---
title: "History of astronomy"
chunk: 1/11
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 history of astronomy focuses on the efforts of civilizations to understand the universe beyond earth's atmosphere. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences, achieving a high level of success in the second half of the first millennium. Astronomy has origins in the religious, mythological, cosmological, calendrical, and astrological beliefs and practices of prehistory. Early astronomical records date back to the Babylonians around 1000 BC. There is also astronomical evidence of interest from early Chinese, Central American and North European cultures.
Astronomy was used by early cultures for timekeeping, navigation, spiritual and religious practices, and agricultural planning. Ancient astronomers observed and charted the skies in an effort to learn about the workings of the universe. During the Renaissance Period, revolutionary ideas emerged about astronomy. One such idea was contributed in 1543 by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who developed a heliocentric model that depicted the planets orbiting the Sun. This was the start of the Copernican Revolution, with the invention of the telescope in 1608 playing a key part. Later developments included the reflecting telescope, astronomical photography, astronomical spectroscopy, radio telescopes, cosmic ray astronomy, infrared telescopes, space telescopes, ultraviolet astronomy, X-ray astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, space probes, neutrino astronomy, and gravitational-wave astronomy.
The success of astronomy, compared to other sciences, was achieved for several reasons. Astronomy was the first science to have a mathematical foundation. Standardized measuring instruments such as armillary spheres and quadrants provided a solid base for collecting, verifying and communicating data. Throughout the years, astronomy has broadened into multiple subfields such as astrometry, planetary astronomy, astrophysics, astrochemistry astrobiology, stellar astronomy,  galactic astronomy, extragalactic astronomy, and physical cosmology

== Prehistory ==

A 32,500-year-old carved ivory mammoth tusk could contain the oldest known star chart (resembling the constellation Orion). It has also been suggested that drawings on the wall of the Lascaux caves in France dating from 33,000 to 10,000 years ago could be a graphical representation of the Pleiades, the Summer Triangle, and the Northern Crown. Ancient structures with possibly astronomical alignments (such as Stonehenge) probably fulfilled astronomical, religious, and social functions.
Ancient astronomical artifacts have been found throughout Europe. The artifacts demonstrate that Neolithic and Bronze Age Europeans had a sophisticated knowledge of mathematics and astronomy.
Among the discoveries are:

Paleolithic archaeologist Alexander Marshack put forward a theory in 1972 that bone sticks from locations like Africa and Europe from possibly as long ago as 35,000 BC could be marked in ways that tracked the Moon's phases, an interpretation that has met with criticism.
The Warren Field calendar in the Dee River valley of Scotland's Aberdeenshire was first excavated in 2004 but was revealed in 2013 as a find of huge significance. It is to date the oldest known calendar, created around 8,000 BC and predating all other calendars by some 5,000 years. The calendar takes the form of an early Mesolithic monument containing a series of 12 pits which appear to help the observer track lunar months by mimicking the phases of the Moon. It also aligns to sunrise at the winter solstice, thus coordinating the solar year with the lunar cycles. The monument had been maintained and periodically reshaped, perhaps up to hundreds of times, in response to shifting solar/lunar cycles, over the course of 6,000 years, until the calendar fell out of use around 4,000 years ago.
Goseck circle is located in Germany and belongs to the linear pottery culture. First discovered in 1991, its significance was only clear after results from archaeological digs became available in 2004. The site is one of hundreds of similar circular enclosures built in a region encompassing Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic during a 200-year period starting shortly after 5000 BC.