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History of Astronomy

Introduction

Astronomical science has been in existence since the earliest period of people’s history. It is

older than all other studies of natural sciences. From the early days, astronomy established itself

as a system driven by theories, which eventually aided people to make predictions on the

possible behaviors of celestial luminaries; such as the occurrences of eclipses (Pannekoek 13).

Later, astronomy became a vital factor in religious beliefs and practices. Nonetheless,

astronomical science did not just spring up to existence. It is a study that has a history of

development over the centuries. Astronomy developed in three major stages; ancient astronomy,

medieval and modern-age astronomy.

Ancient Astronomy

No surviving records show the exact time in history when the study of astronomy began.

Existing records only indicate that at the start of history, the aspect of astronomy had already

been a subject of interest to people (Pannekoek 19). The beauty of the starry heavens must have

compelled people to raise their eyes towards the sky. Later, the mystery of celestial bodies turned

into inspirational forces that provoked ancient astronomers to investigate how the heavens

affected their survival. Nature was a hostile and powerful force that people had to cope with. As

a survival tactic, they started studying and collecting astronomical knowledge and its impact on
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their lives. In general, this included social, economical, and political aspects of life. As a result,

astronomical phenomena became part and parcel people’s lives and environment.

Astronomical knowledge was used to measure time, predict seasons, and predetermine

the behavior of forces of nature, such as winds and floods - the sun, moon, and planets were at

the centre of ancient astronomy. The sun and the moon are the natural units used in measuring

time. However, due to people’s expansion of astronomical knowledge, planets were later used to

tell time. For instance, Mexicans adopted the Venus-period, while Indians adopted the Jupiter-

period (Pannekoek 20). Moreover, phases of the moon became a key element of the Nomadic

calendar. Every time the new moon appeared it marked the end and beginning of a new month of

29 to 30 days.

Later, deciphering old forms of writing greatly contributed to the history of astronomy..

Truth about astronomy was gradually approximated through false interpretations, vague

suppositions, untenable theories, and hazardous conjectures (Pannekoek 29). Hugo Winckler - a

famous historian, came up with the “Pan-Babylonism” theory, which gained a respectful

reputation. Through his model, Hugo claimed that in the ancient times, between 3000 B.C, and

2000 B.C, a well developed and organized study of astronomical science existed (Pannekoek 29).

Evidently, ancient studies were based on the vast knowledge of outer space, periods, and shifting

of the equinoxes. Ptolemy; a great Greco-Roman astronomer developed the Geocentric model.

Nonetheless, his model was later challenged by Nicolaus Copernicus; a medieval astronomer.

Medieval Astronomy

Medieval astronomy scrutinized how the ancient astronomy ideas were preserved and transferred

originally by Islam scholars (Hoskin). The latter built numerous astronomical observatories and

later developed special equipment, known as astrolabe-for studying celestial bodies and
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introduced it to the Western nations. Astrolabe revolutionized the study of astronomy. Also, it

revived the interest of the West in astronomy. Simultaneously, antique writings were recovered

and translated into different modern languages. During the middle-age era, several technological

discoveries were made. Printing press was one of such discoveries. It facilitated the swift

dissemination of astronomical ideas and information across the globe. Ptolemy wrote a book

titled Almagest through which he expressed his ideas. Later, another astronomer; Nicolaus

Copernicus wrote De revolutionibus in which he surpassed the ideas earlier expressed by

Ptolemy. Contrary to Ptolemy and other ancient astronomers, Nicolaus argued that the earth

orbited the sun (Hoskin).

Medieval astronomy was based on four natural celestial bodies; the sun, moon, and

planets. The sun was considered to be the most important celestial body. People had believed

that the sun orbited the earth until Nicolaus opposed it. Despite the myth, the sun still played a

major role in determining time in both the ancient and medieval ages. The moon was the second

most important celestial body in the medieval era. Its position was used to mark dates of holidays

and other main events in society. Also, for a long time, it had been believed that the moon, just

like the sun, orbited the earth. Stars occupy the third position on the list of most important

celestial bodies during the medieval astronomy. During the middle-ages, the sun had not been

classified as a star. Medieval people continued to study constellations and became well informed

about them.

