Astronomy
throughout History
The study of planets, stars, galaxies, and intergalactic and interstellar space falls under the field of astronomy. Thousands of years ago, the earliest civilizations observed the heavens. Because astronomers of the past set the foundation for today's astronomy, it is an interesting journey to take a look through the history of astronomy. How did they figure out how big around the Earth is? Who was the first astronomer to recognize galaxies outside our own? What must've it been like to look through Galileo's first telescope to see the craters on the Moon? Were people stunned when Halley correctly predicted the return of a comet?
Archeoastronomy is different than looking at the history of astronomy. It sets to find out just how astronomy fit into a certain culture's life. Were women ever allowed or encouraged to be astronomers in ancient times? Did the builders of Stonehenge incorporate into its structure an eclipse prediction system? How did the Mayan calculate the length of a year with such accuracy without a computer?
This section will take you on a journey through time, across the continents and into the lives of people from all times and places. It will touch on the history of astronomy, archeoastronomy and more. Please choose which way you would like to begin your journey:
Journey through Time Journey by Region Meet the People
Involved Archeoastronomy
The movements of the heavenly bodies are an admirable thing, well known and manifest to all peoples. There are no people, no matter how barbaric and primitive, that do not raise up their eyes, take note, and observe with some care and admiration the continuous and uniform course of the heavenly bodies." - Bernabe Cobo (1653)
From the beginning, man has observed the heavens. Early man observed the heavens because the Sun, Moon and stars gave indication of coming seasons to farmers and hunters. The sky aided in navigation especially for nomads and sailors. And many ancient civilizations thought the sky gave signs of life, war, earthquakes, the fate of kingdoms...and more.
The new field of archeoastronomy started in the 1960s with discoveries at Stonehenge. Archeoastronomy has been called the 'anthropology of astronomy' to distinguish it from the history of astronomy. This means that archeoastronomy pays attention to the astronomical practices, mythologies, and religions of ancient cultures. It sets to find out just how astronomy fit into a certain culture's life. And so it touches on ancient calendar systems, concepts of time and space, mathematics (especially counting systems and geometry), navigation, and architecture. Archeoastronomers will look at imagery and writing left by a civilization. They will look at architecture, especially to see if the buildings have any orientations towards the Sun or Moon or even Venus. The most common orientation is to look for alignment with sun rise on the date of a solstice.
This is a timeline of important events in astronomical history. Some events which are not specifically astronomical in nature are listed to give historical perspective as to what was happening in those times.
3,200 B.C.
Ireland
Newgrange is built.
3,000 B.C.
England
Stonehenge is built.
~2,000 B.C.
Egypt and Mesopotamia
First solar-lunar calendars
~280 B.C.
Samos (Alexandria)
Aristrachus suggests the Earth revolves around the Sun. He provides first estimation of Earth-Sun distance.
~240 B.C.
Cyrene (now Shahhat, Libya)
Eratosthenes measures the circumference of the earth with surprising accuracy!
~130 B.C.
Greece
Hipparchus develops the first acccurate star map and star catalogue with over 850 of the brightest stars.
45 B.C.
Roman Empire
Introduction of the Julian calendar, a purely solar calendar, to the Roman Empire.
140 A.D.
Greece
Ptolemy suggests geocentric theory of the universe in famous work Mathematike Syntaxis.
813 A.D.
Iraq
Al Mamon founds the Baghdad school of astronomy.
1054 A.D.
China
Chinese astronomers observe supernova in Taurus.
1543 A.D.
Poland
Copernicus publishes his heliocentric theory of the Universe.
1572 A.D.
Denmark
Tycho Brahe discovers a supernova in constellation of Cassiopeia.
1582 A.D.
Italy
Pope Gregory XIII introduces the Gregorian calendar.
1603 A.D.
Germany
Johann Bayer introduces Bayer designation of stars, assigning Greek letters to stars, still in use today.
1608 A.D.
Netherlands
Hans Lippershey, a Dutch spectacles maker invents the telescope.
1609 A.D.
Italy
Galileo uses telescope for astronomical purposes. He discovers 4 Jovian moons, the Moon's craters and the Milky Way galaxy.
1609 A.D.
Germany
Kepler's First and Second Laws of Planetary Motions are announced.
1609 A.D.
Germany
The Third Law of Planetary Motion is announced by Kepler in his work Harmonice Mudi (Harmony of the World).
1656 A.D.
Netherlands
Christian Huygens discovers Saturn's rings and Titan, the fourth satellite of Saturn.
1659 A.D.
Netherlands
Huygens notes markings on Mars.
