Astronomy
The scientific study of all celestial objects, such as planets, stars, and galaxies, as well as everything that occurs outside of the Earth’s atmosphere is called Astronomy. One major question presented by astronomy is ‘How was the universe formed and how has it changed since its formation?’ This question and others are examined through a number of scientific fields and processes, such as evolution, physics, and chemistry. The history of astronomy is vast and encompasses many civilizations over thousands of years.
Astronomy is regarding as one of the oldest scientific fields of study, dating back to ancient times. Ancient civilizations began observing the night sky and recorded stars and other celestial bodies that they saw. They even documented them to make them easier to remember through the use of constellations. Artifacts have been uncovered by archaeologists, proving that patterns of stars in the sky have been recorded by early people in early astronomy history. Early civilizations even used astronomy as a tool to measure time by creating calendars that coincided with the cycles of the sun, moon and stars. In addition, the stars were used as a navigation tool for ships traveling across the ocean by observing stars in the sky to determine which direction they were heading in.
The Earliest History of Astronomy- Babylonia
The origin of Western astronomy history can be traced as far back as 1200 BC, by a civilization living in Mesopotamia. In this region, the kingdoms of Sumer, Assyria and Babylonia were located. Babylonia is known for having the earliest records of star cataloging, writing their findings in Sumerian. Babylonian observations began to improve during 747-733 BC as the discover of an 18-year cycle of lunar eclipses was observed and recorded.
Egypt:
Egypt’s large amount of technical skill and know-how required to build the ancient Pyramids suggests their advanced capabilities to observe the sky. The Pyramids were proven to have been aligned in a way as to be lined up with the pole star, a star in the constellation of Draco. Also, the Great Temple has been proven to have been built so that it would be lined up with the rising of the midwinter sun. At other times of the year, the corridor of the Great Temple is less illuminated then during the winter. During this time, astronomy and religious beliefs were strongly connected and celebrations and festivals were planned in relation to the observations made within the astronomy researchers during this time.
Greek:
The Ancient Greek civilization was the first to develop astronomy and to implement it with mathematics. They developed the first three dimensional demonstrations to show movement of celestial bodies. The influence of Greek astronomy would have a significant influence in the development of further research.
Copernican Revolution:
This is considered to be the renaissance of astronomy, largely influenced by Nicolaus Copernicus, who believed that the Earth revolved around the Sun, rather than the Sun and all other celestial bodies revolved around Earth. During this time, telescopes were developed to observe the sky, which paved the way for modern astronomy aspects and techniques of today.