What did Hipparchus discover and measure about Earth?
Its Diameter
Its Distance from the Sun
Its Precession
Its Mass
Answer
Precession is the slow, circular motion of the Earth's axis of rotation. Hipparchus discovered and measured the Earth's precession in the 2nd century BCE. He did this by observing the positions of stars over time and noticing that they were slowly moving against the background of the sky. Hipparchus's discovery of precession was a major advance in astronomy and helped to confirm the Earth's spherical shape.
The Legacy of Hipparchus: Exploring the Cosmic Genius
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