Hipparchus' selenelion and two pairs of lunar eclipses revisited (Q6562920)

Hipparchus utilized for various purposes (such as computing the distance of the Moon from the Earth or empirically testing the Babylonian fundamental period relations of the lunar motion) eclipse observations that were either made by him, came down to him from his Greek predecessors, or were brought over from Mesopotamia.\N\NWhile there are direct references in Greek texts to some eclipse observations, a solar one, two lunar ones, and a ``selenelion'' (a phenomenon caused by atmospheric refraction that occurs when both the Sun and the eclipsed Moon can be observed at the same time, and for a short duration, just above the horizon, namely, just before sunset or just after sunrise) either made or reported by Hipparchus, they are undated.\N\NOne such reference is Ptolemy, who, in \textit{Almagest} IV.2, related that Hipparchus ``used two intervals [two pairs of lunar eclipses], in one of which the Moon started from its greatest speed and did not end at its least speed, and in the other of which it started from its least speed and did not end at its greatest speed.''\N\NThe dating of the two pairs of lunar eclipses and the selenelion are the main topic of this note, which revisits and partially revises the conclusions reached in [\textit{G. J. Toomer}, Centaurus 24, 97--109 (1980; Zbl 1548.01002)].\N\NThe author's conclusion: Of two pairs of the lunar eclipses Hipparchus used to put the lunar period relations of Babylonian origin to test, ``the pair at the greatest speed, almost certainly, includes the ones occurring on 31 January 486 B.C. and 27 January 141 B.C.'', in accordance with Toomer; the pair at the least velocity appears, in all probability, to consist of the ones taking place on 19 November 502 B.C. and 14 November 157 B.C., ``rather than those of 30 November 484 B.C. and 26 November 139 B.C., as suggested by Toomer, not least because the former was not observable at all from Mesopotamia.''\N\NRegarding the selenelion, if it was observed by Hipparchus himself (as related by Pliny the Elder) and if he ``observed it from St. Stephen's Hill in Rhodes, then, considering the geographical barriers surrounding the island, the most probable candidate was the lunar eclipse of 7 February 142 B.C., not the one that occurred on 26 November 139 B.C., as suggested by Toomer. Also, if Hipparchus was able to observe the phenomenon from a sufficiently high hill or mountain on the island, then he had the opportunity to observe not only either of the two just mentioned lunar eclipses, but also any of the other three ones (3 July 150 B.C., 10 April 145 B.C., or 15 November 138 B.C.), as the selenelion phenomenon.''