Alfraganus, 9th-century Islamic astronomer. Known as Alfraganus and born in around 800, he died in around 870. His full name was Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani. He worked in Baghdad and Cairo, publishing a summary in 833 of Ptolemy's 'Almagest'. He also worked on meridian arc astronomy (to measure the diameter of the Earth) and supervised the construction of a Nilometer. The person at left is named here as 'heremita' and is probably a member of the Eremita family, of Ferrara. This artwork is the frontispiece from a 15th-century translation of his works ('Compilatio astronomica'), produced in 1493 in the Italian city of Ferrara. Named after Al-Fargani, Abu'l-'Abbās Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Kathīr Alfraganus - Persian astronomer (unkn-c. 840). Alfraganus is a small lunar impact crater that lies in the rugged highland region to the southwest of the Mare Tranquillitatis. The rim is circular and retains a sharp edge that has not received a significant amount of wear due to subsequent impacts. The interior floor is roughly half the diameter of the crater rim. A crater is a circular depression likely created by an impact event. On the Moon they are named after deceased scientists, polar explorers, astronauts or cosmonauts (Source: Encyclopedia).
Jabir Ibn Hayyan: Iranian Chemist and Astrologist
