Related papers: Legacy of Avicenna in Astronomy
We present here an Arabic report about supernova 1006 (SN 1006) written by the famous Persian scholar Ibn Sina (Lat. Avicenna, AD 980-1037), which was not discussed in astronomical literature before. The short observational report about a…
This book is a critical edition of a treatise of astronomy by the Syrian scholar Ibn al-\v{S}\=atir (1304-1375). The Arabic text has been established on the basis of several manuscript copies, and it has been translated into French; a…
It is widely believed that the advance of science in the Islamic world after the mid-fifteenth century A.D. suffered a decline. For the purpose of examining this belief, a manuscript by Qasim ali al-Qayini (ca. A.D.1685) was chosen based on…
From al-Sufi's tenth-century observation of the Andromeda Galaxy as a "little cloud" to contemporary space missions, Islamic astronomy represents a millennium-spanning tradition of innovation and knowledge. This study traces its trajectory…
We attempt to grasp the mathematics behind the planetary theories of the Syrian astronomer Ibn al-Shatir (1304-1375) in his treatise Nihayat al-Sul. Following the Maragha school of astronomers, by composing circular movements with constant…
A hundred years ago, two British expeditions measured the deflection of starlight by the sun's gravitational field, confirming the prediction made by Einstein's General theory of Relativity. One hundred years later many physicists around…
We present two Arabic texts of historic observations of supernova SN 1006 from Yemen as reported by al-Yamani and Ibn al-Dayba (14th to 16th century AD). An English translation of the report by the latter was given before (Stephenson &…
Mathematical and astronomical achievements of the Islamic World during its golden era are briefly exposed. Thie article is based on the invited talk delivered remotely at the ICRANet-Isfahan Astronomical meeting, November 2-5, 2021, which,…
We outline the priority of high quality data of astronomical content as our strategy for the analysis of the ancient astronomical records in the search of the absolute chronology of the Near East in II millennium BC. The correspondingly…
This essay demonstrates the key role of Astronomy in Botticelli's "Venus and Mars-NG915" painting, to date only very partially understood. Worthwhile coincidences among the principles of the Ficinian philosophy, the historical characters…
In a previous work, we establish that the acclaimed 'Arabic' records of SN 1054 from ibn Butlan originate from Europe. Also, we reconstructed the European sky at the time of the event and find that the 'new star' (SN 1054) was in the west…
The great development of astrometric accuracy since the observations by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus about 150 BC has often been displayed in diagrams showing the accuracy versus time. Two new diagrams are provided here, one for…
In this short review, we trace the evolution of inference in astronomy, highlighting key milestones rather than providing an exhaustive survey. We focus on the shift from classical optimization to Bayesian inference, the rise of…
Among all the theories proposed to explain the 'anomalous' perihelion precession of Mercury's orbit announced in 1859 by Le Verrier, the general theory of relativity proposed by Einstein in November 1915, alone could calculate Mercury's…
We present a modern reconstruction of the classical formula, first derived by medieval Arab astronomers, that describes the trajectory of the tip of a gnomon's shadow during the day as a function of latitude, solar declination, and gnomon…
We present a general description of the Iranian calendar and Nowruz, which starts at the precise instant when the Sun coincides with the vernal equinox. Although the paper aims at the basic astronomical elements of the calendar, historical…
Gamma-ray astronomy is a branch whose potential has not yet been fully exploited. The observations of elemental and isotopic abundances in supernova (SN) explosions are key probes not only of the stellar structure and evolution but also for…
In the late 1620s the Neapolitan telescope maker Francesco Fontana was the first to observe the sky using a telescope with two convex lenses, which he had manufactured himself. Fontana succeeded in drawing the most accurate maps of the…
This illustrated article represents a popular account of the study of the Babylonian astronomical records of Enuma Anu Enlil tablet series i.e. of the Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa and of two lunar eclipses linked with the IIIrd dynasty of Ur,…
The remnant of the historical supernova SN 1181 is under discussion: While the previously suggested G130.7+3.1 (3C58) appears too old (3000-5000 yr), the unusual star IRAS 00500+6713 with a surrounding nebula (Pa-30) has an expansion age…