1666 A.D.
Italy
Martian polar ice caps are noted by Cassini.
1668 A.D.
England
The first reflecting telescope was built by Newton.
1669 A.D.
Italy
Geminiano Montanari discovers the star Algol is not steady in brightness, thus recognizing the first variable star.
1675 A.D.
France
While in Paris, Danish astronomer Ole Romer measures the speed of light.
1675 A.D.
France
Cassini discovers that Saturn's rings are split into two parts, so that today the gap is called the "Cassini Division".
1687 A.D.
England
Newton publishes his theory of universal gravitation in the work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. This is seen to be the start of Modern Astronomy.
1705 A.D.
England
Halley correctly predicts the return of a comet (Halley's comet) in 1758.
1758 A.D.
Germany
Johann Palitzsch observes Halley's comet as predicted by Halley in 1705.
1781 A.D.
England
The discovery of Uranus by Herschel
1781 A.D.
France
Messier discovers galaxies, nebula and star clusters while looking comets. He compiles a catalogue of these objects (Messier objects).
1801 A.D.
Italy
Piazzi discovers first asteroid, Ceres.
1842 A.D.
Austria
Discovery of the 'Doppler Effect' by Austrian physicist and mathematician, Christian Doppler.
1843 A.D.
Germany
Samuel Heinrich Schwabe describes the sunspot cycle.
1846 A.D.
Germany
Johann Galle observes and discovers Neptune. His observations were prompted by mathematical calculations by French astronomer Joseph Leverrier and English astronomer John Couch Adams.
1860-63 A.D.
England
The beginning of spectral analysis of stars by Sir William Huggins
1868 A.D.
England
Jansen and Lockyer observe solar prominences.
1872 A.D.
U.S.A.
Henry Draper takes a photograph of the stellar spectrum of Vega. This is the first of its kind.
1877 A.D.
U.S.A.
Asaph Hall discovers Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars.
1877 A.D.
Italy
Shiaparelli observes the canals on Mars.
1878 A.D.
Jupiter
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter becomes prominent.
Person
Region where they lived
and worked...
Lifetime
'Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi
Persia
10th century A.D.
Aristotle
Greece
384-322 B.C.
Tycho Brahe
Denmark
1546-1601 A.D.
Giovanni Cassini
Italy
1625-1712 A.D.
Nicolas Copernicus
Poland
1473-1543 A.D.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Italian
1452-1519 A.D.
Democritus
Greece
470-380 B.C.
Christian Doppler
Austria
1803-1853 A.D.
En Hedu' Anna
Babylonia
~2354 B.C.
Eratosthenes
Cyrene (now Shahhat, Libya)
276-197 B.C.
Galileo Galilei
Italy
1564-1642 A.D.
Edmond Halley
England
1656-1742
William Herschel
England
1738-1822 A.D.
Hipparchus
Greece
190-120 B.C.
Christian Huygens
Netherlands
1629-1695 A.D.
Hypatia
Egypt
370-415 A.D.
Johan Kepler
Germany
1571-1630 A.D.
Simon Marius
German
1573-1624 A.D.
Isaac Newton
England
1642-1727 A.D.
Plato
Greece
427-327 B.C.
Ptolemy
Greece
85-165 A.D.
Pythagoras
Greece
580-520 B.C.
Socrates
Greece
470-399 B.C.
Thales
Greece
624-546 B.C.
Astronomy Regions of Interest
These regions are ones that are of most interest in the astronomy of long ago, i.e., it will mainly cover regions where people were practicing astronomy from 4,000 B.C. to the age of modern astronomy (1687 when Newton issued his universal Law of Gravitation). We will of course be adding to this section frequently! If you would like to see a region or event added to this list, please submit your suggestion to our comments system.
Region
Points of Interest
Africa
Ancient Egyptian Astronomy
Aristrachus - first estimation of Earth-Sun distance
Eratosthenes - circumference of the Earth
Babylonia
Ancient Babylonian Astronomy
British Isles
Newgrange Passage Tomb
Stonehenge Stone Monument
The founding of archeoastronomy
Central America
Ancient Mayan Astronomy
China
Ancient Chinese Astronomy
Denmark
Tycho Brahe - incredible naked-eye astronomer
Germany
Johann Bayer - Bayer system of star designation
Kepler - Laws of Planetary Motion
Greece
Hipparchus - first star map
Ptolemy - geocentric theory of the universe
Italy
Galileo - used one of the 1st telescopes
Netherlands
Hans Lippershey, inventor of the telescope
Poland
Copernicus - heliocentric theory of the universe
Roman Empire
Julian calendar (solar calendar)