When looking at the history of astronomy, many will often first think of the ancient Greeks and later on the men of the Age of Enlightenment and their discoveries. However documents from ancient China show that they were observing and recording celestial movements long before the Greeks.
As tradition dictated that the rulers of China should receive their political mandate from the sky, astronomy soon became a dominant science in China. The main responsibility of political power was to keep the Earth in total harmony with the sky. This obligation was called the “Mandate of Heaven.” The stars were bestowed with astrological meaning, both enabling predictions that influenced daily life as well as major political strategies, and thus astronomy
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As early as 2254 BCE, the Records of the Grand Historian, or Shi Ji, and the Book of Ancient Time, or Shang Shu, provide writings that state how Emperor Yao got astronomers to calculate solstices and predict seasonal changes to assist farmers, as well as his advisors. He assigned officers to observe patterns such as the sun rising and setting, and the appearance of stars at night. This allowed a solar and lunar calendar with 366 days to be created (Astronomy in Early Chinese Sources). The Book of Documents also dated four asterisms to the 21st century BCE. Stars and their movements were being recorded during the Shang dynasty in 1500 BCE, and oracle bone writings from 1400–1200 BCE indicate that the Yin used a year of 12 lunar months, each of 29 or 30 days, with an extra month every three years. Records and star catalogues of astonishing detail were kept from 600 BC onwards (Sarma). Then in recent years, archaeological work done at Taosi, an ancient site in Shanxi, shows the possibility of an early observatory being built to aid astronomical officers dating back to 2100 BCE–1600 BCE (Pankenier, Liu and Des …show more content…
Ancient Chinese astronomers poetically named these explosions ‘guest stars’ and a full catalog of them. This catalog was maintained over centuries and carefully noted their various appearances and offers accurate information about their positions which has enabled modern astronomers to find remnants of these explosions in the sky today (International Dunhuang Project). Throughout the years, the Chinese also developed three different cosmological models. The first model was the Gai Tian. This model was a hemispherical dome that conceived the heavens as a hemisphere lying over the Earth, which was dome-shaped. The second model saw the heavens as a celestial sphere. Then finally the third model viewed the heavens as floating about in rare intervals (Needham and
Many of the heavenly bodies were considered to be the representations of deities. The master of reason, Aristotle, stated once long ago that everything was made of only five elements the final being what makes up the heavenly bodies, after all they lacked the proper technologies to know differently. It was Galileo in 1610, using his telescope, that found dark spots on the sun. So as technological innovations occur our understanding of physics and astronomy grow. Newton in 1687 discovered the laws of gravity, suggested that all the solar and stellar bodies operated the same.
The surest foundation for the origin of science in its practical form is to be found in the ìco–rdination and standardization of the knowledge of common sense and of industry.î[1] One of the first occurrences of this co–rdination can be traced back to 2500 BCE in the form of edicts from the ancient Babylonian rulers, who issued royal standards of length, weight and capacity. Non-Semitic Sumerians also laid down the elements of mathematics and geometry at that time, making use of fractions, decimals, circles and radial angles. But knowledge as we know it today was tightly woven with magical notions, and as both spread westward they instilled in European thought a reverence for ìspecial numbers, their connections to the gods and the application of geometrical diagrams to the prediction of the future.î[2] As well, the ancient Babylonians were fascinated by the heavens. They were the first to make a map of the stars and associate them with animals like the Ram, Crab and Scorpion, names that we still use to this day. They also realized the periodicity and reliability of astronomical movement and phenomena, and were soon able to predict many of them. Tablets have been found dating to the sixth century BCE that predicted the relative positions of the sun and moon, as well as forecasted the occurrences of eclipses.[3] Out of all this knowledge the Babylonians built up a fantastic system of astrology, through which the starsówhich were thought to fix and foretell the course of human affairsówould give up their secrets.
For Gallus told us that the other kind of celestial globe, which was solid and contained no hollow space, was a very early invention, the first one of that kind having been constructed by Thales of Mileus, and later marked by Eudoxus with the constellations and stars which are fixed in the sky. (Price 56)
& MCMILLAN, S. 2008. Astronomy Today - Sixth Edition, United States of America, Pearson Education, Inc.
2, Alter Dinsmore, Cleminshaw H. Clarence, Philips G John. Pictorial Astronomy. United States: Sidney Feinberg, 1963.
What is astronomy? Astronomy consist of a lot of things that make up our solar system such as: the nine planets, asteroids, meteorites, the moon and the sun. Astronomy is also a fascinating hobby that can be followed by anyone. You do not need to be, as some people seem to imagine, ‘mathematically-minded’ , in order to start, or even to become a very experienced observer. Yet astronomy is one of the few hobbies where not only can you gain great enjoyment, but if you feel want to can very easily make observations of great scientific value.
On March 29, 1974, a couple of workers were digging a water well on the east side of Mount Li outside of the city of Xi’an. The workers uncovered a single terracotta figure and called the government authorities who investigated the matter. Soon, government archeologists were sent to the site. The unearthed great clay army that has baffled modern day craftsmen, intrigued archeologists, and amazed the general public. Before this discovery, no one knew about the First Emperor of China. Forty years later, we know a good deal about his legacy.