One of the leading astronomers in the middle-ages was Aristotle. He coined the

knowledge of the sky. The concept was based on the concentric spheres of a crystal. Concentric

spheres are used to study planets, stars, and other celestial luminaries. Unfortunately, Aristotle’s
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arguments were later dismissed. In-depth study of astronomy indicated that celestial bodies did

not take the form of perfect spheres.

Modern-Age Astronomy

Modern-age astronomy was spearheaded by the Copernican heliocentric model. As previously

mentioned, Copernicus argued that the sun was at the center of the solar system. The model is

not based on theories, but it is more of an observation product of the different movements in the

sky. Heliocentric model gained acceptance as it is set on principles of geometry that support the

distance set between the sun and planets. In spite of this insight, debate still continued between

Ptolemaic geocentric model and heliocentric model. New information based on facts was

required to settle the debate. Special equipment, known as a telescope, was invented by Hans

Lippershey. Moreover, Galileo Galilei became the first person to put it into use by pointing it to

the sky and observing celestial movements through its lenses. As a result, the telescope became

famous. Galileo discovered that the surface of the moon comprised mountains and craters. It

challenged Aristotelian theory which argued that celestial bodies are perfect spheres.

Galileo discovered dark spots that moved around the sun, proving that the body rotated

on its own axis. Also, he discovered the Galilean satellites; Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede.

They are the four moons that orbited Jupiter. The discovery established that the earth was not the

only planet that had a satellite. Galileo further discovered that the Milky Way comprised myriads

of stars. Notably, the most significant of all Galileo’s discovery was the changing phases of

Venus. Consequently, this discovery settled the debate between geocentric and heliocentric

models. It concluded that planets must be orbiting around the sun. Between 1546- 1601, Tycho

Brahe came up with a new technique to measure the positions of celestial bodies. Later, Johannes

Kepler carried out analysis on the orbits of planets which resulted in the coining of Kepler’s
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Laws of planetary motion. Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity and three general laws of

motion that control the movement of all bodies. The contribution of these laws was key in

advancing astronomical study.

A combination of the aforementioned laws and many more other element led to the

building of spaceships. The first manned spacecraft, known as Vostok 1, was launched in 1961

by the Soviet Union. In 1969, the United States built and launched a spacecraft known as Apollo

11 (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). It was the first spaceship to land astronauts

on the moon. This event further opened up the sky to closer and wider astronomical study.

Thereafter, other travel series to the moon followed. The latest being the launch of Apollo 17 in

1972 (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Smaller spacecrafts have been launched

onto space to gather more information on the daily space occurrences.

Fig.1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Launch of Apollo 11; 16th July

1969; Web; 1st Feb 2019

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Conclusion

The history of astronomy can be categorized into three ages. They include ancient astronomy,

medieval astronomy and modern-age astronomy. Ancient studies had more challenges due to the

lack of technological know-how. Nevertheless, ancient astronomers, such Ptolemy, deduced

theories that spearheaded astronomical studies. He formed the geocentric theory, which was later

disputed by Nicolaus Copernicus in the medieval era. Nicolaus came up with heliocentric

concept that went contrary to Ptolemaic geocentric model, which argued that earth was the centre

of the solar system. Modern-age astronomy is facilitated by new discoveries, such as the law of

gravity and other aspects of chemistry, physics, and geography. With the continued advancement

in technology, the field of astronomical studies will keep expanding.

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Works Cited

Pannekoek, Anton. A History of Astronomy. Courier Corporation, 1989. Retrieved from

https://books.google.co.ke/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=I1LGdDe0NYcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA2&dq=History+of+astronomy&ots=1l

xPcG8zG7&sig=MZou2MkfOF969m0ddlCL8nEQHPQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Hi

story%20of%20astronomy&f=false

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 11. 1 February 2019. Retrieved from

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo-11.html

Hoskin, Michael. The Cambridge illustrated history of astronomy. 1996. Retrieved from

https://www.veryshortintroductions.com/view/10.1093/actrade/9780192803061.001.0001/actrad

e-9780192803061-chapter-3