Since the dawn of humanity, people have been gazing at the stars and tracking their movement. Possible evidence of this can be found in multiple cave drawings and engravings dated to tens of thousands of years ago, which researchers hypothesize describe different constellations. Star maps, or star catalogs clearly detailing the stellar coordinates in the sky, dating back to about 3,500 years ago, have been discovered in Egypt and Babylon (modern-day Iraq).
Descriptions of similar charts also exist from 2,500 years ago in ancient China. The earliest known attempt to extensively and systematically map the entire visible sky is attributed to renowned Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who lived in the 2nd century B.C.
For many generations, Hipparchus’ star catalog was considered lost and its existence was only known through mentions in later writings by other scholars. It was only in 2022 that a section of the original Hipparchus’ star catalog was found, hidden within writings discovered in Saint Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai. Hipparchus is regarded as one of the greatest astronomers of ancient times, if not the greatest.
His contributions extend beyond astronomy; he was also a mathematician and geographer. As a mathematician, he developed the branch of trigonometry, which helped him analyze his observations of celestial bodies. Around 127 B.
C., Hipparchus discovered the precession of the Earth's rotation axis when he compared his measurements of several bright stars with t.