#history-of-astronomy
4 articles
BeginnerThe Antikythera Mechanism: The Ancient Computer of the Heavens
The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient Greek geared device, recovered from a shipwreck in 1901 and dated to roughly the 2nd century BCE, that modeled the Sun, Moon, and zodiac. It is the oldest known analog computer.
BeginnerThe Armillary Sphere: A Model of the Heavens
The armillary sphere is a model of the heavens built from rings, named from the Latin armilla, that represent the great circles of the sky around a central Earth.
BeginnerDurer's Star Charts: The First Printed Map of the Heavens
In 1515 Albrecht Durer, working with Johannes Stabius and Conrad Heinfogel, produced the first printed star charts in Europe: two woodcut maps of the northern and southern sky that fixed the look of the constellations for centuries.
BeginnerComets as Omens: When the Sky Foretold Disaster
For most of history a comet was read as an omen of disaster, from Caesar's Comet in 44 BCE to the comet of 1066 in the Bayeux Tapestry. Edmond Halley's 1705 work turned comets from portents into predictable astronomy.