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Mayan astronomers discover an 18.7-year cycle in the rising and setting of the Moon.From this they created the first almanacs – tables of the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets for the use in astrology.
Astronomy was used by early cultures for a variety of reasons. These include timekeeping, navigation, spiritual and religious practices, and agricultural planning. Ancient astronomers used their observations to chart the skies in an effort to learn about the workings of the universe.
Recognition of the lunar cycle as a (lunar) month, and the solar cycle as the (solar) year, the basis for calendars. Observation of non-fixed or "wandering" objects in the night sky: the five classical planets; shooting stars and meteor showers; bolides; comets; auroras; zodiacal light. Solar and lunar eclipses. Planetary conjunctions.
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...
1699: German entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, the first scientist to document the life cycle of insects for the public, embarked on a scientific expedition to Suriname, South America. She subsequently published Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, a groundbreaking illustrated work on South American plants, animals and insects.
Magdalena Zeger (around 1491–1568), calendar maker, astronomer, first women to publish independently in the field of astronomy; Lyudmila Zhuravlyova (born 1946), Russian-Ukrainian astronomer who discovered minor planets; Maria Zuber (born 1958), American planetary scientist
In 1898, she was appointed Curator of Astronomical Photographs at Harvard, the first woman to hold the position. [12] At the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, Fleming openly advocated for other women in the sciences in her talk "A Field for Woman's Work in Astronomy", where she openly promoted hiring female assistants in astronomy.
Italian polymath Galileo Galilei was an early user and made prolific discoveries, including the phases of Venus, which definitively disproved the arrangement of spheres in the Ptolemaic system. Galileo also discovered that the Moon was cratered, that the Sun was marked with sunspots , and that Jupiter had four satellites in orbit around it. [ 13 ]