometry, and compiled the first table of chords. Scientific geography originated with his invention of the method of fixing terrestrial positions by circles of latitude and longitude. There can be little doubt that the fundamental part of his astronomical knowledge was derived from Chaldaea. None of his many works has survived except a Commentary on the Phaenomena of Aratus and Eudoxus of Cnidus, published by P. Victorius at Florence in 1565, and included by D. Petavius in his Uranologium (Paris, 1630).

    Lunar Crater Hipparchus (5.5° S, 4.8° E, 150km dia, 3.3km depth)
    Asteroid Namesake 4000 Hipparchus

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