An astronomical analysis of the data in the pseudo-Hipparchus palimpsest in the Codex Climaci Rescriptus

Abstract

In 2022, Gysembergh et al. published a paper in JHA claiming ‘New evidence for Hipparchus’ Star Catalogue’. In this paper we challenge this hypothesis by stating that (a) we disagree with their astronomical dating and find inconsistencies by using the given numbers, and (b) the terminology and the data format used in the palimpsest do not match Hipparchus or anybody else. Therefore, the palimpsest does not prove anything about Hipparchus’s star catalogue nor did Hipparchus use rectangular constellation borders. Specifically, the constellation of Corona Borealis, typically depicted as a circle since Babylonian times, is not considered a rectangle by Hipparchus. Furthermore, a palimpsest that cannot be dated properly does not confirm the long-known relationship between Hipparchus and Ptolemy as the authors claim.