Astronomy and Ancient Civilizations
We as humans are highly attracted to
the beauty of nature and there is nothing more beautiful than the heavenly
bodies. Our attraction toward heavenly bodies can be dated back to ancient
times. Astronomy is a natural science developed by the ancient civilization,
although they had basic equipment, they started measuring the position of the
celestial bodies by making astrometry (one of the oldest branches of
astronomy-the science of charting the sky). Not only curiosity induced the
early astronomers, but astronomy is also a practical science too. They
calculated the best time for agriculture, religious rituals, and navigation by
monitoring the stars, moon, and planets. Some civilizations showed a high
affinity toward astronomy. Mesopotamian, Greek, Indian, Mayan, and Egyptian
civilizations are some of them.
Mesopotamian Civilization
Mesopotamians
maintained clear records about the movements of the sun, moon, and motions
including daily, monthly, and yearly positions of celestial bodies.
Mesopotamians are the first who divided the sky into zones. Initially, this
record was a mystical value which is used to warn the king about the upcoming
catastrophe.
Greek Civilization
Greeks are considered as the fathers
of ancient astronomy, they formulated theories, and mathematical equations and
tried to explain the universe. Greek astronomers are the 1st to attempt the use
of astrometry to estimate cosmic scale. Alexandria is a Greek colony where
astronomy flourished with a renowned library and museum.
Greeks had a geocentric concept where the earth is at the center and everything else in the universe revolves around it but there were many people who opposed it. Aristarchus of Samos was one of the supporters of the heliocentric system, identifying that the Earth travelled around the Sun. Greeks tried to find the relative distance of the sun and the moon from the earth with the help of trigonometry.
Indian civilization
Ancient Indian civilization gave a
great contribution to astronomy. Ancient Indians used a system of 27 or 28
lunar constellations to calculate a month.
Each month can be considered as 30 lunar days.
Around 500 BCE, Aryabhata (Indian mathematician and astronomer of the
classical age of India) presented a
mathematical system which took the earth to spin on its axis and considered the
motion of the planets in relation to the sun.
In terms of the sun/earth orbit, he gave the
radius of the planetary orbit. He is also the earliest to find that the orbits
of planets around the sun are ellipses.
His book, The Aryabhatiya, which was published in 498 AD described
numerical and geometric rules for eclipse calculations. Old Sanskrit verse
described the sun as a star and also Gnomon is one of the instruments used by
the early Indians for astronomy.
Mayan civilization
Mayans are considered as avid
astronomers. They record and interpret every aspect of the sky. Many of their
important buildings such as temple pyramids were built with astronomy in
mind. They designed the building where
the sun moon and certain planets would be visible from the top or through the
windows. Mayan calendars were corrected and used by specialist astronomical
observers.
The Mayans were brilliant at
predicting solar phenomena such as eclipses, solstices, and equinoxes. Mayans
also predicted the moon’s movement with great accuracy, they also tracked the
movements of Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. Mayan astronomers calculated the
seasons using the movements of the stars; they considered that the rains come
to the Mayan regions of Central America and southern Mexico during the rise of
the Pleiades in the night sky.
Egyptian civilization
The oldest time measuring system in
Egypt was the lunar calendar. Egyptian astronomers used sundials to tell the
time. The Great Pyramid of Giza is built
with astronomical concepts. Southern
facing air shafts of Giza point to the star Sirius and Orion. The north-facing air shafts point to the
circumpolar stars (the star never sets below the horizon due to their apparent
proximity to one of the celestial poles), so they considered that as an
immortal stage for their queens and kings. With an eye to the sky, the great
builders of the pyramids replicated Orion’s belt on the sands of Egypt. The
Egyptians used their monuments to reflect important celestial occurrences
revealing the time of year.
Graphic by : Heshani Jananjalee
J'pura Astronomy Club
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#japuraAstro
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