search turns up Babylonian astronomer
After doing a quick Google search, i got the following hyperlink that contains the info you seek.
http://www.livius.org/k/kidinnu/kidinnu.htm
An excerpt from the info site:
"Kidinnu or Cidenas: famous Babylonian astronomer (fourth century BCE?), one of the most important persons in the history of science.
The Greek geographer Strabo of Amasia (64 BCE-c.23 CE) gives a description of the life of the Babylonian astronomers, which he calls Chaldaeans."
However, it is unclear (to me) if this following
Nicaean character is Babylonian or not. You might want to research that part:
"Hipparchus (Greek Ἳππαρχος) (ca. 190 BC - ca. 120 BC) was a Greek, astronomer, geographer, and mathematician of the Hellenistic period.
Hipparchus was born in Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey), and probably died on the island of Rhodes. He is known to have been active at least from 147 BC to 127 BC. Hipparchus is considered the greatest astronomical observer, and by some the greatest astronomer of antiquity. He was the first Greek to develop quantitative and accurate models for the motion of the Sun and Moon. For this he made use of the observations and knowledge accumulated over centuries by the Chaldeans from Babylonia. He was also the first to compile a trigonometric table, which allowed him to solve any triangle. With his solar and lunar theories and his numerical trigonometry, he was probably the first to develop a reliable method to predict solar eclipses. His other achievements include the discovery of precession, the compilation of the first star catalogue of the western world, and probably the invention of the astrolabe. Claudius Ptolemaeus, three centuries later depended much on Hipparchus. However, his synthesis of astronomy superseded Hipparchus's work: although Hipparchus wrote at least fourteen books, only his commentary on the popular astronomical poem by Aratus has been preserved by later copyists. As a consequence, we know comparatively little about Hipparchus."
Also on Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com), I got the following hyperlink:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian
also try this site:
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~ipswich/History/Astronomy_AMT.htm
"Babylonian astronomy came to prominence after the Assyrian Empire began to weaken through wars. The Babylonians were the first to undertake astronomy as a science. Many of the names of the groupings of stars and constellations used today originated with the Babylonians, for example Taurus, Aquila and Leo. However, the boundaries of the constellations known to the Babylonians were different from those in use today."
. . .
"Babylonian astronomers collected a large amount of data about the positions and motions of the planets and Moon. From this, they were able to compile an ephemeris for each planet and the Moon, and were able to predict positions of the bodies and rise and set times over current, previous and future time periods. The Babylonians were able to predict both lunar and solar eclipses with great accuracy. The Babylonians showed far greater understanding of the theory of eclipse predictions than did the Assyrians."
...
"Among the sciences, astronomy and astrology occupied a conspicuous place in Babylonian society. Astronomy was of old standing in Babylonia, and the standard work on the subject, written from an astrological point of view, later translated into Greek by Berossus, was believed to date from the age of Sargon of Akkad. The zodiac was a Babylonian invention of great antiquity; and eclipses of the sun and moon could be foretold. Observatories were attached to the temples, and reports were regularly sent by astronomers to the king. The stars had been numbered and named at an early date, and we possess tables of lunar longitudes and observations of the phases of Venus. Great attention was naturally paid to the calendar, and we find a week of seven days and another of five days in use.
>>>
"Babylonian astrology was based on the belief that the entire universe was created in relation to the earth. Thus the ancients saw it as no accident that the stars and planets were set in a certain divine order at the time of creation.
In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were of a thoroughly scientific character; how much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is considered to be a major episode in the history of astronomy."
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