International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

Observing Sun’s Altitude During Transit Using Astrolabe as a Teaching Aid in Astrofiqh

Open access

Mohd Hafiz Safiai, Md. Yazid Ahmad, Abdul Basir Mohamad, Mohd Nasran Mohamad, Che Maryam Ahmad, Zuliza Mohd Kusrin

Pages 1070-1078 Received: 13 Dec, 2022 Revised: 15 Jan, 2023 Published Online: 17 Feb, 2023

http://dx.doi.org/10.46886/IJARBSS/v13-i2/10183
This article discusses the accuracy of astrolabe in obtaining sun’s altitude data during transit. Astrolabe is an ingenious astronomical instrument which was created both to observe and calculate the coordinates of celestial objects such as stars and planets thousands of years ago. However, various creations of modern instruments made astrolabe to be considered as inaccurate and eventually getting forgotten. Thus, this study attempts to analyses the data of sun’s altitude during transit obtained by astrolabe. This is a qualitative study with technical features by adopting document analysis, observation, and comparison analysis approaches. The data analysis process has been conducted by comparing the data obtained by astrolabe and the official data retrieved from Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM). The finding shows that astrolabe can be used both for observation and calculation purposes and it is still relevant for today's use. This study is quite important to be carried out to create awareness on the importance of ancient astronomical instruments and at the same time to commemorate the golden ages of the Islamic civilization which incorporated hundreds of years of Islamic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Archambault, A. (2009). The Visual Dictionary of Universe & Earth - Universe & Earth, Montreal: QA International.
Ariel, A., & Berger, N. A. (2006). Plotting the Globe: Stories of Meridians, Parallels and the International Date Line. Greenwood: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Aterini, B. (2019). The Astrolabe: A Mechanism for Reading the Stars. In: Zhang, B., Ceccarelli, M. (eds) Explorations in the History and Heritage of Machines and Mechanisms. History of Mechanism and Machine Science, vol 37. Springer, Cham.
Azhari, S. (2005). Ensiklopedi Hisab Rukyat. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.
Barry, R. G., & Hall-McKim, E. A. 2014. Essentials of the Earth's Climate System. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bentley, P. (2018). Star Taker: Art, Science and Mathematics in an Astrolabe from Fourteenth Century Spain. Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 12(2-3), 170-180.
Chun-Hao, H., Tian-Yi, H., & Bang-Xin, X. (1990). The celestial reference system in relativistic framework. In. Lieske, J. H. & Abalakin, V. K. (eds.). Inertial Coordinate System on the Sky: Proceedings of the 141st Symposium of the International Astronomical Union, pp. 99-110. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Dolan, G. (2003). On the Line: The Story of the Greenwich Meridian. London: National Maritime Museum.
Fernandez, R. (2013). Earthtrek Geography. Mumbai: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.
Hamilton, G. (2007). Blue Planet – Space. Dayton: Lorenz Educational Press.
Hanslmeier, A. (2007). The Sun and Space Weather. Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media.
Heidon, P. B., Stahlman, G. R., & Steffen, J. (2018). Astrolabe: Curating, Linking, and Computing Astronomy’s Dark Data. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 236(3), 1-12.
Hutton, C. (1815). A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary. Michigan: The University of Michigan.
Jackson, E. B. (2002). The Spring Equinox: Celebrating the Greening of the Earth. Connecticut: Millbrook Press.
Kaler, J. B. (2002). The Ever-Changing Sky: A Guide to the Celestial Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kar, R., & Chandel, R. S. (2009). Exploring the Earth. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
Khazin, M. (2004). Ilmu Falak dalam Teori dan Praktek. Yogyakarta: Buana Pustaka.
Martin, R. E. (2016). Earth's Evolving Systems. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
McBride, N., & Gilmor, I. (2004). An Introduction to the Solar System. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Millar, W. (2006). The Amateur Astronomer's Introduction to the Celestial Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mitchell, J. A. (2018). Transmedial Technics in Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe: Translation, Instrumentation, and Scientific Imagination. Studies in the Age of Chaucer, 40, 1-41.
Pasachoff, J. M., & Peterson, R. T. (2015). Peterson First Guide to Astronomy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Peterson, J. F., Sack, D., & Gabler, R. E. (2015). Fundamentals of Physical Geography. Stamford: Cengage Learning.
Philander, S. G. (2012). Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change. California: SAGE Publications Inc.
Pidwirny, M. (2017). Understanding Physical Geography. Kelowna: Our Planet Earth Publishing.
Preston, R. C., & Tottle, J. (1969). In Latin American Lands. Royal Oak: Heath Press. projection_on_tympan.gif.
Safiai, M. H., & Ibrahim, I. A. (2016). Tracing the History of Astrolabe Inventions Across Civilisations. In: Kamali, M., Bakar, O., Batchelor, DF., Hashim, R. (eds). Islamic Perspectives on Science and Technology. Springer, Singapore.
Safiai, M. H., Ibrahim, I. A., Jamsari, E. A., Nasir, B. M., & Ahmad, M. Y. (2017). Astrolabe as Portal to the Universe, Inventions Across Civilizations. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 8(11), 609-619.
Safiai, M. H., Ibrahim, I. A., Jamsari, E. A., Ahmad, M. Y., & Nasir, B. M. (2016). The Continuity of Astrolabe as a Multipurpose Astrofiqh Instrument. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 11(9), 6081-6086.
Seeds, M. A., & Backman, D. E. (2007). Perspectives on Astronomy. Belmont: Thomson Brooke/Cole.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. (2012). 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press.
Waldron, M. (2013). Mapping the World. London: Raintree.
Warm, H. (2010). Signature of the Celestial Spheres: Discovering Order in the Solar System. Forest Row: Rudolf Steiner Press.