Space Exploration: From Galileo Galilei to Neil deGrasse Tyson

Space Exploration: From Galileo Galilei to Neil deGrasse Tyson — page 3
1 Chapter Star Gazing Astronomy in some form dates back to the beginning of human history Early evidence of this includes bones carved with the moon phases These bones are thought to be from 30,000 BCE Many ancient cultures also tracked the cycles of the moon and other celestial objects Some cultures converted these cycles into calendars tracking the passage of time Historians believe the Mesopotamians began using a lunar calendar sometime between 3000 and 2000 BCE Ancient Mayans who lived between 1800 BCE and 250 CE also used astronomy to create calendars By 550 BCE ancient Greeks created drawings and models of how they thought the universe looked In these artworks the sun and a thin rim of stars spun around Earth The universe was unchanging meaning no new celestial bodies ever formed Religion influenced this idea The Greeks believed the god or gods who made the universe would not make anything imperfect Greek models of the universe became the standard for many centuries