Abdul-Rahan al-Şūfī and His Book of the Fixed Stars: A Journey of Re-discovery

The Book of the Fixed Stars was written by the Persian astronomer Abdul-Rahan al-Şūfī around AD 964, and is one of the most important medieval Arabic treatises on astronomy. al-Şūfī's work contains an extensive star catalog as well as detailed star charts for the 48 classical constellations, and draws on material in Ptolemy's Almagest. At present no English translation of al-Şūfī's treatise exists. This paper summarizes a detailed study by the first author for a Ph.D. degree in the Centre of Astronomy at James Cook University (Townsville, Australia) which will include for the first time a complete English translation of the main parts of al-Şūfī's major work.