He was from Rhodes, born in Nicea, somewhere around 180 BC.
Why is Hipparchus important?
He was one of the earliest recorded astronomers. And supposedly a sculpture shows his long-lost star chart. But I don’t see why the person couldn’t have just looked at the stars as they were.
According to this site the Farnese Atlas is a Roman copy from 150 AD of the Greek original, circa 200 BC. In that case, the sculptor could have just looked out the window.
Is there something else I’m missing here?
This site is on Hipparchus, ancient astronomer. It notes: “While the North Celestial Pole today is near the star Polaris, in 3000 B.C., it was near the star Thuban in the constellation Draco…”