A Brief History of Astronomy

Moon, Stars Orbits Stars, Planets Telescope Saturn Galaxy Radioastronomy

From Creation Myths to Big Bang Cosmology


Asian astronomy and the ancient Greeks determine the size of the Earth, the distance to the Moon, develop the first calendars and map the stars.

Ancient astronomy is developed and expanded with more accurate merasurements, the scientific method, new ideas and translation of the ancient texts.

European pre-telescopic astronomy makes observations that disprove many of the ancient ideas and establish the heliocentric universe.

From the first use of the telescope in astronomy to the development of the Theory of Gravity.

The solar system is studied and more bodies are found, the stars are probed but their distances remain ellusive.

Distances to the stars are finally determined and their properties are revealed.

From the Thoery of Relativity to the discovery of the expanding Universe.

Cosmology develops the Big Bang model of the Universe and distant galaxies are studied.

© 2002, 2009 KryssTal

These pages are dedicated to Patrick Moore and Isaac Asimov.


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An easy-to-understand scaling of the Universe in space. Distances in space are represented by the time light takes to travel there.

An easy-to-understand scaling of the Universe in time. The chronology of the Universe is compared to a real year.

A listing of the 20 brightest stars as well as explanations of the terms used.

Information about the planets and satellites of the Solar System with explanations of the terms used.

A historical account of the discovery of the electromagnetic spectrum and its uses in Astronomy. Radio waves, infra-red, visible light, ultra violet, X-rays and gamma rays are explained.

An account of how various properties of stars can be measured by studying starlight. Includes brightness, distance, luminosity, temperature, mass, radius, density and an introduction to the H-R Diagram.

An account of how stars evolve and change the chemistry of the Universe.

The force that moves apples and planets. A short introduction to the ideas of Kepler and Newton that culminated with the theory of Universal Gravitation.

This looks at the history of inventions and the various civilisations of the world.

Selected biographies of people from around the world including scientists and astronomers.


External Links

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History of Science A large collection of resources looking at the history of astronomy, physics, chemistry and mathematics.