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1000-Year-Old Astrolabe Celebrates Milestone
22 Feb
Summary
- An ancient astrolabe made in 11th-century Spain is now 1,000 years old.
- The rare instrument was used for charting the position of stars.
- It is one of Europe's oldest surviving signed and dated astrolabes.
An extraordinary scientific instrument, dating back to the 11th century, has achieved a remarkable milestone: its 1,000th birthday. The astrolabe, an intricate brass device, was expertly crafted in Spain during that era.
Created in Cordoba by Muhammad ibn al-Saffar and precisely dated to 417 AH (1026-1027 AD), this two-dimensional model represents the celestial motions. Historically, it served to observe, calculate, and predict the positions of the sun and stars.
