Introduction
Ever since humankind first looked at the sky, it has been fascinated by the heavens. Many ancient cultures saw the stars as the abode of the gods and attributed personalities to celestial objects and movements. The curiosity of the ancient Greeks taught us a great deal about the depths of space, but we are still a long way from knowing the secrets of the universe.
First skywatchers
Evidence has recently been found to suggest that humankind has been charting the skies for over 15,000 years. Cave paintings found recently in France and Spain include maps of star clusters such as the Pleiades. The Akkadians kept astronomical records over 4,500 years ago. There is evidence to show that they predicted the course of objects in the sky, including the sun, the moon and the planets. Fascinating ancient sites such as the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge in England are thought to have astronomical significance.
Ptolemy
It was the ancient Greeks who turned astronomy into a science. Ptolemy published his Almagest in AD140. This was a remarkable encyclopedia of the patterns of the stars and the planets. He used it to support his argument that the Earth was the centre of the universe. His "system of the world" suggested that surrounding Earth were seven transparent spheres, each containing a moving object. He claimed that an eighth sphere surrounded everything, and that the stars were points of light set on this sphere. Although we now know this theory to be wrong, it was a very accurate method of predicting the motions of the planets, and was the cornerstone of astronomy for 1,000 years.
Copernicus
Aristarchus, another Greek astronomer who lived in Ptolemy's time, was one of the first to suggest that the sun was at the centre of the universe, and the Earth orbited it. His ideas were laughed at, and it was not until 1500 years later that Ptolemy's theory was challenged seriously. In the 1540s, a Polish churchman named Copernicus claimed that the planets including Earth, orbited the sun. He was arrested by the church for his ideas, but eventually the work of astronomers such as Galileo proved him right.
Some important facts
1) Stonehenge is a giant astronomical calender with stones aligned to the sun. It was built around 3000BC.
2) Ptolemy believed that the Earth was the centre of the universe. Moving outwards from Earth was the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The eighth sphere held the stars.
3) Ptolemy also believed that the sky could never change its shape. An astronomer named Tycho Brahe proved this wrong in 1572 when he saw a supernova and a comet.
4) Copernicus believed that the sun was the centre of everything in the universe. His system placed the planets around the sun and is very similar to the solar system we know today.
Facts and figures
13,000BC : Cave paintings in Europe show evidence of sky watching.
750BC : The Babylonians work out the cycle of the moon.
164BC : The Babylonians make the first recorded sighting of the Halley's comet.
AD150 : Ptolemy claims that Earth was the center of the universe.
AD1054 : The Chinese record the crab supernova exploding.
AD1543 : Copernicus suggests that the Earth revolves around the sun.
Ever since humankind first looked at the sky, it has been fascinated by the heavens. Many ancient cultures saw the stars as the abode of the gods and attributed personalities to celestial objects and movements. The curiosity of the ancient Greeks taught us a great deal about the depths of space, but we are still a long way from knowing the secrets of the universe.
First skywatchers
Evidence has recently been found to suggest that humankind has been charting the skies for over 15,000 years. Cave paintings found recently in France and Spain include maps of star clusters such as the Pleiades. The Akkadians kept astronomical records over 4,500 years ago. There is evidence to show that they predicted the course of objects in the sky, including the sun, the moon and the planets. Fascinating ancient sites such as the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge in England are thought to have astronomical significance.
Ptolemy
It was the ancient Greeks who turned astronomy into a science. Ptolemy published his Almagest in AD140. This was a remarkable encyclopedia of the patterns of the stars and the planets. He used it to support his argument that the Earth was the centre of the universe. His "system of the world" suggested that surrounding Earth were seven transparent spheres, each containing a moving object. He claimed that an eighth sphere surrounded everything, and that the stars were points of light set on this sphere. Although we now know this theory to be wrong, it was a very accurate method of predicting the motions of the planets, and was the cornerstone of astronomy for 1,000 years.
Copernicus
Aristarchus, another Greek astronomer who lived in Ptolemy's time, was one of the first to suggest that the sun was at the centre of the universe, and the Earth orbited it. His ideas were laughed at, and it was not until 1500 years later that Ptolemy's theory was challenged seriously. In the 1540s, a Polish churchman named Copernicus claimed that the planets including Earth, orbited the sun. He was arrested by the church for his ideas, but eventually the work of astronomers such as Galileo proved him right.
Some important facts
1) Stonehenge is a giant astronomical calender with stones aligned to the sun. It was built around 3000BC.
2) Ptolemy believed that the Earth was the centre of the universe. Moving outwards from Earth was the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The eighth sphere held the stars.
3) Ptolemy also believed that the sky could never change its shape. An astronomer named Tycho Brahe proved this wrong in 1572 when he saw a supernova and a comet.
4) Copernicus believed that the sun was the centre of everything in the universe. His system placed the planets around the sun and is very similar to the solar system we know today.
Facts and figures
13,000BC : Cave paintings in Europe show evidence of sky watching.
750BC : The Babylonians work out the cycle of the moon.
164BC : The Babylonians make the first recorded sighting of the Halley's comet.
AD150 : Ptolemy claims that Earth was the center of the universe.
AD1054 : The Chinese record the crab supernova exploding.
AD1543 : Copernicus suggests that the Earth revolves around the sun.
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