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Re: Equinoxes

Hipparcos (or Hipparchus depending as you are inclined toward Greek
or Latin for obfuscation) first made this observation as a result of
the military activities of Alexander the Great. When Alexander
conquered Babylon, Hipparcos acquired star maps going back many
centuries prior to his and was able to discern a systematic variation
in positions. Since the effect was so small, apparently nobody in the
ancient world ever worried about it much as far as including it in a
model of the solar system.

I wonder if anyone can help with the following questions?

When was precession of the equinoxes first observed and how was the
observation made? When was it verified?

It seems from my reading that is has been known for a very long time and
yet I wonder how something with such a large period was observed
originally.

Thanks for your help. Dave Abineri

--
David Abineri dabineri@dot-net.net


Paul J. Camp "The Beauty of the Universe
Assistant Professor of Physics consists not only of unity
Coastal Carolina University in variety but also of
Conway, SC 29528 variety in unity.
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