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Astronomy is a science with roots in ancient history. When humans began to
discover that they could plant seeds and grow crops for a reliable food
source, a need arose to accurately predict the seasons. Our ancestors
noticed that the stars steered a regular course in the heavens and that
the seasons could be predicted by noting the rising and setting of certain
stars. The length of the year could be determined by noting when a star
rose and carefully counting the days when it rose in the same place on
the earth’s horizon again. Elaborate observation areas were constructed
to mark certain celestial events and to keep track of them.
From this information, accurate calendars could be developed to
determine the time for planting, harvesting and setting important
religious festivals. Learning the positions of the stars at determined
times of the year could also aid travelers in determining their location
when on long journeys from their homes. This helped merchants as trade
developed between peoples far away from each other.
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Many ancient peoples developed astronomy to a high degree, and have left
history behind in their records. The Mayans,
Egyptians, Babylonians, and Chinese all developed accurate star charts
and mapped the movements of the sun, moon and planets. All these
civilizations came up with highly accurate calendars.
These various civilizations all kept meticulous records of their
observations. Babylonians used clay tablets, dried in the sun to record
and perform fairly complex mathematical equations to predict planet,
star, lunar, and solar movements with a high degree of accuracy. Literally
hundreds of these stone tablets have been unearthed and studied by
archeologists. Egyptian records were written on papyrus and carved in
stone. Most Mayan records were destroyed by Spanish conquistadores when
they over ran the Mayan cities. Many Chinese records are also still in
existence.
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Astrology played a part in ancient astronomy. This was, and still is for
many, the belief that the movements of the stars and planets influenced
events on earth, and the lives of the men and women who lived here. This
was a logical extrapolation, as it was believed that the stars influenced
the events on earth that they predicted, such as the seasons. Astrology’s
contribution to science comes in the form of the mathematics devised to
plot the movements of celestial bodies to develop predictions based on
those movements.
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Ancient astronomers formulated many different theories explaining the
movements of the earth, sun and planets. Some believed in the geocentric
theory in which the earth was motionless, the sun, planets and stars
revolving around it. This theory required elaborate corrections and
schemes to make it fit what was observed in the sky.
Others, Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos chief among them, believed
in a heliocentric system, the sun being at the center and the earth and
planets revolving around it.
The geocentric became the predominant theory until the sixteenth century
when Nicolaus Copernicus proved the old theory wrong.
The accomplishments of the ancient astronomers were many and they laid
the basis for much of what we know now. This was all accomplished with
naked eye observations and very rudimentary equipment. Modern astronomers
work exclusively with giant telescopes, radio arrays, satellites,
computers and other equipment. Very rarely does an astronomer actually
look at the starry cosmos gazed at so earnestly by their processors of
old.
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