Azarquiel's universal astrolabe (saphea)
Azafea (astrolabio universal de Azarquiel)
- Date
- c. 1070 · confidence medium
- Place
- Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain
- Credited to
- Abu Ishaq al-Zarqali (Azarquiel)
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
Astrolabe with a single meridian-projection plate valid for any latitude, which did away with the need for interchangeable plates. It was widely used in Europe as the saphea.
Ali ibn Khalaf, also from Toledo, designed a similar universal plate (the plate of all latitudes).
What it led to
- universal astrolabes of the Renaissance (Gemma Frisius, Rojas)
- navigation and astronomical calculation at any latitude
- Alfonsine instruments