Astronomy History
Flat-Earthers: What Do They Believe?
The image above shows a view of Earth as most, if not all members of the Flat Earth Society believe it to be. In this view, Earth is a flat disc on which the continents […]
Astronomy History
Astronomy History
SN 1006: The Brightest Supernova in Recorded History
The image above shows the extent of the supernova remnant designated SN 1006. In this X-ray image taken with the Chandra space telescope, multi-million degree gas is shown as red and green, while extremely high-energy […]
Astronomy History
The Great Leonids Meteor Storm of 1833
The image above shows a depiction of the great Leonids meteor storm that occurred on November 13th, 1833 in which more than 72,000 meteors per hour fell to Earth, and which according to one observer […]
Astronomy History
Was Stonehenge an Ancient Observatory?
Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, is just one component of a complex of prehistoric monuments that is covered by the UNESCO World Heritage program, and also includes the village of Avebury and its associated sites. However, […]
Astronomy History
Is the Goseck Circle an Ancient Solar Observatory?
Many questions about ancient civilizations remain unanswered, but perhaps the most perplexing of these questions are these: how well did the ancients understand the world they lived in, and how did they express that understanding, […]
Astronomy History
Is the Ach Valley Tusk-fragment an Ancient Star Map?
It is said that not everything that glitters is gold, but does this also apply to figurines carved into mammoth ivory fragments during the Ice Age? The Ach Valley tusk fragment that bears the image […]
Astronomy History
10 Most Influential Optical Telescopes in Astronomy
While each successive generation of telescopes has revealed more of the Universe than we could have imagined existed, it seems somewhat strange that the exact origin of the optical telescope is in doubt. What is […]
Astronomy History
10 Top Astronomers from the Ancient World
From the western historical perspective, it is sometimes easy to focus on the astronomical works of early Greek astronomers too tightly, while overlooking the worthy contributions made by earlier philosophers from other cultures that have […]
Astronomy History
Orion Constellation Myths of Sumer, Babylon and Egypt
Orion is perhaps the most recognizable of all constellations, and as well as containing two of the night sky’s brightest stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse, it also straddles the celestial equator, meaning that it can be […]
Astronomy History
Who Discovered the Sun is a Star?
Introduction In ancient Greece, early scientists such as Thales of Miletus (624-546 BC) first started to suspect that the Sun was not the deity Helios (Apollo) driving his chariot around the Earth, but was instead […]