Astronomy: humanity's fascination with the stars
PublicStargazing by the campfire: the earliest sky observations
Prehistoric people record the first connections between the starry sky and the seasons, possibly in rock carvings and megalithic structures.
Babylonian astrologers record the heavens
In Mesopotamia the first systematic astronomical diaries emerge, with precise records of planetary movements and lunar phases.
Chinese astronomers record a 'guest star'
Chinese court astronomers document the explosion of a supernova, visible during daylight for weeks, which later provides crucial evidence for the Crab Nebula.
Maya astronomers calculate the cycle of Venus
In Mesoamerica, Maya astronomers develop extremely accurate tables for the movements of Venus, recorded in the Dresden Codex.
Islamic scholars build large observatories
advanced observatories emerge in the Islamic world, where astronomers such as Al-Battani and later Nasir al-Din al-Tusi refine Greek astronomy
Galileo turns the telescope to the heavens
Galileo Galilei uses a self-built telescope to discover moons around Jupiter, craters on the moon, and the phases of Venus, supporting the heliocentric model.
Hubble discovers that the universe is larger than the Milky Way
Edwin Hubble uses the Hooker telescope on Mount Wilson to show that the Andromeda nebula is a separate galaxy, far beyond our own Milky Way.
The Hubble Space Telescope opens a window beyond the atmosphere
After a difficult start, the Hubble Space Telescope delivers unprecedentedly sharp images of distant galaxies, stellar explosions, and the depths of the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope looks back at the early cosmos
An international collaboration between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency places the most powerful infrared telescope ever built more than a million kilometers from Earth.
Humanity establishes first permanent observatories beyond Earth
Speculative: in the distant future, humanity builds observatories on the moon and in orbit around other planets, free from atmospheric disturbance, to look deeper into the cosmos.
Stargazing by the campfire: the earliest sky observations
At Nabta Playa in the Nubian desert in present-day Egypt, people erected stones some 6,500 years ago that correspond to the rising of certain stars, probably to predict the annual floods. This kind of early astronomy was functional: it helped with agriculture, navigation and rituals, and shows that humanity was already systematically watching the sky millennia ago.