Our universe is so vast, one wonders how early man could have made such accurate maps and observations of our skies in ancient times. Although they did not have the powerful telescopes that we have today, in ancient times men studied the sky simply by looking at it. They recognized and even named many of the different heavenly bodies.
Early civilizations recognized that there were heavenly objects closer to the earth than others and were therefore not stars. They believed them to be their gods and these celestial bodies retain the names of their mythological gods today. They also recognized patterns in the stars, which are what we know as constellations, and named them for their mythological heroes. These early people started to map the universe and beyond.
One of the earliest civilizations to write down its astronomical observations was the Babylonian, around 1200 BC, and star catalogues have been found from this period. By observing the skies, the Babylonians were able to predict the length of days, when the sun would rise and set and what they believed to be the movement of the stars.
Other early civilizations that used simply their eyes to observe the skies were the Maya, Egyptians, Greeks and the Chinese. These civilizations used their astronomical observations to create extremely accurate calendars and to keep time. The Magi were considered the first professional astronomers and were revered for their ability to determine the future from reading the movement of the stars.
Prior to 310 BC, men believed that the earth was the center of the universe and that everything else revolved around it. In 1054, Chinese astronomers observed a supernova in the constellation of the Crab with their naked eyes. By observing the skies, even without the aid of a telescope, Aristarchus of Samos proposed his heliocentric theory of the motion of the universe, which Copernicus supported. The church strongly disputed this theory. Copernicus was tried and found guilty of being a heretic for his steadfast belief in astronomical observations of Aristarchus. The heliocentric theory was later adopted by other civilizations and today we know it to be true.
Further reading: Difference between Heliocentric and Geocentric
The invention of the telescope in 1608 by Hans Lipperhey made it possible for man to study the universe surrounding our planet with two magnifying lenses in a tube like device. Galileo Galilei ground the lenses of Lipperhey’s telescope to a stronger magnification, making it possible for him to see satellites orbiting the planet Jupiter and he was then able to see the craters on the moon.
In the 17th century, Johannes Kepler changed the shape of lenses in telescopes to make them convex and concave, which increased the magnification even more, but the image appeared upside down. Isaac Newton added curved mirrors to the telescope design which reversed the upside down image making it possible for man to see the moon, planets and stars with much greater detail with the proper orientation.
In 1758 Giuseppe Piazzi, looking through a telescope, made the first observation of the asteroid Ceres.
Man still was curious about the universe so telescope lenses were continually made larger and in the 19th century the first astronomical observatory was constructed. With the huge telescopes of the world’s observatories, scientists started to search the skies not only for new celestial bodies or celestial events, but for impending dangers to our planet. Just as man did in ancient times, scientists of today are mapping the skies with the help of more and more powerful telescopes. With the launch of the Hubble telescope, man is making astronomical observations as never before.
