Hipparchus

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/hipparchus

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Hipparchus born?Circa 190 BC
2. Where was Hipparchus born?Nicaea, Bithynia (modern-day İznik, Turkey)
3. When did Hipparchus die?Circa 120 BC
4. What is Hipparchus known for?Discovery of the precession of the equinoxes through comparative star cataloging
5. Who invented Hipparchus?Armillary sphere and astrolabe
6. What is the place of death?Likely the island of Rhodes, Greece

Axial Precession: The slow, conical wobble of a rotating body's axis, like Earth's, over thousands of years.
Spherical Trigonometry: A branch of trigonometry dealing with triangles on the surface of a sphere, crucial for celestial mapping.
Ecliptic: The apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of a year.