Thousands of years ago, ancient people looked up at the night sky and spotted unfamiliar objects in the sky, known as stars. Some people saw the stars as a tool to navigate at night and to keep up with the seasons. Others were completely clueless about what the stars were and why there were up in the sky. This eventually led to curiosity and the beginning of astronomy. The very first astronomers grouped stars into constellations, which basically is connecting the stars to make an imaginary outline of people, object, or animals. This allowed the astronomers to keep track of the movement of the planets and the sun, which allowed them to create the very first accurate calendar to know when it was the right time to harvest and plant.
Astronomy is a very important field in science. Ancient Greece, China, and India all contributed to our everyday ideas and uses of astronomy. Ancient Greece was the most influential because the Indian’s based most of their astronomy off of Greece. The Greeks created calendars that were based off of the eclipse cycle, which they called by two different names, Hellenic Calendars and Lunisolar Calendars. Because of Ancient Greece, we now have calendars to keep us on track every day. The Greeks observed a celestial object passing through the eastern and western morning sky. After a long time of observations, they came to a realization that it was a planet and now that is the planet is well known as Venus. (Sarton, 75) Plato and Aristotle’s theories were incredible contributions on us today. Both of their theories were all about the behavior and life of the planets, such as their theory that the earth is spherical. (Sarton, 421). Ancient Greece als...
Grease is a coming-of-age film set in the 1950s. The movie begins with Sandy Olsson and Danny Zuko falling in love on the beach over the summer. When the summer ends, the two part ways to begin their senior years of high school. Originally, Sandy was supposed to return to Australia, however she ends up having a change of plans and attending Rydell High School. By the end of her first day at school, she had already met a group of girls named the Pink Ladies and informed them of her love-filled summer.
Since the first Egyptian farmers discovered the annual reappearance of Sirius just before dawn a few days before the yearly rising of the Nile, ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean have sought to explain the movements of the heavens as a sort of calendar to help guide them conduct earthly activities. Counting phases of the moon or observing the annual variations of day length could, after many years' collection of observations, serve as vital indicators for planting and harvesting times, safe or stormy season for sailing, or time to bring the flocks from winter to summer pastures. With our millennia of such observation behind us, we sometimes forget that seeing and recording anything less obvious than the rough position of sun or nightly change of moon phase requires inventing both accurate observation tools (a stone circle, a gnomon used to indicate the sun's shadow, a means to measure the position of stars in the sky) and a system of recording that could be understood by others. The ancient Greeks struggled with these problems too, using both native technology and inquiry, and drawing upon the large body of observations and theories gradually gleaned from their older neighbors across the sea, Egypt and Babylonia. Gradually moving from a system of gods and divine powers ordering the world to a system of elements, mathematics, and physical laws, the Greeks slowly adapted old ideas to fit into a less supernatural, hyper-rational universe.
Astronomy dates back to ancient times when peoples such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese kept written records of astronomical events and occurrences. Today’s seven day week originates from the Babylonians’ seven important bodies in the night sky: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The ancient Egyptians used the stars to align their pyramids and many of their corridors in almost perfect north-south or east-west directions. The Chinese were experts at predicting solar eclipses. They believed that a solar eclipse was a dangerous warning. Chinese astronomers were executed if they failed to predict an eclipse.
The search for answers regarding the universe starts with ancient societies, which tried to explain astronomical phenomena and features through religious and mythological meanings. Aboriginal culture, for example, calls “Emu in the sky” the dark nebulas (opaque clouds of dust and gas) that are in front of the Milky Way, as they form a shape of the animal, which was depicted in the same position in engravings found in Australia. The symbol comes from these nebulas rather than from stars of Milky Way, although it is only possible to see the “Emu shape” because of the stars brightness in the background. This bright band in the clear night sky draws attention since the beginning of human history and the understanding of that in scientific
Astronomy was born in the five cradles of civilization, along the Nile Valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley along the western region of the Indian subcontinent, the Chinese city states on the banks of the Yellow River, the ancient regions of Me-soamerica from central Mexico down to the Andean South America and the an-cient city states of Mesopotamia in the fertile crescent. Each of these ancient cul-tures incorporated astronomy into calendar making, religion, mythology, and astrology. Many of these civilizations kept various forms of stars charts, but some of the most complete came Mesopotamia.
Where did astronomy originate? According to the Department of Astronomy, the earliest people to keep astronomical records where the Akkadians (they lived in what is later known as the northern part of Babylon). The earliest date is from around 2,500 B.C. The ancient Akkadian priests were the first to record these astronomical records. They recorded these records because it helped them predict some of the Sun’s motions, and the Earth’s moons, and the stars. These records included observations of the daily, monthly, and yearly positions of the stars and planets. These records explained the geographical locations of the planets. The records also helped with them being able to judge when to plant and harvest crops and with religious ceremonies.