It was one of those secrets of the ages, and it was hiding in plain sight; in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. At least that is where the astronomer sleuth Brad Schaefer first encountered the seven foot high statue of Atlas.
Unlike most of us, Schaefer was not so taken by the image of the muscular man, pushed down onto one knee by the weight of the globe on his right shoulder. Schaefer was looking at the marble relief carving on the globe itself. His training in astronomy told him, that was more than mere decoration, and after months of research, he thinks he may have discovered the lost star catalogue of Hipparchus.
It is not the first such piece of celestial snooping for Brad Schaefer, he’s only just started work on a century and a half of sunspot records. We peer over the shoulder of the star detective to find out what’s up, with what’s up.
Guests:
Brad Schaefer, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Louisiana State University.