For centuries, scholars have been scouring ancient manuscripts in search of the catalogue of stars allegedly compiled by Hipparchus of Nicaea (2nd century BCE), who is widely considered as the greatest astronomer of ancient Greece. Victor Gysembergh will present the recently published discovery of the first known fragments from Hipparchus’ Star Catalogue. This discovery was made by Gysembergh, Peter Williams and Emanuel Zingg using multispectral images produced by the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library, the Lazarus Project of the University of Rochester, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Gysembergh will explain the history of the millennia-old text, the use of cutting-edge imaging technology to decipher it, and the fragments’ significance for the history of astronomy and the birth of science.

Univ. Paris-Sorbonne