Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Ancient Astronomy Notes Date 2800 BC -1200 BC ~569 BC - 475 BC ~429 BC - 347 BC ~387 BC – 312 BC ~384 BC – 322 BC ~310 BC – 230 BC ~275 BC 190 BC – 120 BC ~85 AD -165 AD 1200 AD -1700 AD Topic Importance Stonehenge England; thought used as a calendar Pythagoras Spherical Earth; geometry; proposed Venus is both evening and morning star; orbit of moon inclined Plato Idea that circles are perfect; orbits of celestial objects were circular Heraclides Daily motion of stars due to rotation of Earth on axis once a day Aristotle Reasons why Earth is round; ship on horizon, curved shadow during lunar eclipse Aristarchus Relative sizes and distances of Earth, Moon, and Sun; proposed heliocentric universe (not accepted) Eratosthenes Estimated size of Earth using trigonometry (circumference) Hipparchus Precession; 1st catalogue of stellar magnitude (brightness of stars) Ptolemy Planetary motion; published Almagest (idea of epicycles); geocentric Big Horn Wyoming; 28 spokes; used by Plains Indians; Med Wheel summer solstice; star markings Aztecs -Observers of nature; stars and seasons -unpredictable astro events linked to omens and portents Mayans Egyptians Native Americans -solar year 365 days (18 months of 20 days) -260 day cycle (20 day signs and 13 #s) -Calendar stone (Sunstone); Mexico City -Zenial passage observatories (sun directly overhead; cast no shadow at noon) -Earth flat with 4 corners -Milky Way= “World Tree” -Ecliptic depicted by double headed serpent -Caracol Temple; Yucatan Peninsula; alignment of Sun and Venus -Invented Simple solar calendar- 365 days; 12 months of 30 days (month 3 weeks of 10 days) -aligned pyramids/Tombs with star alignments -astronomers calculated time of flood; around summer solstice -5 constellations -36 groups of stars called decans -Nabta Stone Circle (only stone circle in Egypt) -Drawings of Supernova Explosions -Solar Observatories -Knotted cord to track solar cycles -Big Horn Medicine Wheel -Villages laid out like important stars in sky -Based religious ceremonies around celestial events -Identified many celestial objects Chinese Europeans -Astronomers/Astrologers separate -12 lunar months=1 year=365.25 days -divided sky -Scandinavia; Vikings/Norse Mythology -Most famous ancient astronomers were Greek Astronomers -Stones of Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Spain, etc -simple celestial cycle spheres (calendars/calculators) located throughout Northern Europe (none later than 1500 BC)