---
title: "History of astronomy"
chunk: 3/11
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_astronomy"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:59:16.412764+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The origins of astronomy can be found in Mesopotamia, the "land between the rivers" Tigris and Euphrates, where the ancient kingdoms of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia were located. A form of writing known as cuneiform emerged among the Sumerians around 3500–3000 BC. Our knowledge of Sumerian astronomy is indirect, via the earliest Babylonian star catalogues dating from about 1200 BC. The fact that many star names appear in Sumerian suggests a continuity reaching into the Early Bronze Age. Astral theology, which gave planetary gods an important role in Mesopotamian mythology and religion, began with the Sumerians. They also used a sexagesimal (base 60) place-value number system, which simplified the task of recording very large and very small numbers. The modern practice of dividing a circle into 360 degrees, or an hour into 60 minutes, began with the Sumerians. For more information, see the articles on Babylonian numerals and mathematics.
Mesopotamia is worldwide the place of the earliest known astronomer and poet by name: Enheduanna, Akkadian high priestess to the lunar deity Nanna/Sin and princess, daughter of Sargon the Great (c. 2334 – c. 2279 BCE). She had the Moon tracked in her chambers and wrote poems about her divine Moon.
Classical sources frequently use the term Chaldeans for the astronomers of Mesopotamia, who were originally a people, before being identified with priest-scribes specializing in astrology and other forms of divination.
The first evidence of recognition that astronomical phenomena are periodic and of the application of mathematics to their prediction is Babylonian. Tablets dating back to the Old Babylonian period document the application of mathematics to the variation in the length of daylight over a solar year. Centuries of Babylonian observations of celestial phenomena are recorded in the series of cuneiform tablets known as the Enūma Anu Enlil. The oldest significant astronomical text that we possess is Tablet 63 of the Enūma Anu Enlil, the Venus tablet of Ammi-saduqa, which lists the first and last visible risings of Venus over a period of about 21 years and is the earliest evidence that the phenomena of a planet were recognized as periodic. The MUL.APIN contains catalogues of stars and constellations as well as schemes for predicting heliacal risings and the settings of the planets, lengths of daylight measured by a water clock, gnomon, shadows, and intercalations. The Babylonian GU text arranges stars in 'strings' that lie along declination circles and thus measure right-ascensions or time-intervals, and also employs the stars of the zenith, which are also separated by given right-ascensional differences.
A significant increase in the quality and frequency of Babylonian observations appeared during the reign of Nabonassar (747–733 BC). The systematic records of ominous phenomena in Babylonian astronomical diaries that began at this time allowed for the discovery of a repeating 18-year cycle of lunar eclipses, for example. The Greek astronomer Ptolemy later used Nabonassar's reign to fix the beginning of an era, since he felt that the earliest usable observations began at this time.
The last stages in the development of Babylonian astronomy took place during the time of the Seleucid Empire (323–60 BC). In the 3rd century BC, astronomers began to use "goal-year texts" to predict the motions of the planets. These texts compiled records of past observations to find repeating occurrences of ominous phenomena for each planet. About the same time, or shortly afterwards, astronomers created mathematical models that allowed them to predict these phenomena directly, without consulting records. A notable Babylonian astronomer from this time was Seleucus of Seleucia, who was a supporter of the heliocentric model.
Babylonian astronomy was the basis for much of what was done in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy, in classical Indian astronomy, in Sassanian Iran, in Byzantium, in Syria, in Islamic astronomy, in Central Asia, and in Western Europe.

=== India ===

Astronomy in the Indian subcontinent dates back to the period of Indus Valley Civilisation during 3rd millennium BC, when it was used to create calendars. As the Indus Valley Civilization did not leave behind written documents, the oldest extant Indian astronomical text is the Vedanga Jyotisha, dating from the Vedic period. The Vedanga Jyotisha is attributed to Lagadha and has an internal date of approximately 1350 BC, and describes rules for tracking the motions of the Sun and the Moon for the purposes of ritual. It is available in two recensions, one belonging to the Rig Veda, and the other to the Yajur Veda. According to the Vedanga Jyotisha, in a yuga or "era", there are 5 solar years, 67 lunar sidereal cycles, 1,830 days, 1,835 sidereal days, and 62 synodic months. During the sixth century, astronomy was influenced by the Greek and Byzantine astronomical traditions.
Aryabhata (476–550), in his magnum opus Aryabhatiya (499), propounded a computational system based on a planetary model in which the Earth was taken to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were given with respect to the Sun. He accurately calculated many astronomical constants, such as the periods of the planets, times of the solar and lunar eclipses, and the instantaneous motion of the Moon. Early followers of Aryabhata's model included Varāhamihira, Brahmagupta, and Bhāskara II.
Astronomy was advanced during the Shunga Empire, and many star catalogues were produced during this time. The Shunga period is known as the "Golden age of astronomy in India".
It saw the development of calculations for the motions and places of various planets, their rising and setting, conjunctions, and the calculation of eclipses.
By the sixth century, Indian astronomers believed that comets were celestial bodies that re-appeared periodically. This was the view expressed in the sixth century by the astronomers Varahamihira and Bhadrabahu. The tenth-century astronomer Bhattotpala listed the names and estimated periods of certain comets, but it is not known how these figures were calculated or how accurate they were.

=== Greece and Hellenistic world ===