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Medieval Islamic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age (9th–13th centuries), and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and later in the Far East and India.
Astrolabes were further developed in the medieval Islamic world, where Muslim astronomers introduced angular scales to the design, [19] adding circles indicating azimuths on the horizon. [20] It was widely used throughout the Muslim world, chiefly as an aid to navigation and as a way of finding the Qibla, the direction of Mecca.
The astrolabe/almucantar quadrant – a quadrant developed from the astrolabe: This quadrant was marked with one half of a typical astrolabe plate as astrolabe plates are symmetrical. A cord attached from the centre of the quadrant with a bead at the other end was moved to represent the position of a celestial body (sun or a star).
Astrolabes were adopted and further developed in the medieval Islamic world, where Muslim astronomers introduced angular scales to the design, [28] adding circles indicating azimuths on the horizon. [29] It was widely used throughout the Muslim world, chiefly as an aid to navigation and as a way of finding the Qibla, the direction of Mecca.
The sine quadrant was described by Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 9th-century Baghdad, and was used throughout the medieval Islamic period to determine the proper times for Islamic prayer. [2] These instruments, with poor angular resolution, were not principally intended to function with stars at night as an astronomical measuring device.
Astrolabes were further developed in the medieval Islamic world where it was widely used as an aid for navigation and as an aid for finding the direction of Mecca. The earliest Arabic treatise on astrolabes was composed sometime around 815 CE. [2] It is not known when exactly the astrolabe reached India.
Sine quadrant: A type of quadrant used by medieval Arabic astronomers, it was described by Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 9th century Baghdad. [ 44 ] Scimitar : The curved sword or "scimitar" was widespread throughout the Middle East from at least the Ottoman period , with early examples dating to Abbasid era (9th century) Khurasan .
Najm al‐Din also wrote an important illustrated treatise that describes more than 100 different astronomical instruments, such as astrolabes, quadrants and sundials, including ones he invented himself. This work is of high importance for modern scholars and one of the main sources on the subject.