Timeline of astronomy

Babylonian astronomers discover an 18.6-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. In 6th century BC Greece, this knowledge is used to predict eclipses.

Thales predicts a solar eclipse.

Anaxagoras produced a correct explanation for eclipses and then described the sun as a fiery mass larger than the Peloponnese , as well as attempting to explain rainbows and meteors . He was the first to explain that the moon shines due to reflected light from the sun.

Plato, a Greek philosopher, founds a school (the Platonic Academy) that will influence the next 2000 years. It promotes the idea that everything in the universe moves in harmony and that the Sun, Moon, and planets move around Earth in perfect circles.

Aristarchus of Samos proposes heliocentrism as an alternative to the Earth-centered universe. His heliocentric model places the Sun at its center, with Earth as just one planet orbiting it. However, there were only a few people who took the theory seriously.

The earliest recorded sighting of Halley's Comet is made by Babylonian astronomers. Their records of the comet's movement allow astronomers today to predict accurately how the comet's orbit changes over the centuries.

The astronomer Shi Shen is believed to have cataloged 809 stars in 122 constellations, and he also made the earliest known observation of sunspots.

Ptolemy publishes his star catalogue, listing 48 constellations and endorses the geocentric (Earth-centered) view of the universe. His views go unquestioned for nearly 1500 years in Europe, and are passed down to Arabic and medieval European astronomers in his book the Almagest.

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