Open AccessPtolemy, Babylon and the rotation of the Earth
Author(s) -
Steele J M
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
astronomy & geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.168
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1468-4004
pISSN - 1366-8781
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-4004.2005.46511.x
Subject(s) - ptolemy's table of chords , astronomer , eclipse , earth's rotation , rotation (mathematics) , geodesy , geology , visibility , solar eclipse , physics , astronomy , history , meteorology , classics , mathematics , geometry
The recent discovery of a Babylonian astronomical text containing a report of the lunar eclipse on 23 December 383 BC confirms that the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy correctly described this eclipse as having been observed in Babylon, in chapter IV of hisAlmagest. The visibility of this eclipse in Babylon implies that either present estimates of the Earth's rotational clock error are too low b...